Lady Devils defeat Malone 70-52 to win trip to State Championship

BONIFAY – It was Malone High School versus Holmes County High School battling for a berth in next week's state championship on Saturday night when the lights went out and the game was delayed. Malone seemed to have under estimated the Lady Blue Devils as the scores for the first period were 23-13 in favor of the Lady Blue Devils.

Malone had 1 foul and the Lady Devils had 5.

Most of the points gained by Malone were done through free throws.

Malone fought hard to try to catch up with the Lady Blue Devils and the tension was high, but the Lady Blue Devils proved to be far too fierce

The battle raged on in spite of the storm and as the lights flickered in and out the spirits of the fans and the players weren’t phased, even when the lights were out for well over an hour and a half.

The final decision came after the lights went out for an extended period of time about 7:30 p.m. with only a couple minutes left in the second period and a score of 33-21 in the favor of the Lady Devils.

The game was to be delayed until 10 p.m. and if the lights didn’t come on by that time the game would be resumed Sunday night at 5 p.m.

The game then resumed at 9:15 with the restoration of the lights and the second period ended with a score of 37-25.

With every play received by the Lady Tigers, the Lady Devils were quick to recover giving the Lady Tigers little leeway as the third period ended with a score of 50-41.

It was evident that the Lady Tigers were becoming increasingly desperate as their fouls increased, ending the third period with the Lady Tigers with 8 fouls and the Lady Devils with 3 fouls.

Tension increased as the evening continued, both teams picking up the pace, with the Lady

Tigers trying to catch up and the Lady Devils trying to retain their lead, which remained at a steady 10-point lead.

The Lady Devils took and pressed the last stretch hard, pushing for a trip to the State Championship and ending the game with a score of 70-52 to take the 1-1A title.

The inaugural Rural classification 1A state tournament begins Tuesday morning at the Lakeland Center. Ponce de Leon will play Holmes County and Hilliard Middle-Senior will meet Newberry. The semifinal winners will play at 9 a.m. Wednesday to decide the state championship.