MURFREESBORO – What was a great season from the North Greene Lady Huskies came to disappointing end on Thursday night in Murfreesboro.
In the quarterfinals of the Class 1A State Tournament the Lady Huskies struggled to get shots to fall and could not get enough stops on defense as they fell to Middleton 43-33 at the Murphy Center on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University.
“We’re disappointed. It ends so fast and you are never prepared for that, and it hurts so bad,” North Greene coach James Buchanan said. “I was a little upset with the way we played. All year we have encouraged this team to win the toughness category, and tonight I think (Middleton’s) kids went where they wanted to. We had some breakdowns mentally and physically. I really hate this for all of these girls, but especially these two seniors.”
The loss brings an end to what has been a special season for North Greene, one in which they took an almost wholly new-look lineup and made it to the state’s biggest stage for the seventh consecutive season. The Lady Huskies finish the 2025-26 campaign with a 28-8 record.
“This is a very special group of great young ladies, and I feel very blessed to coach them,” Buchanan said. “This has been a fun group, but when it was time to get serious I don’t know that I’ve had a group lock in better. This has been one of my favorite years, I think because they let me coach them, and that made it a lot of fun.”
With three sophomores in the starting lineup on Thursday and another in the primary rotation the future still looks plenty bright in Baileyton, but on Thursday the focus was more on two veteran leaders stepping off the floor for the last time.
Ella Head has been an important part of North Greene’s success for the last four years, and Natalie Foshie chose to join the program as a senior but certainly left an impact in her one season in green. Both played in their last games for North Greene on Thursday.
“These two seniors left this program in a much better place. I think we are better people and we were a better team because of them,” Buchanan said.
Thursday started optimistically for the Lady Huskies as Josie Graham stole possession at the opposite three-point line and ran away for a layup that started the night’s scoring. But, it took almost eight minutes for North Greene to get another field goal to reach the bottom of the net.
Middleton did not exactly get off to a blazing fast start either and it did not take the lead until the 3:50 mark of the first quarter when Harmony Bell made one of two at the charity stripe.
In the final 1:02 of the first quarter Kemora Buggs nailed a three-pointer and scored on an offensive rebound to go in front 10-4.
On the first possession of the second quarter Kenya Polk nailed a triple for the Lady Tigers to put them in front 13-4.
Going the other way Eva Leonard landed a runner to give the Lady Huskies some life. Then the Lady Huskies got a stop, and a rebound by Foshie quickly moved ahead to Leonard and then Graham for a fastbreak layup.
With 5:55 left in the first half Tralyn Southerland scored on an offensive rebound that closed the gap to 13-10.
North Greene briefly took the lead at 15-14 when Ella Head drove under the rim and kicked to Leonard for a triple with 2:08 left in the first half.
The half finished with defensive lapses allowing Bell to drive the lane three times to give Middleton a 20-15 lead at the break.
To that point in the game North Greene had kept Bell, the Lady Tigers’ leading scorer, in check, but her first three field goals of the night flipped the momentum.
The second half started the right way for the Lady Huskies and on the first possession Southerland powered through a double team for a layup.
With 6:22 left in the third quarter Leonard knocked down a triple from the corner to put the Lady Huskies in front 22-20.
That lead lasted 13 seconds, and Polk quickly went the other way for a transition layup. Three more driving layups put Middleton in front 28-22.
North Greene was able to close the gap to 32-27 at the close of the quarter after Leonard hit from behind the arc again.
Neither offense could get much going early in the fourth quarter, but with 3:13 left to play Head made a pair of free throws to cut Middleton’s lead to 34-31.
Over the next minute North Greene forced three turnovers but could not turn any of them into the equalizer. The first turnover Leonard almost immediately took the rim after stealing the inbound pass. It looked as though she might have created a three-point play, but her shot rattled out and no whistle followed.
The next two steals were taken back by the Lady Tigers almost as quickly as they were lost.
North Greene was able to force 17 turnovers on Thursday, but they gave away 19. That paired with the Lady Huskies shooting 28 percent from the field and 23 percent from three-point land ultimately hamstrung the offense.
“Ultimately that is my fault,” Buchanan said. “If a team is playing up on you, there are a lot of ways to adjust to that, but that is something that has to be built over the course of the season. We see where we have to improve, but it hurts when you don’t have a chance to improve with this team.”
Thursday’s 33 points was the second lowest offensive output of the year for North Greene. The 43 points allowed were in line with its season average of 41.4 points.
Bell took over for Middleton over the final two minutes by getting inside and drawing contact. She made seven free throws in that stretch and scored on a breakaway layup as the margin ballooned to 43-33 at the final horn.
Bell led all scorers on Thursday with 18 points and Polk added 11 points for the Lady Tigers.
Southerland led North Greene with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Leonard added 11 points. Both sophomores along with Graham and Cadie McDevitt will be back next year, now with state tournament experience under their belts.
