SEVIERVILLE — Who are these girls in Purple and White?

The Sevier County Bearettes (5-10, 4-3 in District 2-AAA) won their second game in a row against stiff competition Thursday night, beating the Morristown East Lady Hurricanes (8-6, 4-4) 63-55.

The Bearettes used the combination of senior Jaisa Moritz’s outside shooting touch and sophomore Carly Pippin’s all-around game to blow past the Hurricanes in the game’s third quarter and never looked back.

After a back-and-forth first half, a 3-point barrage from Moritz, Pippin and Hailey Tackett pushed the Bearettes out to a nine-point lead late in the third quarter 48-39.

East tried to surge back into the game with five straight points, but another Moritz 3-ball ended the quarter at 51-44.

The Bearettes slowed the game down in the final quarter after taking a double-digit lead on a Tackett 3-point play.

Kendra King and Sam Hale combined to get East back in the game at 57-53 with just minutes to go, but Madison Pickel and Joslyn Connatser sealed the win for SCHS with some clutch free throws.

The first half was a torrid back-and-forth affair that saw 16 lead changes or ties.

Morristown East had the advantage early on inside as Megan Blaylock and Emilie Hensley scored against smaller Sevier County defenders.

SCHS guards Pippin and Tackett kept the Bearettes in the game, however, with several strong drives to the basket.

A 5-0 East run to close out the first quarter left SCHS trailing, though, 15-10, as the game’s first buzzer sounded.

A Tackett bucket after an offensive rebound and a Pickel 3-pointer knotted the game at 15-15 in the opening moments of the second.

An 8-0 run by the Lady Hurricanes pushed the East squad up 26-19 a few minutes later, but Sevier County responded, as Moritz poured in a pair of treys to help cut the lead to one at 28-27.

But a 3-point play from East’s Lindsey Wells following a putback bucket from the ’Canes gave the team a 33-27 lead at half.

Moritz was the team’s leading scorer in the win with 21 points, followed by Pippin with 18.

Tackett played a great overall game, snagging several offensive rebounds and putting up 12 points. Pickel added six points, followed by Connatser with four and senior Amanda Parton with two.

The Bearettes play again tonight at Cherokee.

mpsports@themountainpress.com