December 10, 2017

The defending Mississippi Class 1 state champion Pine Grove Panthers scored 22 straight points over the middle two quarters Saturday and rolled to a 47-34 victory Saturday in the SEMO Border Challenge girls basketball tournament at Poplar Bluff High School...

The defending Mississippi Class 1 state champion Pine Grove Panthers scored 22 straight points over the middle two quarters Saturday and rolled to a 47-34 victory Saturday in the SEMO Border Challenge girls basketball tournament at Poplar Bluff High School.

"Pine Grove's just an unbelievable team," Dexter coach Chad Allen said. "They won a state championship last year. They just do a lot of things right. This was a great learning experience. Hopefully, we'll figure some things out in practice next week."

The Panthers finished 3-0 in the round robin to take home the tournament title. The Bearcats finished second with a 2-1 record.

Earle beat Poplar Bluff 64-60 to place third, while the Mules finished fourth.

Pine Grove (11-2) controlled the boards and used a patient offense to take control early.

"We play man. That's kind of our thing, holding them to one shot," Pine Grove coach Katie Bates said. "We do whatever we've got to do to hold them to one controlled shot. We try to control the shots we're giving up. Dexter's really good. They're really tough to guard. They've got size and can step out and shoot it."

Haley Vick, who was named Pine Grove's player of the game, made two 3-pointers in the first quarter, helping the Panthers build a 12-5 lead. Vick finished with a game-high 15 points.

Hannah Thurmon, the Bearcats' player of the game, made two free throws and a long jumper to slice Pine Grove's lead to 12-9 after one quarter. She finished with 11 points.

Maycie Martin, who totaled 10 points, scored down low to open the second and cut the Panthers' lead to 12-11. However, that's when their rally began.

Lexi Elliott's 3-pointer began a 16-0 quarter-closing run for Pine Grove, and Loren Elliott scored the final six points to give the Panthers a 28-11 halftime advantage.

The Panthers scored the first six points of the third quarter before Martin drove the lane to snap the 22-0 run. Overall, they outscored Dexter 12-4 in the third to take a commanding 40-15 lead into the final quarter.

Dexter (6-2) made a run in the fourth, cutting its deficit to 44-34.

"Finally in the fourth quarter, we got into our pressure," Allen said. "We had a better time scoring once we did that. Just proud of the girls for finally fighting in the fourth."

The Bearcats hope to have all-stater Chaylea Mosby back Monday, according to Allen. She suffered a concussion in practice last week and missed the tournament.

"To be able to play these games without her, we learned a lot from it," Allen said. "Hopefully, we'll just keep getting better from it."

On Friday, Martin scored 15 points while Maci McBride sank three 3-pointers for nine off the bench in a 48-31 win over Oxford (Miss.).

Earle 64,

Poplar Bluff 60

Tasja Hughes sandwiched a long jumper between two free throws by Roshala Scott to break a 60-all tie and led Earle to a win over Poplar Bluff to earn third place.

Scott finished with 20 points while Hughey had 10 and was named Earle's player of the game.

Kiley Bess paced the Mules with 19 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, was named the player of the game for Poplar Bluff.

Doni Everts joined Bess in double figures with 16 points for the Mules, and on the all-tournament team.

Earle led 14-9 after one quarter, 32-29 at halftime and 46-45 after three quarters.

On Friday, the Mules trailed Pine Grove by four heading into the fourth quarter but the Panthers sank 11 of 15 free throws win 50-38. Bess led Poplar Bluff with 15 points while Everts scored 10 of her 12 points in the third quarter.

Twin Rivers 51,

Oxford 41

Twin Rivers took charge in the middle two quarters to salvage a win in the three-game round robin. The Royals outscored Oxford 30-16 to overcome a 15-11 first-quarter deficit. They pulled ahead 26-24 at halftime and took a 41-31 lead into the final quarter.

Katelynn South scored all of her team's 10 fourth-quarter points to help Twin Rivers finish off the Chargers. South, who was named the Twin Rivers player of the game and was on the all-tournament team, scored a game-high 21 points. Catey Hester and Abey Hester added nine points each for the Royals.

Oxford player of the game Christina Owens paced Oxford with 17 points.

On Friday, the Royals trailed by 11 at the end of the first quarter in a 79-51 loss to Earle. South scored 23 to lead Twin Rivers.

All-tournament team

Karlie Rogers and Haley Vick of Pine Grove, Dexter's Hannah Thurmon, Earle's Roshala Scott, Poplar Bluff's Kiley Bess and Doni Everts, Katelyn South of Twin Rivers and Oxford's Calicia Zinn.

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