Lady 'Cats Best Buffs, Advance to Saturday's Championship; Wildcats Downed by Little Ax at Byng Tourney

Free throws in crunch time proved to be the difference in the Lady Wildcats' 46-43 victory over Hugo Friday afternoon at the Byng Invitational Tournament. That victory has advanced the Madill girls into the championship title game set for 7 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 11). "That was two big wins in a row to get to the final," Madill coach Hugh Don Sweat said after Friday's semifinal. Senior guards Kaylen Sweat and Brenna Green connected on three crucial free throws in the last 29.5 seconds of the game to nail down the win. The whole contest seemed to include some big plays from Madill players when they needed them. Senior Haley Furr stacked up 22 points on the afternoon to lead the team. Madill held an 11-9 edge after the opening quarter. They stretched it to an 18-9 advantage before Hugo made a run to close the gap to 25-20 at halftime. The Lady Buffs carried the momentum into the second half and pulled ahead of the Lady 'Cats, 34-31, by the conclusion of the third period. Then it was Furr hitting a three-pointer to tie the contest, 34-34, with 7:35 left to play in the fourth frame. Furr netted a three-pointer with 2:42 to go to give Madill a 41-36 advantage. Hugo cut the lead to 41-38 when Mikah Hartsfield got a steal in the paint. Furr got the ball, was fouled and then sank her free throws for a 43-38 Madill edge with 1:16 to play. Green canned two free throws to push the margin to 45-39. Sweat netted her free throw to give Madill a 46-41 cushion. The Wildcats again took the early lead only to see it disappear in a 63-54 loss to Little Ax in Friday's consolation bracket. The loss pushes Madill into the seventh place game at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday (Jan. 11). The 'Cats had three players score in double figures. The 'Cats led 15-14 at the close of the first period. They outscored the Indians 13-12 in the second quarter to hold the 28-26 edge at the break. Little Ax responded with a 20-point third quarter and a 17-point fourth to record the win. Joe Avery and Colton Clement each scored a dozen points apiece to pace the Madill squad Friday afternoon in the loss. Box Score-Girls Madill                11        14        6        15            46 Hugo                  9        11        14        9             43 Madill (4-3): Furr 22, Sweat 11, Green 8, Hartsfield 5 Box Score-Boys Madill                15    13        15        11            54 LitAx                  14    12        20        17            63 Madill (3-4): Avery 12, Clement 12, Bond 11, Conway 8, Martinez 6, Scott 5