After a close first quarter, Hughesville pulled away thanks to a strong second half to defeat Mount Carmel in the District 4 Class AAA semifinals, 40-25, to advance to the championships,.

“I think the biggest thing when we went into this game is that we played a team three times. You can’t be overconfident, you just have to believe in what you do and do the small things throughout the week,” Hughesville coach Dustin King said. “The girls had a good week of practice, so we felt good tonight. We were well prepared and ready to go.”

Tight defense from both Hughesville and Mount Carmel resulted in the first two quarters being incredibly close. The first quarter ended with a 9-9 tie between the two. Hughesville scored first, with Anna Easton scoring. Two free throws from Maddie Smith and a free throw from Kylie Temple started the team off with a five-point lead.

Later, Vivian Draper and Smith scored twice mre.

Top scorers for Hughesville were Smith with 15 points, Draper with eight points and Easton and Temple, who both scored six points. Allyssa King and Caey Shultz helped to support their team, with three and two points, respectively. Mount Carmel’s leading scorer was Raina Paulson with 12 points, while Hannah Fourspring and Samantha Siegrist both scored five points. Tessa Fourspring added three.

Fourspring and Siegrist helped Mount Carmel get the game closer in the first to make it tied going into the second.

The second quarter was more of the same and was close. The Spartans scored two baskets with Smith starting them off before Casey Shultz scored one, and Draper scored two.

A Tessa Fourspring trey for Mount Carmel brought the deficit to 20-15 going into the break.

At halftime, something shifted. Hughesville’s defense and offense both increased.

“Oone quarter at a time is what we do around here, and one possession at a time,” King said regarding what was told to the team at halftime. “In the second half, they really locked the defense down, and they did a fantastic job with it. That’s what we were stressing on at halftime, so we did a really good job.”

The Spartans’ defense was tight in the third quarter and limited the Red Tornadoes to just two baskets from Paulson and Siegrist, with other efforts being stifled by the Hughesville girls. Hughesville, however, scored four 2-pointers with efforts from Draper, Easton and Smith. When the quarter neared its end and the buzzer rang out, Smith hit a 3-pointer from halfway across the court in an impressive display to give Hughesville a 31-19 lead.

Both teams scored in the fourth quarter, but Hughesville once more dominated the scoring. Smith and Temple helped extend the lead as Hughesville outscored the Red Tornadoes, 9-6 in the final quarter.

The Red Tornadoes also scored, with Fourspring and Paulson sinking free throws and Paulson hitting a trey.

Hughesville advances to face Loyalsock, a 52-30 winner over Troy, in the District 4 Class AAA championship at a time and place to be determined. The Lancers are the defending Class AAA state champions.

“Honestly, we feel good. The girls are pretty confident right now,” King said. “So we’ll have a couple days here to practice and get ready.”

Hughesville 40, Mount Carmel 25.

HUGHESVILLE (40)

Vivian Draper 3 2-2 8, Anna Easton 3 0-0 6, Allyssa King 1 0-0 3, Maddie Smith 6 2-2 15, Kylie Temple 2 1-2 6, Kendall Hamm 0 0-0 0, Tori Morgan 0 0-0 0, Casey Schultz 1 0-0 2, Regan Sellers 0 0-0 0, Avorey Arrigonie 0 0-0 0, Georgia Randall 0 0-0 0, Jaydn Temple 0 0-0 0, Kalia Hack 0 0-0 0, Aly Creasy 0 0-0 0, Addy Shirvinski 0 0-0 0, Carly Grice 0 0-0 0.

MOUNT CARMEL (25)

Arianna Adams 0 0-0 0, Tessa Fourspring 1 0-0 3, Hannah Fourspring 2 1-2 5, Brooklyn Torres 0 0-0 0, Bella Hudick 0 0-0 0, Raina Paulson 4 2-4 12, Mia Haggerty 0 0-0 0, Samantha Siegrist 2 1-2 5, Naomi Yentsch 0 0-0 0, Iriannis Ramirez 0 0-0 0, Marina Ortiz 0 0-0 0.

Hughesville 9 11 11 9 — 40

Mount Carmel 9 6 4 6 — 25

3-point goals: Hughesville 3 (King 1, Smith 1, Temple 1), Mount Carmel 3 (Paulson 2, Tessa Fourspring 1).