By Shane Shackleford, Contributing Writer

The Pineville Lady Lions continued their impressive play by winning two games in the Smoky Mountain Classic held this week in Gatlinburg.

Pineville (7-1) lost its first game of the season 46-44 to St. Joseph’s (Va.) won two last-second free throws, but recovered nicely to blow out Dayton 55-18 and Cascade (VA) 50-27.

In the St. Joseph game, the Lions started the game down 18-6 after the first quarter and 37-25 at the half but used their pressure defense to outscore St. Joe’s 19-10 and almost complete the comeback. Forward Rachel Howard led Pineville with 18 points. Lacie Smith scored 16 in the winning effort.

Game two saw PHS break open a close game at the half with Dayton in the third stanza, outscoring the Dragons 24-4 to win comfortably. Guard Nadine Johnson led the Lions’ onslaught with 21 points. Sparks led Dayton with 14 points.

In the tournament’s final game, the Lady Lions left little to chance, using their pressure to get ahead early 32-11 and win going away. Johnson had 25 points in the winning effort. Sophie Roy scored 10 for Cascade.

Pineville will look to continue its winning streak this week, hosting the Chain Rock Classic at Pineville High School. The Lady Lions’ first opponent will be Providence Academy (Tenn.). Game time is set for 2:30 on Thursday afternoon.

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Pineville (44) — Nadine Johnson 12, Ava Arnett 5, Rachel Howard 18, Kamryn Biliter 3, Malley Smith 6.

St. Joseph (Va.) (46) — Lacie Smith 16, Ava Gallin 6, Sophie Ransbottom 8, Mariah Johnson 10, Kaedra Frazier 2, Amira Stubblefield 2.

Pineville    19 13 6 — 44

St. Joseph  8 19 4 6 — 46

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Pineville (55) — Nadine Johnson 21, Ava Arnett 12, Rachel Howard 16, Malley Smith 3, Kamryn Biliter 9, Madison Johnson 1, Addison Arnett 2, Clara Strange 1.

Dayton (18) — Sparks 14, Holt 2, Hall 4.

Pineville   2 16 24 3 — 55

Dayton       10 4 0 — 18

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Pineville (50) — Nadie Johnson 25, Ava Arnett 12, Rachel Howard 4, Malley Smith 4, Kamryn Biliter 6, Madison Johnson 1.

Cascade (27) — Scoring information unavailable.

Pineville   2 20 13 0 — 50

Cascade        7   8 6 — 27