LADY BEARCAT HISTORIC SEASON COMES TO AN END

The Booneville Lady Bearcats saw their historic season come to an end with a 53-36 loss to Lamar in the quarterfinal round of the Class 3A State tournament.

Head coach Tim Goers and the Lady Bearcats finish the year 29-2, losing only on the past two Sundays.

The win count matches the most by any team in any sport by either gender. The Lady Bearcats also matched the deepest run of any previous Lady Bearcat team.

Sunday the Lady Bearcats got off to a furious start, opening a 16-7 lead with :07 left in the opening quarter. All five starters had scored, as had Karmen Kent, to build the lead.

Lamar was able to cut that to 16-9 when Kori Sanders went to the free throw line with :00.4 after a foul call.

Fouls were a problem for the Lady Bearcats. Sanders went back to the line with 7:07 to go in the half on what was Heaven Sanchez’s second whistle.

That made three Lady Bearcats sent to the bench with two fouls apiece.

Lamar (30-2) was able to further cut into the lead but the Lady Bearcats got baskets from Carah Miller, Kent, and Joleigh Tate – on an assist from Brooke Turner – with 2:37 left in the half to maintain a 22-16 edge.

The Lady Warriors closed the half on a 9-0 run, going in front for the first time since the 3:05 mark of opening quarter, on a 3 just :05 before the half, 25-22.

It took 3:05 for either team to score in the third quarter when Lamar made it a 12-0 run with three more points – the conventional way – by Sanders.

A 3 by Sanchez (shown driving to the basket in the opening round game), who would lead the Lady Bearcats in her final game with nine points, made it 28-25 and ended an exact eight-minute scoring drought.

Two threes over the next minute pushed Lamar out to a nine-point advantage and after a couple of free throws from Tate, who scored eight, a conventional three-point play made it a double-digit Lady Warrior advantage.

Lamar got a 3 to open its fourth quarter scoring then proceeded to win it at the free throw line, hitting 13-of-14 over the last 6:03, with Sanders hitting 10 straight chances to finish with 20 points.

For the night, Lamar shot 25 free throws, converting 18. The Lady Bearcats shot three free throws through the first three quarters and finished with eight, making four.

The Lady Bearcat scoring column featured eight names with Hayley Roberts, who pulled down six rebounds, scoring a basket in her final game.

Tate led the way in rebounding with eight, and Leigh Swint recorded four steals and three assists.