Jasmine Martin scored a season-high 20 points for Belgreen on Tuesday night, and the Lady Bulldogs dominated the second half to pull away from Vina for a 76-52 win in the semifinals of the Class 1A, Area 13 tournament at Phillips High School.
Belgreen (19-9) also got 18 points from Emma Dempsey and 17 from Ansley Tate, both season-highs as well. The Lady Bulldogs out-scored Vina 40-20 in the second half and will ride a five-game win streak into Friday night’s area final against top-seeded Phillips.
Senior guard Abby Hester hit six threes and scored a game-high 27 points on Tuesday for the Lady Red Devils, who finished the season 24-9.
Dempsey, a freshman post player, scored eight points in the first quarter, and Belgreen also got early threes from Martin, Gabbie Moore and Autumn Bragwell on its way to leading 22-18 at the end of one. Martin, a senior guard, made two more threes and scored eight points in the second quarter, but Hester countered with a pair of threes for Vina to keep the Lady Devils within four at 36-32 going into the break.
The Lady Bulldogs began to take control in the third quarter, shooting 6-for-7 from the foul line and getting another three from Martin to out-score Vina 19-8 and open up a 55-40 lead. Tate, a sophomore post player, scored seven points in the fourth quarter, and Dempsey went 4-for-4 from the line as Belgreen closed the game on a 21-12 run to seal its third win of the season over the Lady Devils in four tries.
Hester had 10 points in the fourth quarter, topping the 20-point mark for the 14th time this season. She scored 605 points as a senior (18.3 per game) and finished her varsity career with 1,672 points and 1,103 assists, the third-highest assist total in state history according to the AHSAA.
Kaitlyn King and Emma Humphres each had six points for Vina on Tuesday, and Sarah Johnson scored five. Kaley Vandiver finished with four, Rayleigh Guin had three and Sara Scott added one. The Lady Red Devils made eight threes as a team and shot 16-for-30 from the foul line.
Martin made four threes on the night and went 4-for-7 from the foul line. Emma Dempsey shot 10-for-13 from the line. Moore finished with nine points, and Gracie Dempsey scored five. Bragwell had three, and Emma Willingham and Katie Dempsey each added two.
Belgreen made seven threes as a team and shot 19-for-29 from the line.
The Lady Bulldogs will now try and knock off Phillips in Friday’s area championship. The winner will host a sub-regional game next Monday night against the Area 12 runner-up, while the loser will travel to face the Area 12 champion in sub-regional play.