GRAY DEYOSports Writer

The Tullahoma girls’ basketball team put forth its best offensive game of the season in its biggest game of the season. They defeated Portland High School 75-28 in sectionals, securing their spot in the TSSAA 3A State Tournament.

The Lady Wildcats, in a packed house at THS on Saturday, were clearly ready for the moment, as they stepped foot on their home floor for the highest-stakes games the Lady Wildcats program has seen in 49 seasons.

Tullahoma, against the Portland Panthers, played their best opening half of the year. They were swarming the two main shot creators of the Panthers, forcing tough shots and turnovers. They flipped these superb defensive sets into spot-up wide-open threes–making six in this span– and also capitalized on countless open fast break scores. In the first 16 minutes of the play, Tullahoma had grown a 31-point halftime lead at 46-15. This halftime point total from THS was higher than 16 of their point totals from entire games in the 2025-2026 season. They simply could do no wrong, as all players wearing a THS uniform seemed not to be able to miss.

In the first half, senior McLayne Bobo led all scorers with 18 points, and sophomore Lizzy Sharpton was the second leading scorer with 10 points.

To add insult to injury, Portland High School, within the best half of basketball Tullahoma has played all season, lost one of their most talented players during this stretch of play, KeAva Bradley. In her brief time on the court, the senior interior player for the Panthers was clearly the glue that held this team together. She was battling amongst Tullahoma post players, grabbing second-chance boards, and scoring at a good clip inside the paint. The dynamic interior play of hers was, however, put to a halt, as she hit the floor and was in pain with a leg injury. It immediately looked not to be a slight sting that she could brush off and return to play.

 She was helped off the court with her arms around two members of the Panthers program, hopping on one foot all the way to the bench. When the first half buzzer sounded, and the Panthers ran to the locker room, any question about Bradley returning was answered, as she remained on the bench with a couple of coaches.

The Lady Wildcats continued their complementary dominance on offense and defense in the second half, coasting to their sectional win over the Panthers. Bobo had a game-high 23 points, Sharpton had 16, and freshman Gena Hickerson was the third leading scorer for THS with 12 points.

The Tullahoma home crowd was electric on Saturday night. They gave a standing ovation watching on as the Lady Wildcats got their historic win, and will now head up and compete at Murfreesboro. They continued to cheer as they watched as THS players and staff do the tradition that all state-qualifying teams do–cutting down a net.

Tullahoma will have its first round game of the state tournament on Wednesday, March 11, with its opponent being Alcoa High School. They will unsurprisingly be the best team the ‘Cats have played all season. The opposing Tornadoes have an overall record of 27-7

Read about Tullahoma’s state tournament run in this Sunday’s edition of the Tullahoma News.