LADY BEARCATS WIN REGIONAL OPENER; EARN STATE BERTH

Leigh Swint marked her return to the floor with an acrobatic drive to the basket for the first points of the game and the Booneville Lady Bearcats went on to a 52-21 win over Cedarville in the opening round of the Class 3A Region 1 tournament being held in Booneville.

The Lady Bearcats (27-0) advanced to a semifinal game set for 1 p.m. tomorrow – Sunday – in a tournament three times postponed due to the weather.

The Lady Bearcats scored the first 12 points of the game, and were never ahead by less than double digits the rest of the way.

Swint had another basket in the opening run and finished with eight points in three quarters of work – it was 40-12 when the regulars went to the bench.

Heaven Sanchez had a pair of steals that led to layups to close out the first half and both she and Joliegh Tate (shown splitting defenders) had seven first half points.

Sanchez would finish with nine points and record seven steals. Tate was on her way to 11 points scored, like Swint, in three quarters of work.

After managing just four points in the district tournament in Cedarville, Carah Miller got untracked with a pair of first half 3s – one conventional and one from beyond the arc – in the first half.

Miller hit a second 3 in the final quarter and added a nifty layup on an assist from Brooke Turner that actually closed out the scoring for the Lady Bearcats.

Besides matching Tate with 11 points, Miller led the way with seven rebounds.

Karmen Kent, who drew her first start in place of an ill Hayley Roberts, opened the second half scoring for the Lady Bearcats, starting a 13-0 run that enacted the sportsmanship rule with 5:57 to play.