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The teams played with a two-tone orange-and-white WNBA ball (complete with Commissioner Cathy Engelhart’s signature) donated by the team’s parent support organization.

“If they’re good enough for WNBA players, I guess they’ll be good enough for us,� King said. “They worked well for us tonight.�

“We definitely were not used to the ball, but that’s definitely’s not the excuse,� Lady Wildcats coach Jason Knowles said. “No excuses. We just got our tails kicked.�

The Lady Wildcats stayed within striking distance in the battle of unbeatens, trailing just 22-20 at the first-quarter break. But Green Hill scored he first nine points of the second period as part of a 17-2 spurt. By halftime, the Lady Hawks were ahead 43-25 and a 16-0 run to end the third made it 58-32.

“In the first quarter, they were getting wherever they wanted on the court,� King said of the Lady Wildcats. “We couldn’t keep them out of the paint. They were driving, they were kicking, they were getting to their spots. As we prepped for them, we knew that was going to be the case.

“We really got up and guarded and focused on keeping them out of the paint. I think that slowed the game down a little bit because they are tremendous when they can get paint touches. They’re definitely hard to guard.�

“They went on a 17-2 run and that was fueled by turnovers on our part,� Knowles said. “We had about 20 through the second quarter and just couldn’t get in a rhythm offensively. They couldn’t seem to miss a shot, period.

“Then we helped them out with our defensive rebound, kept giving them second chances and they kept burning us.�

Central finally found something in the fourth quarter as senior Kiley Jo Byrom came off the bench to bury four 3-pointers as she scored all of her team-high 14 points during the period.

But the Lady Wildcats couldn’t undo the damage inflicted by KT Tolbert, the District 12-4A Player of the Year as a freshman last year before TSSAA realignment who had 12 of her 23 points in the first quarter and unveiling a 3-point threat with two. Point guard McKenna Solomon also swished two of her three triples during the opening period. McKinlee Parker poured in two of her three triples during her 12-point second stanza as she finished with 15.

“(Tolbert’s) a real matchup problem when she can hit from the outside,� King said. “She can pull up jump shots. As we saw tonight and we saw the last couple of games and going to continue to see, teams are going to game-plan around her. When she caught the ball inside, everyone collapsed on KT. When she can kick our or she can hit open shots if they’re going to play off of her, that is a welcome sight and she becomes real hard to guard.�

Solomon and Willa Heilman each had nine points while Juliana Mitchell tossed in two triples on her way to eight. Emma Savage, Reid McClain and McKenzie Mangan each managed two.

Freedom Pfeil fired in two triples as she and Klyle Moss each managed 10 points for the Lady Wildcats while Brylee Fly scored six and Eliana Ramsey and Olivia Kinning a 3 apiece as Central slipped to 7-1. Knowles said Green Hill was the best team Central had faced.

“We really hadn’t been battle-tested until this moment,� Knowles said. “We kind of knew coming in that they were going to be ready and they were definitely going to be a challenge for us. Unfortunately, we weren’t a challenge for them.�

Neal leads unbeaten Lebanon to sixth win in district opener

HENDERSONVILLE — Lebanon had little problem with host Beech in Tuesday’s District 7-4A opener as the Devilettes rolled to a 60-41 win.

The Devilettes were up 16-8 at the first-quarter break, 30-14 at halftime and 41-23 going into the fourth as Lebanon moved to 6-0.

Tramaria Neal was a force inside with 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Devilettes while point guard Naleiya Withrow-Walker added 11 to go with six assists. Maggie Kelley returned from a two-game suspension to take down12 rebounds while Ellie Beth McDonald drained a pair of 3-pointers as each added eight points. Carleigh Barrett finished with five points, Tiara Spencer and Aubrey Jones three each and Phoebe Lewis two.

Tia Nix led the Lady Buccaneers with 13 points while Seleste Ricks racked up 10.

Smith County pulls away from Lady Purple Tigers in fourth

WATERTOWN — Smith County’s girls got some breathing room in the fourth quarter Tuesday night to produced a 42-33 win over Watertown.

The Lady Purple Tigers were on the Lady Owls’ tail through the first three periods, trailing 8-7 following the first, 19-17 at halftime and 28-26 through three before Smith County closed out the hosts with a 14-7 fourth.

K.K. Dixon led the Lady Owls with 15 points while Emry Jones added 11.

Molly Followill led the Lady Tigers with nine points while Izzie Burns added eight, Dailey Hight and Maddie Willard five each and Julianna Pruitt and Bryley Bowers three apiece as Watertown hit just 3 of 10 free throws.

Big third quarter launches Lady Bears to district-opening win

HENDERSONVILLE — Mt. Juliet roared from behind in the third quarter Tuesday night to overtake Hendersonville 45-35 in the District 7-4A opener.

The host Lady Commandos led 10-8 at the first-quarter break and 19-16 at halftime before Mt. Juliet used a 19-5 third to move in front 35-24.

Claire Emery led the Lady Bears with 16 points. McClaine Ringenberg buried a pair of 3-pointers as she did all of her scoring during the third quarter, finishing with nine points. Addy Osborne also added nine while Aaliyah Holman and Makayla Hopson had five apiece and Ryleigh Clayton a free throw.

Kyndall Cripps led the Lady Commandos with 11 points.