HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The Arabian Knights edged West Point 51-50 in the Sweet 16 last week to advance to the Elite Eight and they were back on the court Monday night to battle Scottsboro with a spot in the Final Four on the line. Unfortunately for the Arab crowd, the Wildcats got off to a fast start, building a 44-19 lead by halftime. The Knights rallied in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to down to 11 at one point but they couldn’t overcome the early deficit and Arab’s season came to an end with a 71-53 loss to Scottsboro.
Lily Livingston knocked down a three-pointer to give Arab an early, 3-2 lead but Scottsboro responded with 15 unanswered points to take a 17-3 lead midway through the first quarter. Livingston laid one in to stop the run and cut the lead to 17-5 and Maggie Chastain drilled a three to make it 19-8 later in the period. Lauren Lambert scored through a foul and tacked on the free throw to chip away at the lead and Hailey Price added another basket in the final minute of the first, but the Knights still trailed 25-13 going into the second.
A pair of Lambert baskets trimmed the lead to 29-17 early in the second quarter but it was all Scottsboro for the rest of the period. The Wildcats smothered Arab on the defensive end, scoring 12 straight points to build a 41-17 lead. Chastain laid one in to make it a 41-19 game with less than a minute remaining in the half, but Scottsboro knocked down a three on the other end to take a 44-19 lead into the locker room at the break.
Lambert laid one in, and Hailey Price scored through a foul and added the free throw to make it 46-24 early in the third quarter. A basket by Bennett Elrod and free throws from Chastain and Livingston helped trim the lead to 47-29 with two minutes remaining in the third. Livingston drilled another three before the end of the period to make it a 50-32 game going into the final frame.
A pair of baskets from Price cut the lead to 55-36 early in the fourth quarter and free throws from Julie Stapler and Chastain helped bring the lead down to 57-40. Elrod laid one in to bring the lead down to 15 later in the period and after splitting a pair of free throws, Lambert buried back to back three-pointers to cut the lead to 62-49. Another Elrod basket made it a 62-51 game with just over two minutes to play and after Scottsboro hit a three on the other end, Lexi Mann sank a pair of free throws to hold the lead to 65-53. Unfortunately, those were the final points of the season for Arab as the Wildcats pulled away to win it 71-53 and advance to the Final Four.
Lambert led the Knights with 16 points in the loss. Livingston posted 10, Price finished with nine and Chastain added eight.
Lily Livingston and Lauren Lambert both earned Northwest Regional All-Tournament team honors.
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