Pineville may have drawn one of the toughest matchups available in the 13th Region All A Classic when they had to play Williamsburg on Tuesday. Despite an earlier season victory over the Lady Jackets, Pineville couldn’t find the momentum down the stretch and lost to Williamsburg, 43-30.

With the loss, the Lady Lions were eliminated from the tournament one year after pushing Harlan to the limits in the championship game. Williamsburg advances to the semifinals where Lynn Camp awaits.

Defensed ruled the day on Tuesday with both teams being held below 30 points heading into the final quarter. The Lady Jackets took over in the fourth outscoring Pineville 9-0 with less than two minutes remaining to secure the 13-point victory.

“We lost our composure there at the end. We’re trying to run stuff, and we’re walking in our spots. We don’t recognize when there is a double somebody is open, and whoever’s man is doubling isn’t getting to the right spot,” said Mills about the team’s play down the stretch. “I told them as bad as it hurts, we’re going to watch the tape and learn from it.”

Jill Enix led Pineville with seven points, six rebounds, an assist and a steal. Sarah Combs and Whitney Caldwell both added six points and two assists. Caldwell finished the game with four rebounds while Combs had three.

“We’ve got a lot of sickness on the team, but I’m not going to make excuses. We got just one or two sick, but you got to play through that,” said Mills. “Some of the others just didn’t step up like I wish they would. The preferred someone else do something.”

Lillie Hall paced Williamsburg with a game-high 18 points while shooting 43.8 percent from the field. Kalya Gibson was a rebound shy of registering a double-double after scoring 12 points and grabbing nine boards.

Tori Lester shot a team-best 75 percent from the field on her way to seven points.

A 3-pointer by Caldwell at the end of the second quarter narrowed the Williamsburg lead to 20-16 heading into halftime. Pineville carried that momentum into the third quarter with the Lady Lions going on an 8-2 run to open the period.

A Combs 3-pointer sparked the run and lowered the deficit to 22-19. Caldwell converted the old-fashion three-point play to tie the game at 22-22 with 2:41 remaining in the quarter. Chesney Brock capped the run with a layup that gave Pineville a 24-22 lead.

Williamsburg responded with a pair of free throws and a put-back basket by Lillie Abbott to regain a 26-24 lead heading into the final period.

The Lady Jackets extended their lead to 28-24 with a layup by Gibson to open the fourth. A jumper by Enix narrowed the deficit to two before a layup by Makenzie Fuson tied the game at 28-28.

Williamsburg took advantage of some Pineville turnovers and went on a 6-0 run. A layup by Lester returned the lead to the Lady Jackets before a Lady Lion turnover helped set up a layup by Gibson to increase the lead to 32-28.

Hall stole an inbound pass and capped the run with another layup to give Williamsburg a 34-28 lead with just over two minutes to go in the game.

A pair of free throws from Enix cut the deficit to four, 34-30, before the Lady Jackets ended the game on a 9-0 run to claim the 13-point win.

Up Next

Pineville (12-4) returns to action at 7 p.m. on Jan. 16 when they host Barbourville (5-9).

Williamsburg (10-6) will square off against Lynn Camp (7-6) in the semifinal round of the 13th Region All A on Thursday.

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Williamsburg 43, Pineville 30

WILLIAMSBURG (10-6)

Kelsey Tye 0 0-0 0, Kayla Gibson 4 2-2 12, Tori Lester 3 1-1 7, Lillie Abbott 1 1-2 3, Lillie Hall 7 3-3 18, Madison Chapman 1 0-0 3. Totals: 16 7-8 43.

PINEVILLE (12-4)

Sarah Combs 2 0-0 6, Jill Enix 2 3-5 7, Raigan King 2 0-2 4, Makenzie Fuson 2 0-0 5, Whitney Caldwell 2 1-1 6, Chesney Brock 1 0-0 2. Totals: 10 4-8 30.

Williamsburg 13 7 6 17 — 43

Pineville 9 7 8 6 — 30

3-point goals: Williamsburg 4 (Gibson 2, Hall 1, Chapman 1), Pineville 4 (Combs 2, Fuson 1, Caldwell 1).

Reach Anthony Cloud at 606-302-9090 or on Twitter @AnthonyCloudMDN