District roundup: Neelyville, Twin Rivers win titles

VAN BUREN — The third was a charm for the Neelyville Lady Tigers against the East Carter Lady Redbirds.

After losing to East Carter by four and eight points, respectively, in the regular season, Neelyville used a hot start Friday night to fuel a 75-63 win over the Lady Redbirds in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 2 championship game at Van Buren High School.

Friday’s win also avenged a 46-38 loss to East Carter in sectionals last season, making the district title that much sweeter for Neelyville.

The Lady Tigers (19-10) started hot and didn’t let up until the game was well in hand Friday, using a 13-0 first-quarter run to take control of the game early. Jade Crosswhite capped the opening run with a 3-pointer with less than half a minute left in the period to make it 17-5 in favor of Neelyville.

Two free throws and a basket by Breanna Dohleman early in the second quarter capped a 6-0 run to open the second quarter and cut the Neelyville lead to 17-13. But the Lady Tigers answered with a 12-4 spurt, making it 31-19 on Parker Ernst’s putback with a little more than 90 seconds left before halftime.

Dohleman’s basket midway through the third quarter cut the Neelyville lead to 41-29, but the Lady Tigers outscored East Carter 16-5 over the next three minutes and change as Gracie Green’s putback late in the period made it 57-34.

East Carter (22-6) did not give up, outscoring the Lady Tigers 16-6 in the middle of the fourth quarter and making it a 68-57 game on Dohleman’s free throws with 2:17 to go. But a Layni Dobbins basket roughly 20 seconds later stopped the bleeding for Neelyville.

Dobbins led the Lady Tigers with 20 points, while Ernst had 19, Crosswhite added 17 — including five 3-pointers — and Alaina Prince finished with 10.

Dohleman paced the Lady Redbirds with a game-high 28 points, while Anna Crowley had 14, Parker Golden added 10 and Katelyn Nichols contributed eight.

Neelyville will play host to Portageville in MSHSAA Class 2 sectional action Monday night. Portageville (22-5) won Class 2 District 1 Friday with an 80-32 dismantling of Senath-Hornersville.

Tipoff time Monday is set for 6 p.m.

__Class 3 District 1__ __Twin Rivers 43, Malden 40__

At Broseley, the host Lady Royals edged Malden in a close, hard-fought defensive battle to capture the district title that eluded them last winter.

Twin Rivers led 12-8 after the opening period, 18-16 at the intermission and 28-26 going to the fourth quarter.

Both team had their struggles at the foul line, shooting under 50% from the charity stripe, but the Lady Royals sank their free throws when it counted as they were 6-for-6 at the line in the final period.

Lilly Oliver led Twin Rivers with 14 points, while Amelia Douglas added nine and Raegan Null finished with seven.

Sydni Halliburton paced Malden with 13 points, while Carsyn Cohen and Angela Dobbins each had 10.

The Lady Royals (14-13) will take on Saxony Lutheran (18-8) at 6 p.m. Monday.