Area prep roundup: NW Whitfield girls fall at Tennessee tournament

Published 11:36 pm Thursday, December 18, 2014

Northwest Whitfield High School’s girls basketball team opened play Thursday at the Smoky Mountain Classic in Gatlinburg, Tenn., with a 52-38 loss to Tennessee’s White County.

The Lady Bruins were held scoreless in the fourth quarter — White County, which led 22-10 after the first quarter, had just five points in the final period — as they suffered just their third loss in 12 games to start the season.

“They’re really good,” Northwest coach Greg Brown said of White County, which he said is undefeated. “We just kind of got behind a little there in the first quarter. We fought back and cut the lead down to four or five a couple times but never could get back over the hump. … We played hard, we just kind of struggled with a few little things.”

Karli Williams led the way with nine points and Bria Clemmons added eight for Northwest, which faces Smith County at 10 a.m. today in the consolation bracket. The tournament will finish Saturday.

• Coahulla Creek freshman boys 37, Dalton 30: Wesley Walton scored 18 points and Martin Romero chipped in six as the Colts (1-2) topped the Catamounts.