Malden, Portageville to clash in girls BHC tournament final

Portageville's Briania Pitts (3) goes up for two of her 28 points during the Lady Bulldogs win over Senath-Hornersville. (Photo by Cody Tucker)

SENATH, Mo. -- The second-seeded Portageville's Lady Bulldogs are set to face off against top-seeded Malden in the girls Bootheel Conference Tournament final. Malden secured its spot in a 79-14 rout over South Pemiscot before Portageville slowly wore down hosts Senath-Hornersville in a 78-62 win.

Briania Pitts led Portageville with a game-high 28 points, including 16 points in the Lady Bulldog's second-half surge. Pitts got help from Jacara Madison, who scored 13 points while Adrienne Duncan added 12.

Third-seeded Senath-Hornersville entered halftime with a 34-32 lead thanks in part to strong scoring and rebounding from Maggie Crossno and Madi Shrum. Crossno finished the game with 18 points while Shrum tallied 14. Leighann Dinkins also scored 12 points.

Portageville came out stronger in the second half, outscoring the Lady Lions 20-12 in the third quarter and 26-16 in the fourth. Now, the Lady Bulldogs are set to face off against the favorites from Malden, who won their regular season battle 56-37.

In junior varsity play, Portageville's top seeded underclassmen towered over fourth place Hayti 32-12, while second place Campbell topped third place Malden 39-10.

The finals will be held Thursday, Jan. 11 at Senath-Hornersville High School, starting at 6 p.m. with the JV final followed immediately by the varsity final.

VARSITY:

Portageville 78, Senath-Hornersville 62

SHS: 18 16 12 16 - 62

PHS: 16 16 20 26 - 78

Senath-Hornersville: Dinkins 12, Edmonston 5, Marroquin 5, Crossno 18, Shrum 14, R. Tom 6, Hernandez 2. FG: 2pt-17, 3pt-5. FT 13/20 65%

Portageville: Pitts 28, Roston 10, S. Taylor 4, M. Taylor 2, Dunan 12, D. Johnson 2, Diondra Johnson 7, Madison 13. FG: 2pt-30, 3pt-2. FT 12/26 46%

Malden 79, South Pemiscot 16

SHS: Williams 2, Clifton 10, McDaniel 4 FG: 2pt-7 FT 2/2 100%

Malden: Newton 2, Williams 17, Stone 21, Benford 23, Reed 3, Perkins 13. FG: 2pt-32, 3pt-3 FT 6/9 67%

JUNIOR VARSITY:

Campbell 39, Malden 10

MHS: 0 5 1 4 - 10

CHS: 15 10 10 4 - 39

Malden: Lasha 1, Criglar 6, Hoehn 3

Campbell: Steward 2, Peters 6, Parker 20, Burns 6, Murphy 2, Farmer 3.

Portageville 32, Hayti 12

HHS: 8 1 1 2 - 12

PHS: 7 11 10 4 - 32

Hayti: Hubbard 3, Hayes 2, Stelzer 4, Taylor 2, Jones 1

Portageville: Mosby 7, Priggel 4, Karizamimba 8, Taylor 7, Crafton 6