Poyen paces itself to beat Hackett

JUDSONIA — The Poyen Lady Indians used a decisive third quarter to put away Hackett in the first round of the Class 2A girls state tournament at White County Central High School.

Fueled by five different players, Poyen (27-4) outscored Hackett 19-5 in the third quarter to all but secure a 66-39 victory.

Poyen, the No. 3 seed from the South regional, will face top-seeded Earle tonight at 7.

Junior guard Bree McDermott led the Lady Indians with 17 points. Elise Hicks had 12 points and Kyla Puckett chipped in 11.

Poyen led 12-9, and Hackett had its chances early but couldn’t get shots to fall.

“We intentionally did not come out quite as aggressively in the first quarter,” Poyen Coach Mickey Shaffer said. “We wanted to stay away from foul trouble and sit back and see how the game was going to play out.”

Poyen picked up the pace in the second quarter, but Hackett forced a 17-17 tie midway through the quarter. Poyen answered by closing the first half on a 12-4 run after breaking the tie.

“McDermott is one of our leaders,” Shaffer said. “She is a good ball handler, very skilled and a good shooter.”

Poyen used some solid free-throw shooting in the third as well as a tightened defense to aid its offense.

“In the third quarter, we decided just to go all out and press as hard as we could press,” Shaffer said. “That kind of sparked us, we got some turnovers and kind of got into Hackett’s legs.”

Shaffer noted the road never gets easier with Earle looming.

“I’ve been to state several times, and you just have to keep going,” Shaffer added. “Every game is different, and you just never know how it’s going to play out.”

Cassie Bell led Hackett with 10 points.

BIGELOW 66, BRINKLEY 49

The Bigelow Lady Panthers rolled into the second round by beating the Brinkley Lady Tigers.

Jill Nutt led Bigelow with 27 points, including 3 three-pointers and 10 of 12 from the foul line. Elise Wilson added 15 points.

Destiny Cartwright led Brinkley with 13 points while Kennedy Reinhart added 10.

CARLISLE 51, MURFREESBORO 37

Carlisle senior forward Kylie Warren scored 32 points, including six three-pointers, to lead the Lady Bison past the Lady Rattlers.

Warren had 23 of her points in the first quarter. Blakely Ellis finished with 10 points for Carlisle.

Erin Davis and Jordae Hunter each finished with 11 points for Murfreesboro.