After a slow start, the Quitman Lady Bulldogs picked up the pace midway through the first quarter on their way to a 48-34 District 12 3-A win over Grand Saline Friday. The victory on the road moved the Lady Bulldog district slate to 1-1 with games this week at home against Edgewood (Tuesday) followed by a Friday contest at Rains.

Quitman was down 4-2 when Julia Simpkins put in a short jump shot to make it 4-4 with 3:38 to go in the period. Quitman went ahead on a bucket by Madison Pence who got a beautiful assist from Ava Burroughs. Quitman did not lose the lead the rest of the way.

Quitman dominated the boards with Maddy Whitehurst, Reiny Luman and Burroughs leading the way as the Lady Bulldogs outrebounded the Lady Indians 20 to 8. Whitehurst continued her tough play on both ends of the floor and led Quitman in scoring with 16 points and pulling down six rebounds. Near the end of the first half, Whitehurst came down with a rebound and took the ball the length of the floor for a lay-up giving Quitman a 22-11 advantage. A Lady Indian free throw as the quarter ended made it a 22-12 game.

The Lady Bulldogs broke the game open in the third quarter with a 19-7 run which put them ahead 41-19 going into the final eight minutes as Quitman had eight players score points in the quarter. Grand Saline tried to press, but the Lady Bulldogs had no trouble breaking it, keeping the ball in the middle of the floor and making timely passes down court.

Grand Saline did close the scoring gap in the final quarter with nine of their 15 fourth quarter points in the closing three minutes making the score a respectable 48-34 in Quitman’s victory. 

Head Coach Blake Hamrick was pleased with the Lady Bulldog performance.

“I’m very proud of our team and the way we played,” he said. “Those girls work hard every day and earned a good district win, the first in a long time,” Hamrick said. “I thought we executed when we needed to, and we shot the ball well. We have a big week this week and need another good week of preparation. “

Whitehurst led the way with 16 points followed by Burroughs with 10, Pence seven, Simpkins five, Kynlie Love and Shelbi Hayes four each and Lindsay Hornaday two.