Meigs County basketball player Emileigh Swafford surpasses 2,000 career points

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog
photo Meigs County's Emileigh Swafford has passed 2,000 points for her high school basketball career.

Meigs County senior basketball player Emileigh Swafford went over the 2,000-point mark last Friday in the Lady Tigers'43-31 victory over Tellico Plains.

The 5-foot-10 senior, who signed with NCAA Division II Lee University, has averaged around 24 points per game this season, helping Meigs attain a 20-2 record heading into tonight's nondistrict game against rival McMinn Central.

"She's progressed slowly throughout her career and gotten better and better each year," Meigs coach Jason Powell said. "She's been very consistent, and her versatility has been impressive for us. She can hit the 3 but also take you off the dribble and finish well."

Wadley to 601 wins

McCallie basketball coach Dan Wadley has reached a milestone very few of his peers can claim. When the Blue Tornado defeated Brentwood Academy last Friday it marked the 600th career win for Wadley, who has coached at Tennessee Temple and McCallie combined for 31 years.

Wadley picked up another win Saturday night with McCallie's overtime defeat of Baylor.

"I'm proud that the people I've worked for believed in me enough to keep me around this long," Wadley said. "And the kids who've played for me have always bought into what we were doing.

"We've always tried to play a tough schedule, so I'm just really proud of this accomplishment."

Wadley began coaching the girls' team at Temple, where he remained for 16 seasons before taking over the boys, guiding them to two Class A state championships in his seven seasons. He is in his eighth year with the Blue Tornado, taking them to the Division II state final for the only time in program history in 2011.

Lady Mustangs to sign

Walker Valley seniors Lyndsey Macon and Victoria Jones will sign scholarships soon to continue their basketball careers. Macon will sign with NAIA Division I member Auburn-Montgomery on Wednesday, and Jones plans to sign on Jan. 28 with Tennessee Wesleyan.

Macon, a 5-foot-4 guard, has averaged 7.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game for the Lady Mustangs (12-7).

"Lynds has improved so much over the four years I've coached her," Walker Valley coach Jessica Stone said. "She has a good understanding of late-game situations and a nice ability to find open teammates. She takes pride in distributing the ball and steps over to take multiple charges each game. AUM is a great fit for her, and I'm so excited for her and her future down there."

The 5-6 Jones has averaged 11.5 points per game. She shoots 41 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the foul line.

"Vic is one of our best defenders as well as one of our hardest workers," Stone said. "She can shoot the lights out and will fit in at TWC perfectly. She's put in extra time getting up shots and is very deserving of this next chapter in her life."

Lady Owls' big feat

Before last Tuesday, Cleveland's girls had outscored Ooltewah 1,772-914 in 27 basketball games since the 2001-02 season, with all going the way of the Lady Raiders. The worst in that span was 87-24 on Nov. 25, 2003.

It's unknown exactly how long the string of dominance covered. Lady Owls coach Donnie Mullins said longtime athletic director Jim Jarvis told him he didn't remember Ooltewah's girls beating Cleveland.

But Jarvis, Mullins and many other Lady Owls backers likely won't forget last Tuesday's 42-41 win at Ooltewah. Junior point guard India Corley broke the tie with a free throw with less than 30 seconds to play and the Lady Owls defended well enough in the remaining time to hold on.

Mullins, in his fifth year heading the program, had a team come within 46-44 of the Lady Raiders on Jan. 10, 2012. He said the key last Tuesday was rebounding real well against a Cleveland team that profits often from offensive rebounding.

"Our girls were pretty excited about it," Mullins said. "I think there was a little bit of shock in the air. Outside of our locker room, I don't think anybody expected us to do a whole lot.

Hope event beats $11,000

Hoops for Hope event coordinator Leigh Sanders has reported that the fifth annual high school basketball benefit held Dec. 7 at Signal Mountain raised $11,511.61 for the MaryEllen Locher Foundation Scholarship Fund -- the most in the event's history. The fourth Hoops for Hope had raised about $10,000.

Six scholarships were awarded at the December fundraiser to students who had a parent diagnosed with breast cancer, bringing the Hoops for Hope total number of scholarships to 15.

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