After defeating Lynn Camp twice in the regular season in two tightly contested games, the Pineville Lady Lions (16-14) fell to the Lady Wildcats in the first round of the 51st district tournament in Pineville on Wednesday.

Forcing the Lady Lions in to 15 first half turnovers, the Lady Wildcats were able to get a sizeable jump on Pineville early in the game en route to a 61-35 victory. With the win, Lynn Camp secures their spot in the 51st district championship game against Knox Central and a trip to the 13th Region tournament.

“You’ve got to give Lynn Camp credit, they came to play tonight,” said Pineville coach Jamie Mills. “I was a little worried after the last practice. I thought we were lackadaisical and lacked intensity. I was extremely worried about the press. We worked on it adamantly at practice. When (Lynn Camp) got in it, we got rattled. No one was attacking the press, and it showed our inability to dribble and to handle the ball.”

Sophomore guard Whitney Caldwell scored 20 points to lead the Lady Lions. With four players in double digits, Lynn Camp’s balanced scoring attack was led by Jasmine Rogers with 16, Mackenzie Grant with 14, Bradi Coe with 14 and Natalie Farella with 12.

Lynn Camp started the game in a full court press that proved to be difficult for the Lady Lions to sustain. Forcing Pineville into seven first quarter turnovers, Lynn Camp was able to capitalize on their defensive takeaways and success on the interior with Jasmine Rogers, who led Lynn Camp in the first quarter with eight points.

Limiting the Lady Lions to just four points in the opening frame, all from Caldwell, the Lady Wildcats jumped out to a quick 20-4 lead.

Again, struggling with the Lynn Camp pressure, the Lady Lions continued to have trouble on offense. Caldwell continued to be the answer for Pineville, scoring all of the Lady Lion’s points in the second quarter with nine. Lynn Camp continued to press, forcing Pineville into eight turnovers in the second period to bring their first half total to 15.

Grant and Coe handled the Lynn Camp offense in the second period. With Grant scoring six and Coe adding four, Lynn Camp outscored the Lady Lions 10-9 in the period to take a 30-13 lead into the half.

Pineville opened the third quarter with a press of their own, causing Lynn Camp some issues early in the period. The Lady Wildcats made some adjustments and began to break Pineville’s press by finding Farella for three-straight uncontested layups.

Pineville only connected on two field goals in the period. Raigan King and Alyssa Edmonson were the only two Lady Lions to score field goals in the third quarter. The rest of Pineville’s points came from the charity stripe, as they connected on 3-of-8 in the period.

With the success in the press break, the Lady Wildcats were able to outscore the Lady Lions 14-7 in the third, extending their lead to 44-20 heading into the final period of the game.

With the game in hand, the Lady Wildcats continued to attack the interior with Rogers, as well as take care of business from the charity stripe. Connecting on 5-of-7 from the free-throw line, Lynn Camp stamped out Pineville’s best offense period of the game, outscoring the Lady Lions 17-15, to further pull away and post a 26-point victory.

“We’ve relied on two players too much all season,” said Mills. “The question going in was ‘if Whitney (Caldwell) and Raigan (King) weren’t playing a good game, who was going to step up?’ Hopefully this offseason we can get better individually. I don’t like to use our youth as a crutch, and I won’t, but we are lucky to have everyone coming back next year.

“We just have to get better individually over the offseason and improve. We are excited to get to work and get better, and we are excited to see what next year holds in store for us.”

After the loss, Pineville closes the season at 16-14. Lynn Camp advances to the 51st district championship game against the Knox Central Lady Panthers on Friday in Pineville.

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Pineville (16-14) (35) — Whitney Caldwell 20, Raigan King 7, Halle Jones 3, Virginia Hall 2, Alyssa Edmonson 2, Chesney Brock 1.

Lynn Camp (16-11) (61) — Jasmine Rogers 16, Bradi Coe 14, Mackenzie Grant 14, Natalie Farella 12, Jada Rogers 5.