Bain took over inside for 25 points as Camden claimed the 11AA third prize with a 61-58 victory Saturday night. In the championship round, Milan upset Camden 61-60 for the 11AA title. Marlon Dotson led the Bulldogs with five triples and 27 points in the stunner. McKenzie will play No. 1-ranked Bolivar Central in the first round of the 6AA tournament at Chester County 5:30 Friday night.

As for the consolation round, the Rebels played hard, played well and played themselves back into the ballgame against a Camden team that has had McKenzie's number for the past few years.
"We played hard and we played well," said McKenzie coach Larry Joe Smith. "We got ourselves in the game and had a chance to win it down the stretch."

McKenzie had two three-point shots rim out in the final :07 and had momentum in its favor in the fourth quarter. The Rebels trailed by 12, 39-27, late in the third quarter, cut the lead, then trailed by 13 early in the fourth.. They put on a 12-3 run in the final 2:32 of the third stanza to trail 42-39. John French and Drew Hayes lit the fuse with their three bombs. From there it was a race to the finish.

It appeared that Camden had a head start. They opened the final frame with a 10-0 run and a 52-39 lead. From there, the Rebels poured it on. French, Hayes and Daniel Duncan started the spree, followed by a big three from Bryan Huffman with 3:00 to play. MHS trailed 56-50. French scored again, followed by buckets from Huffman and Howell and a pair of freebies from Hayes. The Rebels were back and poised to stun the Lions.

On an inbound play with :23 to play, French batted the ball away and forced a turnover. From there, the Rebels had two chances to tie the game with three-pointers. In all, Camden had five turnovers in the final frame, McKenzie had none. But there were discrepant foul totals in the second half as well. Lexington only fouled five times, McKenzie was whistled nine times.
"We wanted to take it to them in the and try to get to the foul line, but that didn't happen," Smith said. "They make you change your shots and we were trying to take it to them."

McKenzie trailed 16-14 after one and repelled an early 10-2 second-quarter run. John Craig Howell nailed the second of his two triples to lead MHS within five, 26-21. Huffman maintained the MHS five-point lead with his two free throws. The Lions led 30-25 at the break.

"There is no quit in these kids," said Smith. "And I thought it was good that we had three in double figures and two more with nine."

Huffman led McKenzie with 15, French scored 13 and Howell added 10. Duncan and Hayes scored nine each. The Rebels were 22-49 shooting had 31 rebounds and only nine turnovers.
Camden was 24-47 shooting with 34 rebounds and 15 turnovers. In the 11AA semifinals:

LEXINGTON BOYS 79, McKENZIE 44 at Lexington - The Big Red Tigers were Red Hot shooters again, firing away at a 53-percent clip Thursday night as they advanced to the District 11AA championship.

Jonathan Keck gave the Tigers a lift with 17 points and filled the void left by injured Jimmy Gilbert, who last melted McKenzie with seven three-point shots. Lexington was potent enough, hitting 5-of-8 triples while the Rebels struggled to score. But the Tigers shot lay-up after lay-up as their frantic pace kept McKenzie from executing its offense.

Lexington exploded to a 17-4 lead in the first quarter and held a 22-10 bulge when the quarter ended.

"McKenzie has been shooting so well, we had to play that kind of pace to keep the ball out of their hands," said Lexington coach Tim Gardner.

The Tigers maintained their dominance and started the second frame with a 14-4 run and a 36-14 lead. They led 44-18 at the break.

MHS hit its first six shots of the third quarter and gave the appearance of mounting a comeback. But 11 Rebel turnovers were costly and the Tigers were up 58-28 at the end of the third.

Lexington was 10-19 shooting in the final frame and the lead was never in jeopardy.

Duncan had a good game inside with 20 points. French scored 17 to lead the Rebels. McKenzie was 20-39 shooting, had 31 rebounds and 33 turnovers.

Lexington was 34-64 shooting, had 34 boards and only 13 turnovers. Mack Gardner scored 16 for the Tigers.

The Fillies came out hitting well and dominated the boards against the Lady Tigers. Waneca Melton was the leading scorer for the night with 21 points, followed by Crystal Fuller with 21. Sharri Smith and Payten Butler contributed seven each while Ashlee Lockhart added six, Brooke Pritchard added five and Jessica Hilliard and Chasity Strayhorn each scored two.

Whitney Owens led the Lady Tigers with 15 while Ernicka Willis contributed seven, Kathy Doupis had six, Beatrice King added five and Heaven Wilks scored four.

Consolation action was much more exciting for the hundreds of fans who attended the final night of district action. Although the Lady War Eagles took a 19-4 lead after one and improved their margin to 34-19 by intermission, the Lady Rockets were a formidable opponent as they narrowed that margin in the third period to trail by one seven, 41-34 after three. At the 1:21 mark of the final period, the Lady Rockets had managed to narrow the margin to a mere two points, 43-41, but sent April Gilliam to the line where she nailed both shots to put her team back up by four. Senior Whitney Epperson hit a two-point shot to again narrow the game to a mere two and Jessica Murphy then went to the line twice to nail all four of her opportunities and put the game out of reach as the time wound down on the Lady Rockets late surge. After Murphy hit her first two shots at the line, she rebounded a missed shot by the Lady Rockets and was immediately fouled. After hitting both of those shots and giving West Carroll a 49-43 advantage, Gilliam was fouled and hit one of two before fouling out, but the 50-43 advantage became the final score of the contest.

Rachel Arnold led the Lady War Eagles with 24, followed by Murphy with 16, Gilliam with six and Velma Carter and Debra Anders with two each.

Erin Grant led the Lady Rockets with 19, followed by Epperson and Brooke Cary with eight each, Rebecca McDaniel with four, and Keri Grant and Anna Kelly with two each.

• No. 1 Fillies Win 13A Crown
• Milan Tops Lady Rebs for 11AA Title
• Central Tigers Finish No. 2 in State at TNT
• Mustangs Win 13A Championship
• Rebel Rampage Buries Riverside