BOGUE CHITTO – The Bogue Chitto Lady Cats took one on the chinas the Ethel Lady Tigers clawed their way to an 81-56 Saturdaynight win and captured the MHSAA South State 1A Girls Championshipin R.L “Bob” Calhoun Gymnasium.

In the North State Championship, Byers defeat Coldwater55-40.

The Lady Cats (30-2) still advance to the State Tournament as theNo. 2 seed of the South and face the North No. 1 seed Byers LadyLions (27-8) Friday Feb. 25, at 6:30 p.m.

The Lady Tigers (26-2) will have a week off before entering thetournament as the South No. 1 seed. Ethel will play the ColdwaterLady Cougars (25-3) Saturday Feb. 26 at 9 a.m..

This is the first appearance in the Big House for the Lady Catssince 2002. The last time Bogue Chitto won the coveted gold ballwas 1995. The only other loss that the Lady Cats suffered was toMcLaurin Lady Tigers, Nov. 20. Ethel snapped BC’s 24-game winningstreak.

Ethel 81, Bogue Chitto 56

Basketball fans got to witness a battle between the two top-notchSouth teams duking it out in the first quarter as the scoreseesawed back-and-forth. The Lady Tigers had to readjust their gameplan in the second quarter to stall the high-octane Lady Cats andforce the Rogers’ sisters out of the paint to defend. Ethel led40-31 at halftime.

In the second half, the Lady Tigers continued to stall the game andtook timely shots as everything was going in for them. Bogue Chittotried to make a comeback but had a tough time hitting their shotsas the Lady Tigers pressure continued to get tougher.

Aneshia Dillon pumped in a team-high 17 points to lead the LadyCats. Teareon Rogers provided a double-double with 14 points and 11rebounds.

“I thought we were not on our game,” said BC coach Christi Terrell.”We had a bad first half. We got down in the second half and couldnot get ourselves out of it.

“Ethel shot the lights outs,” continued Terrell. “This was the bestgame they have played all year. Now, we must regroup and get readyfor Friday night.”

The Lady Tigers had four players score in double figures. Seniorguard Velvet Johnson knocked down a game-high 29 points. LashonnaAustin contributed 19 points. Anna Dotson netted 16 points andTiffany Merritt added 10.

“We knew coming in the game, we had to slow down Bogue Chitto’soffense,” said Ethel coach Murray Woody. “They have someoutstanding post players, so we had to force them out of thepaint.

Bogue Chitto has an excellent team,” stated Woody. “I expected tosee them again in the State Championship. Overall, I was pleasedwith our defense. This was the best game we played defensively. Wewere very lucky that things went our way.”