It's East Carter! Lady Redbirds end Ellington run with all-points attack

VAN BUREN — It is safe to assume that the last time the East Carter Lady Redbirds won a district tournament title, the parents of its current roster members had either not gone on a first date yet or even had a clue about the person they were about to share the experience with.

But what those pairings created years later was the first district champion since 1999.

No. 2 seed East Carter, sparked by a comprehensive performance inside and outside and a big momentum push after halftime, was able to outlast No. 1 Ellington and Kaylee King in a 77-70 instant classic barnburner Saturday in the Class 2 District 2 championship at Van Buren High School.

Ellington's Kaylee King, 32, makes a steal from East Carter's Ciara Duckett in Saturday's district title game at Van Buren Saturday. King played in what turned out to be her final game, scoring 36 points, as East Carter won 77-70 to advance to Tuesday's sectional against Neelyville.DAR/Alan Dale

It was also a big dose of revenge for East Carter, who lost at home to Ellington after the Christmas break — and with the Lady Whippets playing with a shorthanded roster.

This time, the Lady Redbirds full arsenal was on display and King and crew were unable to answer the challenge, ending Ellington’s run to another final four appearance.

The Lady Redbirds (21-6) were paced by Brooklyn Kearbey (26 points), Parker Golden (19), Breanna Dohleman (13) and Anna Crowley (11).

Kearbey could only smile when asked to look back a month-plus earlier after her team was whipped up by South Iron and her disappointment was palpable that night.

“We knew we had to get down, grind out and we really wanted this and knew that this was what the whole season was for,” Kearbey said. “We worked for it. This game is just a mindset. Last time we played them, we went in thinking we were losing and this time we thought we were going to win.

“We just know this is such an important game — it could have been my last one — and it put a fire under our butts. This feels really great.”

Ellington (19-9) was led by King, whose legendary career ended with a 36-point performance that came with plenty of bumps and bruises, and Dylan Price’s 14-point effort.

Ellington will now move on without King and Ella Morton, but it was a season that curried as much appreciation as the previous two that finished in the state finals.

“(East Carter) definitely found themselves at the right time,” current Ellington assistant and former head coach Paula King said. “They have all the key pieces — a point guard and they have height. I am proud of our growth over the year. We had two kids starting that had probably seven minutes total varsity experience (beginning the season) and I am proud of the growth that they made. We had challenges to overcome, including Dylan being hurt and coming back and adjusting to that.

“After Thursday I thought we looked pretty good, but (East Carter) throws a different kind of punch at you. I am proud of my girls and East Carter won it fair and square, did it fair and square and I wish them good luck.”

East Carter head coach Angela Rodgers referred the girls to previous similar experiences where they had tough games heading into the half only to see them turn it around and pull away in the second half.

“I said let’s go out and play like that,” Rodgers said of the halftime chat. “Win or lose, at least we are playing our hardest. That’s what we did — we played maturely, we shared the ball and made smart choices. We played through things.

“You never want to underestimate a team because Kaylee is more than one player — she can carry the load of two and a half if she has to. We knew if we could handle them defensively, we would be able to be fine on the offensive end.”

The first quarter was full of high intensity combining solid offensive play, defensive stops, and plenty of scratch-your-head turnovers, but the early signs of a long battle were there.

Both teams enjoyed 7-0 runs at one point and it would be an East Carter lead at 21-17 after eight minutes as layups by Golden and Korra White ended the period for the Lady Redbirds to establish their biggest lead at that point.

The lead blew up to seven points on a Golden successful and-one early in the second quarter, but Ellington answered with seven straight to tie the game at 24-all.

Lloyd then scored four straight to push the Lady Whippets into a 28-24 lead a minute later.

The offensive fireworks continued and the Lady Whippets led 33-31 with still most of the last four minutes of the half remaining.

Another Golden layup made it 33-33 with 3:33 to go, and a layup by Anna Crowley ultimately gave East Carter a 40-38 lead at the break.

The scoring excellence continued after halftime — and when Crowley hit a triple, then a layup after a forced turnover, the Lady Redbirds had a sudden 49-40 lead 91 seconds after coming out of the locker room.

This game continued to be one the weak of heart needed to miss as the teams exchanged rallies.

Ellington chipped away to pull within two points, but East Carter managed to push its lead back up to 58-51 on another Crowley layup and Dohleman make-and-one as the Lady Redbirds eyed retribution eight minutes on the horizon.

The Twin Towers of East Carter — Golden and Dohleman — continued to dominate inside and suddenly after the two knocked down some shots early in the final period, the Lady Redbirds led 64-51 with 6:27 left and forced Burrows to call timeout.

Rodgers was proud of the performances of her sophomore combo of Crowley and Golden.

“Anna is a great kid and she’s battled her body and she’s getting better, but she hasn’t even hit her full potential yet — I really hope she can do that the next year because great things are going to happen,” Rodgers said. “Parker is a game-changer for us and we’ve always said that. “She’s realizing it and starting to apply it.”

Up 71-59 with 3:17 left, Dohleman fouled out and East Carter would have to improvise a little.

Of course, having Price foul out 30 seconds later didn’t hurt that cause for the Lady Redbirds.

Then up nine points with 1:22 left, East Carter saw King foul out and with it, another final four run for Ellington.

“It means a lot for me not being able to play at the beginning of the year, coming back, and eventually being able to start and help my friends as much as I can,” Crowley said. “We just all got our heads together, starting using our bigs, and had good teamwork. (The last time they played Ellington) was my first game back. We knew we were going to win this time.”

East Carter travels to Sikeston at 6 p.m. Tuesday for a Class 2 sectional clash with Ozark Foothills Conference rival Neelyville, who beat Campbell 51-43 in the Class 2 District 1 final.

The two OFC squads split a pair of meetings earlier in the season.

“Neelyville is up and we’re going to go get them,” Crowley said. “We aren’t going to settle.”