The Ellis girl’s basketball team has been running rough-shod through the rest of the county this season, but Friday night the Lady Panthers from Portland West took the Lady Cougars to the brink in the first half before Ellis turned up the defensive pressure and went on to capture its fourth straight Sumner County title, 43-20.

“Portland (West) played well tonight, but our girls deserve a lot of credit for the way they came out and played in the second half tonight,” said Ellis Coach Jim Lind. “It was our defense that got it all going, but offensively we had to lean on (Joslyn) Jarrett, and she really came through for us in a big way.”

Team Captain Joslyn Jarrett

Jarrett, the team’s eighth grade captain, had a career night and actually outscored the entire Portland West squad, finishing with a game high 23 points. Elizabeth Burns added 10 more in the victory.

“As a coach it was a really fun game to watch and be a part of,” said Lind. “It’s not often said in middle school, but Joslyn really took over the game and put the team on her back tonight.

“She’s not the type of player that likes a lot of attention, and always makes sure she gets her teammates involved, but tonight we needed her to step up and take over, and that’s exactly what she did.”

Ellis (17-0) got off to a quick start in the first quarter, jumping out to a 12-3 lead.

Sophie Kolbe led the way with five points, and Jarrett added four more while the rest of the Lady Cougars did the job defensively.

Portland West (13-4) fought its way back in the second quarter, outscoring Ellis 13-9 to get within five points, but Jarrett’s seven points in the second period helped the Lady Cougars carry a 21-16 lead into the halftime break.

“Before the game I joked that since we were the away team and had to wear our black uniforms that if something happened and we weren’t playing well we were going to switch back to our white uniforms,” said Lind. “I actually thought about it, but instead we stressed the importance of our defensive pressure in the second half, and chose to slow the game down.

“Portland made their run in the second half when they took up the tempo, and even though that’s usually the way we liked to play also, we just weren’t playing well running up and down the floor.”

Lind’s talk evidentially did the job because Ellis came out of the break and held the Lady Panthers scoreless in the third period while the combination of Jarrett and Burns combined for all 15 of the Lady Cougars points to give them a 36-16 lead heading into the final quarter of play.

The smothering Ellis defense didn’t let up in the fourth period, holding the Lady Panthers to just four points in the final quarter, and for the second period in a row, Jarrett and Burns scored all of the Lady Cougars points to lead them to the 43-20 victory and their fourth title in a row.

“A lot of credit of this championship goes to Amy (Wilhite), the former Ellis coach now at the helm for Hendersonville girl’s high school team,” said Lind. “She’s spent a lot of time with these girls, and it’s obvious that they all have a high basketball I.Q.

“I couldn’t be any happier for these girls because I think they really deserved this title because they’ve worked hard and had this goal in mind before the season ever started. I can’t remember being around a team that was more unselfish than these girls are, and it was almost like they were groomed to win this, so I’m happy they achieved that goal.”

Jarrett, Burns, Molly Claire Wilhite, and Carleigh Short were all voted onto the All Tournament team after the win.

ELLIS (43) – Joslyn Jarrett 23, Elizabeth Burns 10, Peyton Sheehan 5, Sophie Kolbe 5.

PORTLAND WEST (20) – Chapman 6, Gregory 5, Herrara 4, McGee 2, Keen 2, Crooley 1.

From staff reports