Senior guard Meeyah Green and her teammates on the Webb School of Knoxville girls’ basketball team survived a pressure cooker Friday afternoon.

The Miss Basketball finalist and Clemson signee felt the tension building in the days before the 45-41 victory over visiting Nashville Ensworth in the Division II-AA state quarterfinals.

“Honestly, me and my other senior, Avery Green, we’ve both been stressing all week,” Meeyah Green said, “because if we did lose, this would be our last game ever (at Webb). We didn’t want that to happen. We’ve been here for a long time.

“We’ve been with the program for the longest (time), and we just know there’s a long standard of state championships and stuff, and we wanted to get another one and go back-to-back again. The stress was really high, but we pulled together as a team and got it done.”

Webb (24-6) advanced to the Division II-AA Final Four in Clarksville, where it will play Thursday (March 5) against Christ Presbyterian Academy.

The Lady Spartans are defending state champions, are ranked No. 1 in the state by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association and are going for their third consecutive appearance in the state final.

Webb lost to rival Catholic by 14 points in the 2024 state championship and beat Christ Presbyterian Academy by 14 in last year’s state final.

“We want to win another one,” Meeyah Green said. “Since it’s me and Avery’s senior year, we want to get another one.”

Meeyah Green led Webb’s scoring Friday with 15 points, while sophomore post player Kyndall Mays scored 14 and junior point guard Corisa Lowery had 10 points. Mays scored 12 in the second half.

Mays and Meeyah Green were starters on Webb’s 2024 state runner-up team and Lowery and Avery Green were backups.

The Lady Spartans had an idea what Ensworth was bringing into their gym Friday. Ensworth, ranked No. 4 in the state, defeated Catholic by 21 in December.

“We knew it was going to be a tough competition,” Meeyah Green said. “We knew they were really physical and they were big. We just had to be really strong and hold our boxes out and just be physical back with them, and it would help us get the win.”

Webb never trailed in Friday’s game, and it was tied only twice, at 2-2 and 22-22.

The Lady Spartans took a 14-4 lead on Meeyah Green’s 3-pointer late in the first quarter and had a 14-6 lead after the quarter.

“I thought we got off to a good start offensively,” Webb coach Greg Hernandez said, “and then I think their physicality at times bothered us. We try to impose our will physically on teams, and they did a good job doing the same thing to us.”

Ensworth outscored Webb 14-7 in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to 21-20 at halftime. The Lady Tigers were 8 of 12 from the free-throw line in the second quarter.

Ensworth stayed within five points of Webb throughout the third quarter and trailed 37-34 starting the fourth quarter.

The Lady Tigers trailed 37-36 after a layup by 5-11 senior forward Alana Wells with 5 minutes, 57 seconds left.

It was gut check time for Webb.

“We can face adversity,” Meeyah Green said. “Not many teams face adversity like we do. We were under pressure when we were up by one (in the fourth). We knew we were up, and that was OK. We could keep making plays to get the win.”

And that’s what they did.

Mays got her third straight basket for Webb with 4:10 left, making a layup for a 43-39 lead.

Ensworth went 1 of 8 from the field the rest of the game, including 0 of 3 from 3-point range.

After Webb missed shots on four straight possessions, junior guard Mary Mac Emery was fouled and made two free throws for a 45-39 lead with 42.9 seconds left.

Ensworth’s Kim Cooper missed a 3-point shot with 30 seconds left, and after a Webb turnover with 3 seconds to play, Cooper scored at the buzzer.

“I’m proud of these girls,” Hernandez said. “It just shows how tough they are. That’s what I kept telling them in timeouts and huddles. I said, ‘Girls, it’s going to come down to who the toughest team is and the team that makes the least amount of mistakes.’ Fortunately for us, we were the one that made the least amount of mistakes.”

After playing the Final Four at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville the past two years, Webb will go to Clarksville next week and play in the new F&M Bank Arena and the new home court of Austin Peay State University.

“We are super excited,” Mays said. “We were dancing in the locker room.

“It’s a new area, a new court, but we’ll get used to that quick.”

Article written by Dave Link/5Star Preps. To read more on area high school sports or to see photo galleries, videos, stat leaders, etc., visit 5StarPreps.com — and use promo code New2026 for 30% off your first year or month subscription.

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