The Station Camp girl’s basketball team picked up an important District 9-AAA victory Friday night with a 61-57 win over rival Beech to get into a three way tie for third.

“I thought we played really hard for four quarters,” said Station Camp Coach Kendra Jackson. “The last few games, we have not played hard for all four quarters, so I was really pleased with our effort.”

Despite the host Lady Buccaneers jumping to an early 11-9 first quarter advantage, the Lady Bison were able to take control of the game in the second quarter by outscoring Beech 19-15 to take a narrow two point advantage, 28-26, into the halftime break.

Kayla Deter led the Lady Bison second quarter rally with eight points, while Cheyenne North contributed six points.

Deter finished the game with eight points.

Ashtin Banks scored six points to lead the Lady Bucs offense in the final period of the first half, and help keep Beech within striking distance of the lead.

Ashtin Banks finished the night with ten points.

The Lady Bucs tied the game at 28-28 early in the opening period of the second half on a basket by Bailey Taylor.

The Lady Bison closed out the third quarter with a 13-4 run that gave Station Camp a 50-41 advantage heading into the final period of play.

“We talk about wanting to win each quarter,” said Jackson. “Coming out of halftime, it always gives a team an advantage if they can come out early and make a statement.”

North scored 12 third-quarter points to help lead the Lady Bison offense, and led all scorers on the night with 27 points.

Kia Perry contributed seven points to the Lady Bison’s efforts in the third quarter.

“Tonight we played as a team,” said Perry. “We played for four quarters, and we finally got a lead and kept it.”

Facing a nine point Station Camp advantage heading to the fourth quarter, Beech rallied and outscored Station Camp 16-11 in the final quarter, but they fell short in the final minutes.

“I think we are improving every day,” Beech Coach Kari Maddox.  “What killed us though is the third quarter. We come out of halftime, and I guess we got relaxed. Every game this season, except for two three, we have gotten outscored in the third quarter.”

Alex Banks scored 11 of the Lady Bucs 16 fourth-quarter points to spark the Beech offense.

With only seconds remaining in the game, Banks hit a three-pointer to cut the Lady Bison lead to just four points, 61-57,  but that was as close as the Lady Bucs could get as time expired without another score.

The 61-57 win improves the Lady Bison’s record to 8-7 on the year, and the loss drops the Lady Bucs to 10-9 on the year.

Alex Banks led the Lady Bucs in scoring on the night with 21 points.

STATION CAMP (61) – Cheyenne North 27, Kia Perry 11, Kayla Deter 8, Savannah Keele 8, Janasia Williams 7.

BEECH (57) – Alex Banks 21, Ashtin Banks 10, Bailey Taylor 9, McKenna Taylor 6, Shelby Brown 6, CheyAnn Neal 3, Falon Baker 2.

Three-point goals: Station Camp 4 (Deter 2, North, Perry). Beech 5 (Ashtin Banks 2, Alex Banks, Neal, B. Taylor).

By Deon Russell