WEBBERS FALLS - The Webbers Falls Lady Warriors used a balanced scoring attack and a strong defensive effort on Thursday night to down Schulter 51-43 in the first round of the Class B district playoffs.

Emily James, Ramie Toddy and Katie Smith all scored 10 points each as the Lady Warriors eliminated Schulter and advanced to Saturday’s district championship game.

Just as important as their offensive effort was the defensive work turned in by Heather Mickles, who limited Schulter standout Maliah Remirez to 16 points.

“The key was shutting down the Remirez girl. In a previous game, she scored 19 points against us in one quarter. She’s a good player and how she goes, their team goes,” said Webbers Falls head coach Warren Glad. “Heather Mickles did a spectacular job on defense. We played man-to-man and face-guarded Remirez all night and the whole team did a great job of helping out on defense.”

Webbers Falls held Schulter to three points in the first quarter and went on to grab a 16-13 halftime lead. A 13-6 run in the third period upped the Lady Warriors’ advantage to 10 and they held on to get the win.

Alisha Carter and Lauren Martin added six points each for Webbers Falls, Brooke Mason had five and Courtney Ross scored four.

Kourtney Holley finished with 10 for Schulter.

The victory was the third in the past five outings for Webbers Falls.

“We’re playing better as a team. We’re starting to become more cohesive and the girls are getting along well right now,” said Glad.

“We’ve got a tough test on Saturday, but I think if we can get past that then we might have a shot at advancing to the area tournament.”

Webbers Falls will play McCurtain at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the district final on the Lady Warriors’ home court. McCurtain posted a 64-21 win over Braggs in Thursday’s other first-round game.

Win or lose, the Lady Warriors will move on to the regional tournament which begins on Thursday.