Byron Martin (22) and Tyrone Doggett go high with a Cougar player in an attempt to block a shot. Rector was able to get far too many shots to drop in their win over the Indians in the opening round of the district tournament last week. (Tribune photo/Ron Kemp) [Click to enlarge]

Both the Indians' and Lady Indians' basketball seasons came to an end on the BIC court at Monette last Tuesday night in the opening round of the 2A-3 district tournament.

The eighth-seeded Lady Indians took the court first, losing to fifth-seed Crowley Ridge Academy, 53-46.

The Lady Falcons knew they were in a battle from the beginning as Marked Tree went out to a 12-9 first quarter lead in large part due to the underneath play of Mary Davis, who finished with a game-high 14 points on the night.

"We were in control for the entire first half," said coach Luke Lovins. "It was the best half we had had all year in boxing out and rebounding. But they came back in the second half and took it from us."

CRA came back to stifle the Lady Indians' offense in the second quarter, allowing them only five points. At the same time, the Lady Falcons offense got untracked with a 15-point quarter to take the lead at the half, 24-17.

After the break, Marked Tree (4-19) responded with their best quarter of the night as they hit for 15 points to take a slim 35-34 lead at the end of the third period.

Four treys, as well as nearly every Lady Indian getting on the scoreboard, helped put the Lady Tribe in a game-winning position in the final eight minutes. Unfortunately, the fourth period was CRA's best quarter of the night, scoring 18 points to Marked Tree's 12 to take the 53-46 win.

Following Davis, Deziree Tull had 11 points with Amelia Stacy scoring eight, Hannah Ghant seven, Patrice Powell four and Emma Terrell two.

For CRA, three players had 12 points each, Bethanie Johnson, Audrey Cupp and Aynsley Bloom, while Deidre Fears closed her team's double figure scoring with 11.

"I was disappointed in the game and the season," concluded Lovins. "But with no seniors, we have everyone coming back. Tenth graders Amelia Stacy and Hannah Ghant made a difference from the beginning and will be even more important to us next year. With the injuries we had to Rachel Young and others all year long, we had to have them help make up the difference and they did.

"They were playing out of their normal positions as was Deziree Tull, but they stepped up. And Shelby Beck came off the bench a lot of games to make a difference. I'm excited about next year."

Cougars 81, Indians 49

In the Indian-Cougar game which followed the Lady's match, fifth-seeded Rector never gave the Indians a chance to get in gear as they pounded 26 points into the basket in the first quarter while allowing only seven by the Tribe (2-20).

"We did pretty much like we had done all year long," said coach Barbara Wilburn. "The only difference was that we didn't even play hard and at least we had played hard all year long. We seemed to be just kind of out of it and I didn't expect that."

The relatively penalty free game (only 15 charity shots total) was a near wash in treys with Rector dropping in six and Marked Tree five. As a result, the game boiled down to a battle largely in the paint, which the Cougars clearly came out on top of.

The second quarter had much the same results as the first with Rector pumping in another 20, while Marked Tree responded with eight, resulting in a dominating 46-15 first half score.

The third period saw the Indians finally able to open up and get some points on the board as they pushed their total out to 39 with a 24-point performance. Rector didn't just sit on the bench and watch, though, as they added another 19 to their total to keep Marked Tree thoroughly at bay, 65-39.

The last 8:00 was basically academic as the, by now, frustrated Indians were able to add only another 10 points while the Cougars rubbed further salt in the wound by tacking on another 16 points for the 81-49 total.

Gavin Thompson led the Tribe's scoring with 14. Tyrone Doggett followed with 13 from his post position while Jarvis Smith added 10, Joseph Anderson six, Colton Frazier four and Richie Tate two.

Four players for Rector hit in double figures with Justin Duke getting 24, Derek Wyss 16 points, Jackie Graham 14 and Garrett Evers 13.

"We have a young team," Wilburn concluded. "With only three seniors and mostly 10th graders, the future looks good. We'll just continue to work in the off-season to try and get better and get ready for next year."