Quitman girls third in own tournament

By Larry Tucker
editor@wood.cm
Posted 1/5/23

The host Lady Bulldogs won three out of four basketball games to capture third place in the Quitman Holiday tournament. The third-place game was an exciting overtime win over Rains, 37-35.

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Quitman girls third in own tournament

Posted

The host Lady Bulldogs won three out of four basketball games to capture third place in the Quitman Holiday tournament. The third-place game was an exciting overtime win over Rains, 37-35. 

The Lady Vandals of Van took first place while the defending Class 4A state champion Brownsboro squad came in second. 

The Rains game was a defensive clinic as the teams battled to 27-27 at the end of regulation. Although the score was close throughout the game, Quitman took the lead early in the second quarter and was never behind. Rains got within one point on several occasions.

Quitman sophomore Allie Berry turned in a career game scoring 17 points and dominating the boards with 14 rebounds. Not only was she strong on the boards, the talented Berry made 4-4 from beyond the three-point line. Senior Kaysi Parker scored nine points and played well on the defensive end, too. Quitman lost the services of Maddy Pence due to an ankle issue in the second quarter, but a team effort came through for the win. 

The final quarter of the Rains game saw the Lady ‘Cats tie it up 27-27. Rains scored just four points in the quarter, but Quitman was held to a lone free throw by Kaylie Wood. In the overtime, Quitman added 10 points to eight for Rains. 

The overtime started with Berry hitting back-to-back triples in the first minute and Parker adding 3-4 crucial free throws. 

The tournament began with  Quitman outlasting Quinlan Ford 37-23 as the Lady Bulldog defense once again stepped up to hold back the Lady Panther offensive effort. Larkin Spears hit 3-4 triples while scoring 11 points with Pence also scoring 11 to lead the offense.

In the second game of pool play, the Lady Bulldogs defeated Como-Pickton 56-20 in an all around team effort. After taking a 19-11 edge at the half, Coach Blake Hamrick’s squad came back in the second half to blast the Lady Eagles 37-9 with an effective full court defense.

Ashley Davis played a great game scoring 10 points and grabbing eight rebounds with two steals. Berry led Quitman with 12 points followed by Annabelle Popek with nine, Parker eight, Spears seven and Sadie Vander Schaaf with six. 

In the semi-final game, Quitman lost to Class 4A Van 51-30. The Lady Vandals raced to a 37-19 lead at intermission. The Quitman defense responded in the second half holding Van to just 14 points, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit. Davis led Quitman with 10 points on three triples and a free throw.

Hamrick was pleased with the play of his team during the tournament. “I was really proud of the girl’s overall. We didn’t have any issues and we did a great job defensively.  We played a good Van team and lost and then we played a good Rains team and won,” Hamrick said. “What’s good about this team is that it could be anybody’s night out there at anytime.”

Hamrick said district will be exciting where they must face off with three of the state’s state-ranked squads. Winnsboro and Mt. Pleasant Chapel Hill are ranked in the Top 10 while Mt. Vernon was recently at 19th.

“Winnsboro and Chapel Hill are both just crazy good. We will have to play our best to stay on the floor with them,” Hamrick said. “Mt. Vernon is really good too, and Mineola has a good team. We need to just play our game and we will be fine. The goal is to be in the playoffs.” 

Quitman was set to play Harmony at home Tuesday and go to Winona Friday.