Fillies Finish as Runner-Up, Mustangs Advance to Title Game

DOVER — The District 12AA tournament continues at press time as snow has pushed the four-school tournament back by two days.

The tournament, being played at Stewart County High School, was scheduled to finish last Friday with the boys championship game, but snow saw the girls championship game being played on Saturday night with the Stewart County Lady Rebels upsetting the Huntingdon Fillies for the district title.

The Fillies defeated Stewart County twice during the regular season but fell victim to foul trouble and some cold shooting from the field to lose to the Lady Rebels 62-48 in the title game. The score was tied at the half 18-18 and at 28-28 with 3:19 left in the third quarter, but Stewart County outscored the Fillies 34-20 down the stretch to claim the win.

The Fillies had two players foul out and only made four three-pointers from the floor. Quinn Kelley, the Fillies’ best three-point shooter, was held to only two points on the night and failed to make a three-pointer.

The Lady Rebels also held Sara Beth Smith in check for the night. Smith, who entered the game averaging almost 15 points per game and was named the district MVP for the regular season, was held to 10 points for the night.

Delaney Byars, who surpassed 1,000 points earlier in the season, led the Fillies with 22 points. Josey Stokes scored 9, Knox Bennett 5 and Kelley 2. Stewart County got all their points from their starting five as Angie Nelson scored 20, Faith Dacus 17, McKayla Wallace 12, Jadyn Newman 11 and Namine Bridges 2.

The Fillies started the tournament on Monday night with a 71-34 win over Waverly and were led in scoring by Stokes and Smith with 16 each, Kelley 15, Byars 11, Grier Bartholomew 3, Ellie Wilson 3, Bennett 2 and Kaylen Cary 2.

The Mustangs, who were originally scheduled to start the tournament on Tuesday after it was moved up from Thursday, didn’t play their first-round game until Friday night and defeated the host Stewart County Rebels, earning a 75-40 win after a slow start to the game. With the win the Mustangs advanced to the championship game against Camden on Monday, February 24 in Dover. Results were not available at press time.

In the Mustangs’ win over Stewart County, they got twenty points from three different players. EJ Lewis led the Mustangs with 21 for the night, Caleb Ezell 20 and Kenton Smith 20. Lucas Smith scored 4, Bryson Whiteside 3, Kelton Johnson 3, Braylin Dearmon 2 (and a ton of rebounds) and Hayes Eubanks 2.

Stewart County was led by Jacob and Zachery Morgan with 12 apiece.