Lady Bulldogs set for State Tournament

Lady Bulldogs set for State Tournament

Earle girls headed to Carlisle to continue postseason play

ralphhardin@gmail.com It was a case of “oh, so close” for the Lady Bulldogs of Earle over the weekend.

The Lady Bulldogs continued their winning ways in the 2A Region tournament last week — at least until the finals.

The Earle girls dispatched Sloan-Hendrix in a rout, 79-36 and squeaked past Lake City-Riverside 55-53 to make the championship game, only to see their long undefeated run (not counting a forfeit loss on Jan. 31) end at the hands of the Lady Bearkatz of Melbourne. The loss not only snapped the Lady Bulldogs 14-game winning streak, but also gave the Lady Bearkatz the number-one seed in the North in the Class 2A State Tournament. Like the Bulldogs, the Lady Bulldogs were slotted in as the number two seed for the state tourney in Carlisle.

The Lady Bulldogs (22-4, 10-1 in the 2A North) will be matched up with the Lady Warriors of Cotter (14 17, 7-3 in the 2A West). Cotter secured the number three seed in the state tournament with a win over Hector on Saturday. The Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Warriors tip of at 4 p.m., tomorrow afternoon in Carlisle.

If the Lady Bulldogs win their opening-round showdown, that will set up a quarterfinal game between Earle and the winner of the first-round game between top seed from the 2A Central Quitman and number-four seed from the 2A South Cossatot River at 1 p.m. on Friday.

By Ralph Hardin