Marianna, Malone girls fall in district tourneys

The Marianna Lady Bulldogs and the Malone Lady Tigers suffered district tournament defeats Friday night, with Marianna’s season coming to an end.

The Lady Bulldogs lost to Walton 43-41 at Walton in the district tournament semifinals.

Walton jumped out to a 10-0 lead to start the game, and led 23-17 at halftime.

Marianna came back to tie the game at 31-31 at the end of the third period.

Unfortunately for the Lady Bulldogs, they missed eight free throws in the fourth quarter and were not able to capitalize on their chances.

Jasmine Moore made two free throws for Walton with 15 seconds left to break a 41-41 tie.

Marianna had one last chance with an inbounds play with five seconds on the clock, but Temperance Wooden’s last-second shot fell just off the rim as time expired.

The Lady Bulldogs finish the season with a record of 15-8.

MHS coach Chucky Brown said he was disappointed his team wouldn’t be playing anymore games, he was proud of what his team accomplished this year.

“I felt like we had a pretty decent season,” the coach said. “Some of the games we lost were close games all the way through. You look back and wish a couple of things had been different, but overall it was a pretty good season.

“You hate to lose, especially losing these six seniors. It will be tough filling the void left by the kids we’re losing, but I saw some real good things from underclassmen in this tournament. They showed a lot of promise.

“I told them the season didn’t end well for the seniors, but for the underclassmen, the preparation for next season starts next week.”

Malone lost to FAMU 66-36 in the district championship game at Munroe High School.

The Lady Tigers will next play Paxton on Thursday in the opening round of the 1A state playoffs.

As district runner-up, the Lady Tigers will have to travel.

“FAMU is just pretty good,” Malone coach Kyndal Murdock said after the game. “They knocked down shots, and their height gave us problems. “They’re just bigger than we were, but our girls played hard. I’m proud of them.”