Cleveland, McMinn win 5-AAA soccer games

Cleveland and McMinn County cruised to victories Saturday in their first-round District 5-AAA soccer tournament matches, setting up a 7:30 p.m. Tuesday showdown in Athens.

Cleveland (9-7-3) defeated Walker Valley 3-0 with Callie Pistrang netting her first two goals of the season and Hannah Ellis adding the other.

McMinn's Haley Ward had three goals in a 5-0 defeat of Rhea County, improving her season total to 19, and freshmen Arielle Hansford and Gabby Poston also scored in the Lady Cherokees' 12th win.

Ooltewah defeated Bradley Central in the other quarterfinal. The Lady Owls (9-7) will play Tuesday at 7 p.m. at top seed Soddy-Daisy (13-2-2), ranked fifth in the state.

• In District 6-A/AA, third seed Arts & Sciences beat East Ridge 4-0 as Hannah Heatherly, Makalah Elsea, Chloe Broussard and Maggie Fraser scored the goals and Emily Foster made six saves. Tuesday, the Lady Patriots (7-6) will face Hixson, a 3-0 victor over Tyner on Thursday night.

Eighth-ranked East Hamilton (9-6-1), which received a first-round bye, will face Red Bank. The Lady Lions defeated Central 4-0, with Lacreasha Couch scoring all four goals for a season total of 25.

Grace Academy defeated Sequoyah 13-0 in their District 5-A/AA quarterfinal. The Lady Golden Eagles (9-6-1) will face Boyd-Buchanan, which won 11-0 over Polk County on Thursday.

• In Division II-AA, top-ranked Baylor clinched a share of the East/Middle region championship with a 2-0 victory Saturday against third-ranked Father Ryan. Kelly Pannell and McKenzie Thomas had goals for the Lady Red Raiders (15-1, 6-0), who will get a bye into the state playoffs, which start Saturday.

GPS (8-6-2, 3-3-1) is the fourth seed and will host either Brentwood Academy -- which the Bruisers tied 1-1 on Friday night -- or Pope John Paul II in the first round.

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