LADY BEARCATS TAKE BEST SHOTS, PREVAIL

Trying to beat teams for the third time this season, maintain a perfect season, and win a conference tournament for the first time since 1993 and complete the regular season and tournament title in the same year for the first time since 1988, the Booneville Lady Bearcats found themselves behind in the second half on successive nights.

In the finals against Danville on Friday the Lady Bearcats (26-0) found themselves in a 30-20 hole with 3:06 to go in the third quarter before pulling out a 49-42 win.

The Lady Bearcats will be the top seed from the 3A-4 and will face Greenland, the four seed from the 3A-1 at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the first round of the Class 3A Region 1 tournament being held at Bearcat Gym.

Second seeded Danville had taken the double digit lead with an 11-0 run in Cedarville, the host of the 3A-4 tournament, to start the second half.

Then Joleigh Tate (shown) and Heaven Sanchez then went to work, ending more than a five minute scoring drought with a combined 10 points over a span of 2:28 to tie the game.

The senior duo finished with a combined 37 points with Sanchez scoring 19 and Tate 18. Both also had six rebounds and they combined for nine steals with Tate having five and Sanchez four.

A Lady Little John free throw just 6.7 seconds before the quarter break gave Danville the lead back, 31-30.

Sophomore Lexi Franklin, who has absorbed a lot of minutes while Leigh Swint remained sidelined with an ankle injury for the second week, drained a 3 with 7:38 to play for the first Lady Bearcat lead since a long 3 at the first half buzzer by Sanchez had made it 20-19.

The Lady Bearcats would lead 35-31 after a Tate basket just 20 seconds later but Danville would retake the lead 38-36 on their sixth 3 of the game with 4:13 to play.

Hayley Roberts tied it on a nifty assist from Tate and Sanchez made it 40-38 after one of her steals.

Baskets by Tate and Sanchez made it an 8-0 run to open a 44-38 lead and, after Danville closed to within 44-40, a basket by Tate just 5 seconds later had it back to a six point advantage.

Free throws by Sanchez pushed it to 48-40 with 25.5 seconds to go.

On Thursday it was Charleston who gave the Lady Bearcats their best shot before a 40-29 final.

Even that came after a blistering start in which the Lady Bearcats were up 13-0 less than six minutes into the game.

It was 15-2 after a Karmen Kent basket nine seconds into the second quarter and it was 17-5 after a Franklin bucket before the Lady Tigers put together a run of their own, scoring the last seven points of the half to tie the game at 18-18.

Sanchez scored the first four points of the second half but by then three and a half minutes were gone from the clock.

Charleston then went in front over the course of 40 seconds. The Lady Tigers led 26-24 with 2:37 left in the quarter but Tate hit a 3 to give the Lady Bearcats the lead back and a Sanchez basket made it 29-26 through three quarters.

Charleston got within 29-28 but Roberts started a 7-0 run with a basket. Sanchez was responsible for the remaining five points and would finish with 17 points, the only player in double figures.

A free throw interrupted the run but free throws by Sanchez and Tate, who scored eight in the game, completed to semifinal win.