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“It smells like Sunday dinner, doesn’t it?” a man said outside of the gymnasium at Marengo County High School Friday night.

Indeed, the cooking concessions tickled the nose as the crowd trickled in to watch the semifinal of the Class 1A, Area 4 girls basketball tournament. All attending were in good spirits, and the players dug in hard, scratching for a spot in the final. 

The Lady Panthers defeated the Sweet Water Lady Bulldogs 65-6 to advance to the area championship.

Top performers in the Marengo’s win over Sweet Water included Kirsten Blanco with 34 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 16 steals and Z’Kiyah Hackworth, with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 7 steals

Camari Danner, Harmoni Norwood and Nariah Holt each scored 2 points.

However, Marengo fell 48-45 in overtime to J.F. Shields in the area championship. Despite the hard-fought battle, our Lady Panthers fought with heart and determination. 

Kirsten Blanco, who finished with 23 points in the championship game, and Kimora Moore-Jones were named to the All-Tournament Team for their outstanding performances.

J.F. Shields was led by Markaja Brown with 26 points, Cartarriyah Hicks with 12 points and ZaMiyah Hale with 10 points.

The Lady Panthers (14-4) will advance to the sub-regional round scheduled for later this week.