CONFERENCE CHAMPS WIN DISTRICT OPENER

The conference champion Booneville Junior High Bearcats opened the District 3A-4 tournament with a 44-21 win over Paris.

The tournament is being held at Bearcat Gymnasium.

The Bearcats (15-4) earned the top seed through the tiebreaker procedure as they matched 6-1 conference records with Charleston and Waldron.

Waldron would drop to the third seed in the points based tiebreaker with the Bearcats taking the top seed due to a head-to-head win over the Tigers in conference play.

The opening round win over the eighth seeded Eagles moves the Bearcats into the semifinal round against the winner of Cossatot River versus Danville, which will be played at 5:15 on Wednesday.

Jace Washburn (shown) scored the first six points of the game and the Bearcats were in control throughout. Washburn would score 20 to lead all players.

Washburn would score nine first half points and he and Macolen Tillery accounted for all but two of the first 16 points which led to a 16-7 halftime advantage.

With Paris hanging around – down just 20-11 with 2:47 left in the third quarter – Dakota Mattson took over with eight points over a span of 2:10, and with a free throw from Demari Poole it was 29-15 going to the final quarter.

Interrupted only by a pair of Aiden Carter free throws, Washburn scored the next nine Bearcats points pushing the lead to 40-21.

Seeded fourth, the Lady Bearcats will play their opening round game at 6:30 Wednesday against fifth seeded Danville at Bearcat Gymnasium. The winner will advance to Thursday’s semifinals against top seeded Charleston.

Charleston beat Cedarville Monday in girls play and Hackett beat Cossatot River. Charleston also eliminated Cedarville in boys play.