Hughes Springs Girls Surge In 2nd Half To Deny Quitman The Championship

Lady Mustangs take top honors in Quitman tournament, squeaking by the host Lady Bulldogs 35-31.

Held to a single basket in the first quarter, the Lady Mustangs trailed by 6 at the half, 8-14.

Outscoring Quitman 14-9 after the break, the Mustangs had whittled the Bulldog's lead down to 1 point to start of the fourth quarter.

Scoring was fairly even through the fourth, but with 3:20 left on the clock, Hughes Springs tied things up at 31, and went on to open a 33-31 lead with 1:20 remaining.

Proving hope springs eternal, with only 23 seconds left, and still leading by 2, Hughes Springs fouled.

But Quitman, with a chance to send the game into overtime, could only manage to sink one free throw, and still trailed by one. Hard? Yes. Hopeless? No.

It got even harder for the Lady Bulldogs when Hughes Springs drew a foul with just seconds left, and made both shots, opening the lead to three. Still the heartbeat of hope lived.

Gamely, with less than 5 seconds left, the Lady 'Dawgs moved the ball down court, and lobbed a desperation half court shot at the buzzer. Amazingly, the shot looked good.

A whole gymnasium held it's breath. But missing the rim, the ball merely disturbed the net as the shot fell short, and the buzzer sounded.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
Hughes Springs	2	6	14	13		35
Quitman	10	4	9	9		31

The 13-2A Lady Bulldogs travel to Grand Saline Tuesday the 6th for a district match-up.

Also playing Tuesday, Hughes Springs will be at Chapel Hill (MP) in a 17-2A contest.