Rhea Count Senior Lakyn Lockhart sets to shoot vs McMinn on 2/11/25 with Coach Vest looking on.(Photo:GaryBolden)

Rhea Basketball Wins vs Lady Cherokees, Host Cleveland in Big District Matchup

2/11/25 - Athens, TN -- Rhea County Lady Eagles traveled to McMinn for a game with the Lady Cherokees in district basketball action on Tuesday night. Rhea County took the win 57-31 and will host # 1 district team Cleveland on Friday, 2/14/25. Cleveland comes in off a loss to 22-3 Oak Ridge on Tuesday night 55-43. In the game vs Oak Ridge, senior Lauren Hurst(a UT Lady Vol signee in basketball) tweaked her groin and is day-to-day. As it is, the Lady Eagles gave Lady Raiders all they could handle in the previous contest, played in Cleveland in late January. The 51-41 final score does not do justice to the competitiveness of the game. The Eagles led in that game 38-32 after 3 quarters before a big rally by Cleveland in 4th quarter turned the game in Cleveland's favour. Hurst was the leading scorer in that game with 16 points.

Rhea vs McMinn 59-31

Rhea began well with 15-3 in the McMinn game with Lockhart and Ruehling each scoring 5 points. 2nd quarter was another win for Rhea 19-10 for a 34-13 halftime lead. The Lady Eagles were able to substitute a good amount of playing time in the second half on the way to the 54-31 win. Lakyn Lockhart had a couple of 3-point baskets early to jump-start the Lady Eagle offense and she went on to lead the Lady Eagles with 14 points. Jenna Burchard was also in double figures with 12 points in the game. Jetta Sharp put in some good minutes off the bench with 9 points and Cammie Ruehling added 8 points. Other scorers for the Lady Eagles were Allie Shaver 4, Kloe Reeves 3, Jaslyn Butler 4 and Abigayle Kelly with 3 points. Sewell and Dingess led the Lady Cherokees with 10 and 8 points respectively. Also scoring were: Hennessee 1, Clark 2, Skidmore 2