Hickory – For the fourth time this season, the Andrews girls varsity basketball team faced off against Robbinsville.
After the Lady Wildcats defeated the Black Knight in their first three meetings, the Knights beat Andrews 53-38 on Thursday.
This time, it was during in the West Regional round of the state 1A playoffs at Lenoir-Rhyne University, the teams’ second matchup at neutral site after the Big Smoky Mountain Conference tournament at Murphy High School.
More than 600 fans packed Shuford Arena on the college campus, with history on the line for both programs. The Lady Wildcats haven’t been to the state championship since they won it in 1977, while the Lady Knights have never appeared in the finals.
The game got underway Thursday evening with more than 600 fans in attendance. It was a less-than-ideal start for the Lady Cats, as the Knights scored 16 unanswered points in the first quarter.
Down 16-0 heading into the second quarter, the Lady Cats roared back by scoring 13 straight points in the second quarter to get themselves back in the game.
They closed the gap to one point but failed to take the lead. With 19 points in the second quarter, the Knights led 20-19 at halftime.
The Knights came changing out of halftime and scored 27 points in the third quarter as the Lady Cats scored nine points. Andrews trailed 47-28 heading into the fourth quarter, and it would prove to be a tough hill to climb.
Despite outscoring the Knights 10-6 in the fourth quarter, the Lady Wildcats couldn’t complete the comeback. Robbinsville won to advance to the state championship, where they will face Wilson Prep – the same matchup as the 2025 football state 1A championship game.
Drea Cutshaw led the Lady Wildcats with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Knox Davis also scored in double digits with 11 points.
Juliet Holloway had eight points, Marley Blackwell had six and Kimber Vaught had one. Blackwell and Holloway also had seven rebounds each.
The Lady Cats got into foul trouble with 25 personal fouls, resulting in 28 free-throw attempts for the Lady Knights.
Robbinsville had 18 personal fouls, resulting in the same number of free-throw attempts for the Lady Wildcats.
Reflections on game
Lady Wildcats head coach Tim Wood said his biggest takeaways from Thursday’s Regional game were that they had scoring opportunities, but failed to convert against a good Robbinsville team.
“I felt like we got a lot of good, open looks, despite the pressure we were facing against the Robbinsville defense, but we just couldn’t get many of them to fall, including several wide open layup opportunities. It was our worst shooting game of the year, and the worst possible time for it to happen,” Wood said.
“Credit to Robbinsville though, as they made us earn every shot and every point we got. We effectively shot 15-for-65 from the field. We had a chance after halftime after getting settled in the second quarter and getting the game back under control, but foul trouble in the third stifled our chances to get any momentum.
“Anyone can see that we are dangerous when we are able to do so. It just didn’t happen. That created a lot of doubt and hesitancy in our girls, and affected us mentally. It was a great experience, and we are blessed to have been able to take part in it.”
Reflections on season
Wood said playing in the Regional game was good experience for the team, especially since the majority of players will return next season.
“Overall, we were glad to be able to compete on that stage, and it will only help us better to prepare for the upcoming years. This group of young ladies and this program are not finished yet, and we are only going to improve,” Wood said.
“We are still one of the youngest programs in our conference and possibly the state. Eight out of the 13 on our bench for that regional final were sophomores and freshman, so we are still learning and growing.
“We are extremely confident that this isn’t the last run that we will make in the playoffs. We believe we will be a contender every year from this point. We didn’t quite get where we wanted this season, but we are not done yet. We will be back.”
Reflecting on the season as a whole, Wood said his team accomplished most of their goals that they set.
“Our goal was to make a run in the playoffs, to attempt to get twenty wins, and to continue to build upon previous years so that we could be one of the top 1A girls basketball programs in the state,” he said.
“Aside from missing out on one more win, we met all of those goals. In some ways, we exceeded many of our long-term goals. As I have said previously, we are actually ahead of schedule from what our long-range plan originally was.”
In the off season, Wood said they will continue to do what they have been doing. They will continue to work hard, specifically through spring ball, skill development, camps, scrimmages and team bonding, Wood said.
“We haven’t even gotten close to reading out full potential, and that is a good problem to have for the upcoming seasons. We are going to stay hungry, focused and committed,” he said.