JACKSON - If the Ripley Lady Tigers wanted to win a state title, they wanted to beat the best and that meant playing Division 1-3A foe, the Belmont Lady Cardinals for a fifth time this season--a team they hadn’t beaten in four previous tries.

Last Friday, the Lady Tigers came as close to capturing the girls’ 3A state title as they could--leading until the 3:41 mark of the fourth quarter--before falling to the Lady Cardinals 60-55 in an overtime thriller at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.

“They always say, to be the best you gotta beat the best, and Belmont is definitely one of the better teams we’ve played,” said disappointed Ripley coach Katie Walker. “They proved they are the best team in 3A, but that’s why we wanted to play them.

“It hurts because my girls played so hard all year long--they played with so much heart. And they proved it again today. When other people counted us out, we got back in the game and took it into overtime.”

The Lady Tigers led from the start, sprinting out to an early five-point lead. They finished the first quarter ahead 12-11, increased their lead to 23-20 by halftime, and held their biggest lead of the game at 44-36 with 7:07 remaining in the game.

However, the Lady Cardinals (33-1) continued to fight and took their first lead of the game with 3:41 to play in regulation on a lay-up by senior Anna Brooke Page. Page, the game’s Most Valuable Player, had a double-double game with 28 points and 13 rebounds.

“Anna Brooke is a great senior and she has great leadership,“ said Belmont coach Chris Higginbottom. “She steps up to the plate when we need her and we called on her a lot, when the game was on the line.

“We give her the ball and when she gets it, she makes something happen. She plays hard and she doesn’t make bad decisions. She led us tonight. She was the captain.”

With the Lady Tigers (23-10) trailing 51-49 with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation, sophomore Becca Ruckes took a feed into the low post and banked a shot off the glass to tie the game, sending it into overtime.

Ruckes and senior LaNaesha Cox led the Lady Tigers with 15 points apiece. Jayla Chills added 11. For Belmont, Zoe Hammack chipped in 10.

Said Bates: “We talked about finishing the game against Belmont, because we haven’t completed a game against them and that was the same thing that happed today. We just didn’t finish.”