JASPER, Tenn. - The highest seeds took nothing for granted in Saturday's District 6-A basketball tournament semifinals. Marion County's girls and Van Buren County's boys, both top seeds, cruised to double-digit wins to advance to Monday's championship games.
The Van Buren girls held off Lookout Valley 38-37 and will face Marion for Monday's title. Richard Hardy's boys defeated Sale Creek in the second boys' semifinal, 58-36, and will now face Van Buren on Tuesday.
Marion's girls used a blistering 29-7 second quarter to pull away early from rival South Pittsburg and register a 60-25 win. Emily Webb led the Lady Warriors (21-1) with 21 points and Hannah Phillips added 17.
"We've been off for a week and we've got several girls still fighting with the flu, but it makes me feel really good to see how they came out and took care of business," Marion coach Randy Ellis said. "Defensively we played really well, got after them and shut them down. And I think our experience is paying off."
Van Buren's boys overcame a slow start, trailing as the second quarter began, with a 24-12 run before halftime, then continued to pull away. Junior all-state wing Caden Mills finished with 40 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Eagles (22-6).
"Caden was the first one in the gym for our morning shootaround before we came down for the game," Van Buren coach Dustin Sullivan said. "When I got there, he had already been in the gym by himself for about 20 minutes shooting, so I knew he was focused.
"We talked about how things change in the postseason and you have to show up ready, no matter how you've played against teams in the regular season. After the sluggish start, I thought we responded really well."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.