District 1-3A b-ball: Arnold falls, Chipley eliminated

DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — Five minutes was all it took for Chipley’s season to come to an end.

The Lady Tigers trailed by six at halftime to host Walton but didn’t score for the first 5 minutes of the second half and it was too much to overcome in a 65-52 loss.

“We had an outstanding effort,” Chipley coach Tracey Dudley said. “We played hard.”

Chipley was outscored 15-7 in the second quarter to set up the halftime deficit. The Lady Tigers finished the season 5-20.

Senior LaThera Robinson carried the Lady Tigers as far as she could, scoring 28 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

At halftime of their District 1-3A quarterfinal against Pensacola Catholic, the Arnold Lady Marlins still had the promise of advancing to the semifinals. But 5 minutes into the third quarter, those hopes were gone.

Catholic quickly scored seven unanswered points and Arnold couldn’t recover, losing 54-34 in a game played at Walton High School.

“I think my girls started to panic,” Arnold coach Bryan Normand said. “We’ve blown a lot of halftime leads. During the regular season we lost nine games and probably in half we had the lead at halftime. And we don’t know how to finish the game and get the win.”

Even with the loss, Arnold achieved its first winning season in girls basketball with a record of 11-10.

Joanne Booker led Arnold with 12 points, all in the first half. Candice Edmundson scored all 11 of her points in the second half.