The Central Holmes Lady Trojans completed a perfect run through District 1-AA last week as they swept the tournament title as well.
The Lady Trojans extended their win streak to 19 games as they needed overtime to beat Oak Hill 67-64 in the tournament semifinals and then capped off the week with a 43-34 win over Carroll Academy in the tournament finals.
The Trojans finished fourth in the tournament as they opened up with a 49-44 win over Winona Christian. The Trojans then lost the next two games, falling 55-34 to Winona in the tournament semifinals and then 73-51 to Oak Hill in the tournament consolation game.
Both teams advance to the North AA Tournament which will be hosted by Marshall Academy. The Lady Trojans will face Benton at 3 p.m. on Tuesday and possibly face the winner of Oak Hill and Greenville Christian on Friday at 3 p.m.
The Trojans face a much tougher test as they will face Greenville St. Joseph, the No. 1 seed out of District 2-AA. That game is set for 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday as well. A win on Tuesday, would put the Trojans in a Friday matchup at 6:45 p.m. against the winner of Carroll Academy and Greenville Christian.
While the Lady Trojans ran through the regular season in District 1-AA, they had a tougher time in the tournament.
In the semifinals, the Lady Trojans needed double overtime to beat Oak Hill for the third time this season. Each team scored 13 in the first period, and Oak Hill led 32-28 at the half. Central Holmes pulled back even in the third as it outscored Oak Hill 12-8 to knot the score at 40-40 going into the fourth, where each team scored 17 points. After each team scored three points in the first overtime, Central Holmes outscored Oak Hill 7-4 to take the win. Breann Bell had a big game with 27 points while McKaylee Polk added 23 points.
“This team is like a lot of teams we have played up and down this season,” Central Holmes girls coach Niki Edwards said. “We have managed to win most of the games even when we don’t play well and I like that trait in our team moving forward.”
In the championship game, the Lady Trojans opened quick and finished strong to take a nine-point win the division title. Central Holmes led 14-9 at the end of the first and 23-16 at the half. But Carroll cut into that margin by outscoring Central Holmes 8-4 in the third to make the score 27-24 going into the fourth. Central Holmes finished off the game by outscoring Carroll 16-10 to take the win.
Breann Bell led Central Holmes with 18 points while McKenna Polk added 11 points.
BOYS
The Trojans faced an elimination game on Tuesday and came away with a 49-44 win over Winona Christian.
In that contest, each team scored 10 points in the first period but Central Holmes used a 19-9 advantage in the second to lead 29-19 at the half. Winona mounted a comeback in the second half as they outscored Central Holmes 9-6 in the third and 16-14 in the fourth but the Trojans held on for the win. Lake Melton led a balanced scoring attack with 10 points while Peyton Killebrew had nine points and Josh Haymer added eight. Lawrence Wiley had six points and Noah Burton added five points.
In the tournament semifinals, the Trojans lost to host Marshall 55-24 and then lost 73-51 to Oak Hill in the tournament consolation game. In the Marshall game, Wykece Johnson had 12 points and Lawrence Wiley added eight points. Against Oak Hill, Noah Burton had 18 points while Johnson added 10 points.
