Herald Photo by Carey Phillips
The Smoky Mountain Lady Mustangs celebrate with the regular season and tournament trophies after defeating Enka 56-55 Friday for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship. Team members include, from left: Nichole Jones, Kaitlin Ritchie, Tara Green, Courtney Bryson, Abi Woody, Lindsey Lewis, Christy Pruett, Elexis Smith, Nathalie Broom, Melissa Collins, manager Shaman Crowe and Cassie Proffitt. |
Smoky Mountain led for just about four minutes of playing time Friday in the finals of the Western Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament at Brevard, but when the final buzzer sounded the Lady Mustangs were standing tall with a thrilling 56-55 victory over Enka.
A layup by Elexis Smith with six seconds left proved to be the difference as SM (21-3) avenged a loss to the Sugar Jets a week earlier. The Lady Mustangs won their first tournament title since 1994. They also captured the regular season championship. Smith finished with 13 points. She was joined in double figures by Lindsey Lewis with 12 and Kaitlin Ritchie with 10. Enka's Miranda Hull led all scorers with 15 points, and Miranda Byerly had 10. More on Lady Mustangs . . . |
Western Carolina upsets