shs to host lady mavs in region tourney

A day after winning their second district tournament championship in school history, the Seymour Lady Eagles understand what lies ahead but are determined to enjoy the moment and take the pressure-packed next couple weeks one day at a time.

Seymour, which upset defending state champion Austin-East in the district semifinals Saturday and then took care of business against an upstart Gibbs team in the finals Monday, will take a No. 1 seed into this weekend’s region tournament.

The Lady Eagles will host District 4-AA No. 4 seed Anderson County on Friday.

A win Friday and the Lady Eagles will advance to the region semifinals.

Seymour head coach Randy Moore admitted that he didn’t anticipate this year’s Lady Eagles’ squad to accomplish what they have up to this point. The 2007/2008 Lady Eagles figured to be in for a rebuilding year of sorts after losing six contributing seniors from last year’s team to graduation.

“After losing our top six players, I definitely didn’t think we’d win the district tournament,” said Moore, who has guided the Lady Eagles to both of the district tournament championships in the program’s history not to mention three state tournament appearances in the last five years.

“It’s a credit to our girls. This is one of the nicest and fun-to-be-around group of girls I’ve ever coached and I’m extremely proud of them for working hard to do what they’ve been able to do so far. It’s a big accomplishment for them, being just the second team in school history to win the district tournament.”

Moore’s players do appreciate what it means to win the district tournament but they, understandably, still have bigger dreams to chase.

“Our goal is to make it to state,” said Lady Eagles’ senior leading scorer Tara Heyboer, the 2008 District 3-AA Tournament Most Valuable Player. “I think this team can do it if we put our minds to it. We control our own destiny. We just have to take it one game at a time.”

If the Lady Eagles’ are able to get by the 19-12 Lady Mavericks Friday night in the region tournament’s first round, they will play the winner of the Austin-East vs. Loudon game that is also schedule for Friday night at A-E. The region semifinals and finals will be played at Anderson County High School.