The Nolensville Lady Knights claimed back-to-back District 12-AA Tournament titles on Monday night, beating the host Marshall County Tigerettes 50-37 at the Dottie Kelso Memorial Gymnasium in Lewisburg.

“We showed a lot of resiliency,” Nolensville coach Chris Ladd said. “Marshall is one tough team, we know every time we play them we always have these kind of battles with them, so we knew we were going to get their best punch and that’s what they gave us.”

“It kind of took us a minute to gather ourselves and we got fortunate to make some plays and make some shots in the fourth quarter to get the lead.”

Nolensville used a pressure, half-court trapping defense to take the Tigerettes out of their rhythm by not allowing them to ever get comfortable on offense.

“We try to run that little half-court trap to try to take teams out of their offense and create some turnovers,” Ladd said. “When we do it right it looks pretty good, but we gave them some wide open three’s that they knocked down and that is the catch in it.”

Nolensville’s starting five consists of three seniors and two juniors and the experience is evident in crucial situations for the Lady Knights, who extended its winning streak to 13 games with the win over Marshall County.

“It’s gonna be hard to let them go, they have just been a coach’s dream,” Ladd said. “They are great kids, they are resilient, they battle hard, they get it done in the classroom, so it’s nice to have that group because they never feel like they are out of a game and they fight back no matter what is happening.”

Senior Grace Baird and junior Zoe Pillar had 13 points apiece, senior Caymin Ladd was also in double figures with 10, District 12-AA MVP Parker Leftwich had eight points, and senior Sydney Mickulin netted six.

“Parker does a lot of things for us and creates a lot of offense for us as well,” Ladd said. “She has really had a great year and blossomed in to a really, really good player.”

Dionna Crutcher was the only Tigerette in double figures in the scoring column with 10 points, Kelsey Keiler had eight, Karlye Wiser six, Hannah Davis four, and Sydney Tidwell netted three points.

Marshall County jumped out to an early 8-2 lead behind 3-pointers by Wiser and Tidwell before two 3-pointers by Baird tied the game with 2:30 remaining in the first quarter.

Crutcher scored on a drive to the dish and then came up with a late rebound and put-back to give MCHS a 12-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Tigerettes clung to the lead for much of the second quarter, leading 21-17 after a pair of free throws by Keiler just past the midway point in the stanza before the Lady Knights made their move with a 7-0 run to end the first half.

Nolensville also got some help by the Tigerettes, who missed the front end of two one-and-one opportunities from the free throw line.

Pillar started the late rally with a bucket in the low post to make it 21-19 and Ladd drained a 3-pointer to put Nolensville in front before Leftwich came up with one of her patented steal and scores to make it a 24-21 contest at the break.

The Tigerettes came back, opening up the third period with a 7-2 run behind four Keiler points bookended around a Wiser 3-pointer to make it 28-27.

Marshall County had the ball after a Nolensville turnover, but Ladd swiped the rock and scored and then forced a Marshall County turnover off the half court press and Baird banged home a 3-pointer as Nolensville went on to build a six-point lead by the end of the third period.

A Crutcher 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter made it a 39-34 contest before Nolensville put together a 7-0 run, capped off by a Baird 3-pointer, forcing a Marshall County timeout with 3:52 remaining in the contest.

The Tigerettes only scored three more points the reminder of the game while Nolensville scored four to claim the 13-point win.

Nolensville hosts Fairview in Friday’s opening round of the Region 6-AA Tournament while the Tigerettes entertain Hickman County.

“I told coach (David) Steely we will see you next week,” Ladd said. “Creekwood is good, but he is a great coach and he has a bunch of resilient girls too.”

“He (Steely) is a great coach and has been doing it a long time just like me and I tell the girls every year, we are playing a great team with a great coach and we have to be on our best every time if we want to beat them.”

The remainder of the region tournament moves to Community on Monday.

Marshall County 12 9 10 6-37

Nolensville 8 16 13 13-50

Marshall County (37): Dionna Crutcher 13, Kelsey Keiler 9, Karlye Wiser 6, Hannah Davis 4, Sydney Tidwell 3, Israel Hurt 2.

Three-Point Goals (5): Crutcher 2, Wiser 2, Tidwell.

Free Throws (6-for-10): Keiler 3-for-5, Davis 2-for-2, Crutcher 1-for-2, Kayla Keiler 0-for-1.

Nolensville (50): Grace Baird 13, Zoe Pillar 13, Caymin Ladd 10, Parker Leftwich 8, Sydney Mickulin 6.

Three-Point Goals (7): Baird 4, Ladd 2, Mickulin.

Free Throws (5-for-8): Leftwich 2-for-3, Pillar 1-for-1, Baird 1-for-2, Mickulin 1-for-2.

Halftime Score: Nolensville 24, Marshall County 21

District 12-AA All-Season Team

Coach of the Year-Chris Ladd (Nolensville)

Kelsey Keiler (MCHS)

Dionna Crutcher (MCHS)

Carissa Curtis (Forrest)

Jaide Langley (Forrest)

Zoe Pillar (Nolensville)

Grace Baird (Nolensville)

Parker Leftwich Nolensville-MVP)

Hannah Hill (Giles County)

Bri Brown (Giles County)

District 12-AA All-Tournament Team

Laura Mealer (Forrest)

Kelsey Keiler (MCHS)

Dionna Crutcher (MCHS)

Sydney Mickulin (Nolensville)

Caymin Ladd (Nolensville)

Parker Leftwich (Nolensville-MVP)

District 12-AA All-Academic Team

Bri Brown (Giles County)

Angel Howard (Giles County)

Ashtan Houston (Giles County)

Kelsey Keiler (Marshall County)

Courtney Agnew (Marshall County)

Skylar Cadenhead (Community)

Laine Simmons (Community)

Payton Davis (Community)

Jaide Langley (Forrest)

Shea Lewis (Forrest)

Ally Blanton (Forrest)

Anna Blanton (Forrest)

Olivia Rosecrans (Forrest)

Grace Baird (Nolensville)

Addie Keen (Nolensville)

Sydney Mickulin (Nolensville)