By WILLIAM WEST/Special to the Advertiser

The third girls game in the Chilton County Basketball Tournament featured squads from Maplesville and Thorsby squaring off on Thursday.

After a close first half, Thorsby overshadowed the Maplesville girls’ squad, winning 55-34.

The first quarter had two major momentum shifts, the first started by the Thorsby girls squad. Thorsby started the first three minutes of the game with an 8-2 run against the Red Devils. Maplesville fought back to tie the game, 8-8, but Thorsby took back the momentum from Maplesville to end the quarter ahead, 14-10.

The second quarter was the most closely contested eight minutes of the game.

Maplesville was able to tie the game again within the first two minutes of the quarter with a score of 14-14.

Both teams held strong on defense, and neither side held a lead of more than two points.

Maplesville managed to grab the lead three times and outscored Thorsby 12-8 in the second quarter.

Thorsby’s Adison Argent grabbed the final two points in the waning seconds of the quarter to end the half tied, 22-22.

Thorsby came ready to play in the second half, taking a quick 6-0 point lead. Maplesville made a final attempt to regain control of the game, closing to within two points of the Thorsby, 28-26 lead midway into the quarter.

At that point in the game, the Thorsby girls’ squad stepped on the gas and never looked back.

The Rebels closed out third quarter ahead, 36-28.

Thorsby’s girls continued to pull away from Maplesville throughout the fourth quarter of the game, outscoring the Red Devils 19-6.

Thorsby presented a strong defense that capitalized on Maplesville’s offensive mishaps throughout the second half to close out the 55-34 win.

The Maplesville girls squad had two scoring leaders, Kendrauna Griffen (16 points) and Amber Uptain (13 points), who put the majority of the Red Devils points on the board.

Tydasia Davis (four points) and Tayuna Watson (one point) also contributed.

Thorsby created opportunities for several players to make scoring plays.

Zakeya Robinson scored 23 points for the Rebels, including six points from the only three-point jump shots made in the contest.

Lilyana Barnett (nine points), Sabrina Ellison (eight points), Adison Argent (seven points), Taylor McManus (four points), and Marisa Jones (four points) also contributed to the Rebels’ victory.

Thorsby moves on to face the winner of the Friday night contest between Chilton County and Jemison in the championship round, held Saturday at Alton Cobb Gymnasium in Jemison, at 5:30 p.m.