Lovelady girls win bi-district, area titles

Lovelady Lady Lions pose for a celebratory photo after winning the area championship over Bosqueville last Friday. Pictured are (front l-r) Macie LaRue, Arris LeMaire, Mihyia Davis and Haley Davidson; (back l-r) assistant coach Taylor Rich, Chelsea Butler, Jada Johnson, Aaliyah Jones, Shelby Pugh, Shyanne Pipkin, Lexi Price and head coach Kollyn McWhinney. Not pictured is Haley Shupak. Lawanna Monk Photo

By Lawanna Monk

FAIRFIELD – Lovelady Lady Lions used clutch free throw shooting down the stretch  to seal a 41-34 area round victory over Bosqueville on Friday night.

Lovelady (33-4) faced Martin's Mill (32-3) in the regional quarterfinal Tuesday in Elkhart.

The Lady Lions led 6-0 after a quarter and 21-10 at the break but saw their lead shrink to seven at the end of the third.

Leading by six, Lovelady's Mihyia Davis scored a bucket for a 37-29 lead with 1:10 left.

Bosqueville quickly cut the lead to five with 54 seconds left. After hitting the front end of a one-and-one and missing the second, the Lady Bulldogs got the rebound and laid the ball in to make it 37-32 with :42 left.

Freshman Lexi Price went to the line for a one-and-one and sank both shots for a 39-32 lead.

The Lady Bulldogs refused to go away, scoring a basket on its next possession to get within five with :25 left.

Bosqueville sent Davis to the line for another one-and-one, but the senior calmly nailed both to ice the game with 23.7 seconds left.

The Lady Lions knocked down an eye-popping 13 of 15 attempts at the charity stripe for an 86 percent average.

In contrast, Bosqueville struggled at the line and only made 4 of 18 shots for 22 percent.

Davis was a perfect 5 of 5 at the line in the fourth quarter, and led Lovelady with 15 points. She also had three steals.

Price knocked down 5 of 6 free throws in the final frame and finished with seven points. She was also credited with six rebounds and four blocks.

Sophomore Aaliyah Jones, 3 of 4 at the line, had seven points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

Senior Shyanne Pipkin flirted with a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. She drained one three-pointer.

Senior Macie LaRue's three points came on  a trey in the first half.

Bosqueville (25-9), a district  runnerup, defeated Bremond, 53-36, in bi-district.

Opening the playoffs last Tuesday in Grapeland, the Lady Lions defeated the Cross Roads Lady Bobcats, 78-35.

Lovelady led 26-15 after a quarter and outscored  Cross Roads by 11 in the second quarter to pull away  45-27.

The Lady Lions opened up a 62-34 lead in the third and dominated the final period 16-1 to put the game away.

Sophomore Chelsea Butler posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, along with getting two steals. Butler picked up 11 of her points in the second half.

Four other scorers reached double figures.

LaRue hit a pair of three-pointers and led with 17 points, three rebounds and three steals.

Davis had 14 points, three rebounds and three steals.

Price and Jones rounded out double figures with 10 apiece Price also collected five rebounds, four steals and seven assists.

Jones, who drained a pair of treys, booked four rebounds and four steals.

Pipkin knocked down a trey and finished with seven, Shelby Pugh had three while Jada Johnson and Arris LeMaire chipped in two apiece.