PIEDMONT -- The Lady Royals shot 52 percent from the field to get one more chance at toppling the top team in the Ozark Foothills Conference.
Twin Rivers beat Doniphan 76-61 in the OFC Tournament semifinals Monday and will play Neelyville -- which beat Naylor 78-30 in the other semifinal -- in the championship at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Bess Activity Center at Three Rivers College. It will be the third meeting this season between Neelyville and Twin Rivers, with Neelyville winning the previous two.
With ice projected in the Tuesday night forecast, times are subject to change.
The Lady Royals (15-8, 7-1 OFC) took the lead for good against Doniphan (13-9, 4-4) late in the second quarter, but needed a sustained effort throughout the second half to put things away.
"Having that little cushion in the fourth quarter probably made them have to do things on defense they weren't comfortable with, come get us, and that is what we like," Twin Rivers coach Kelly Westerfield said. "We like people to be aggressive and drive at them."
Up by three at halftime, Twin Rivers held Doniphan to two field goals in the third quarter to triple its lead going into the fourth.
Doniphan didn't have its best shooting night and was able to stay in the game with a near perfect night at the free-throw line.
The Donettes were 22 for 24 as a team at the foul line. Paige Eddington, who had 25 points, was 13 for 13.
"She played hard. We weren't shooting from the outside so we wanted to attack the basket," Doniphan coach Larry Mueller said of Eddington. "She is very aggressive, she will do that for sure."
Eddington was 6 for 6 at the line in both the second and third quarters. Doniphan got 15 of its 24 points in the middle half of the game from free throws, then went 3 for 4 at the line in a fast paced fourth quarter as Twin Rivers stretched out the lead.
"They just out-shot us tonight. It was an up and down the floor game and they just made more shots than we did. That was the difference in the game," Mueller said. "I think both teams played hard, battled hard. And we didn't hit our 3s like we had in the past and they made theirs."
Helped along by 14 offensive rebounds, the Lady Royals had 31 field goals and six 3-pointers to Doniphan's 18 field goals and three 3-pointers.
With their outside shots not landing, the Donettes turned to attacking the basket, which worked until it didn't. Twin Rivers, meanwhile, played to its preferences with a fast pace and quick shots.
"Shooting those quick shots and they go in, you're the hero. If they don't go in it gives them a chance to come back and beat us. Fortunately they went in," Westerfield said.
Six Lady Royals got a field goal and five of those six shot 50 percent from the field. Only team leading scorer Katelyn South, who is fourth all-time in career scoring at Twin Rivers, had a tough night shooting. South was 8 for 23 shooting and 4 for 4 on free throws to lead Twin Rivers with 23 points.
Brooke Blume was 8 for 9 shooting, including three 3-pointers, and scored 21 points. Katie Deken added 14.
"Some night's it is there and some night's it is not. They played pretty good ball," Mueller said.
Jakelyn Friend had 17 points for Doniphan, which will play Naylor in the third-place game at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Clearwater.
Neelyville 78, Naylor 30
The Lady Tigers held Naylor to one point in the third quarter as it further dominated and already lopsided game.
Neelyville (19-4, 8-0) led 50-22 at halftime and by 51 going into the fourth quarter.
Jentri Worley led Neelyville with 22 points, including three 3-pointers. J'Kayla Fowler added 17 points and Autumn Dodd had 14.
Maddy Cagle's free throw was Naylor's sole point in the third quarter. The Lady Eagles (7-11, 2-5) had three field goals in the second half and Callee Pickrell led the team with 18 points after going 8 for 10 on free throws.