As the clock wound down late in the fourth quarter of Richland’s TSSAA girls basketball state tournament quarterfinal matchup against Copper Basin, chants of “final four” could be heard echoing down from the stands throughout MTSU’s Murphy Center.
The Lady Raiders (28-4) made their first appearance in the TSSAA state tournament since 1993, and secured a dominant 45-25 win over Copper Basin (18-9), sending Richland to the Class 1A state semifinals for the first time since 1986.
Richland moves on to play Greenfield (27-6) at 11 a.m. CT on Friday.
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A different chant rang out from the Richland student section in the third quarter.
Chants of “Shelby Higgins” filled the gym as the UVA-Wise commitment scored one of her eight buckets on the night, finishing with a game-high 26 points along with five rebounds and five 3-pointers. Bailey Blair added 12 points for Richland while Alexis Hyatt led Copper Basin with eight points.
“You can definitely tell we haven’t been here in a long time,” Higgins said. “Just the support, a lot of people were here for us, filled the stands with orange. I’m just so thankful for that … it’s surreal.”
Higgins has dreamed of performing on Tennessee high school basketball’s biggest stage, having been a part of three straight Region 5 tournament defeats in her high school career.
“We’ve been so close so many times,” coach Chad Hall said. “Even the years we didn’t make it to the final of the region, we were so close, there’s just so many teams right there that are so good. Two turnovers or two buckets is the difference a lot of times.”
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Stepping out onto the court for opening tip, it wasn’t nerves that overwhelmed Higgins, but instead a rush of adrenaline that didn’t subside until she put the Lady Raiders on the board with a 3-pointer midway through the first quarter.
“It’s mainly adrenaline but I was excited,” Higgins said. “I’m going to play college next year so I know this is the atmosphere I’ll need to get used to.”
Midway through the season, Higgins faced doubts about whether she’d be able to be on the court to lead Richland back into the state tournament. Against Wayne County on Dec. 13, Higgins suffered a broken nose that forced her to miss seven games and left her wearing a protective mask in the weeks following her return.
Returning to the court against Cornersville Jan. 9, Higgins was determined to make up for lost time with the remainder of her season.
“I missed games you can’t get back. As a senior you know this is your last year, you want the best for your team, and I just think I had to make the most out of everything,” Higgins said. “That’s what I feel like I’m doing. We made it here which was a big goal but now it’s to win it all.”
Harrison Campbell covers high school sports and more for The Daily Herald. Email him at hcampbell@gannett.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @hccamp.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: TSSAA girls basketball state tournament: Richland moves into semifinals
