By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

HANCEVILLE – The Thompson basketball Lady Warriors lost for just the second time of the 2015-16 season in the finals of the Mitch Smith Chevrolet Yuletide Classic at Wallace State Community College against Arab on Dec. 30.

To get to the championship game the Lady Warriors played a tough opening round game against Fairview before getting past Cullman easily in the semifinals. Thompson needed overtime to beat Fairview, giving the Lady Aggies just their third loss of the season. Kahyanne Bolton had 23 points and 10 rebounds, including eight of the team’s 12 points in the extra period, while Azariah Jackson had 11 points to go along with 11 rebounds as Thompson escaped 59-53. The Lady Warriors were without leading scorer and rebounder Jordan LeNoir, who was held out with a minor injury.

The semifinal matchup was not as close as the Lady Warriors made short work of Cullman by a final of 68-47. Four players scored at least 12 points in the game for Thompson as Brittany Grice led the way with 15 points, Lauren Black and Indiah Cohill had 13 points a piece and Bolton had 12.

In the championship game, Thompson was in control early. A 12-7 lead after the first quarter quickly ballooned to a 27-14 lead at the half. However, the Lady Knights from Arab held Thompson to its lowest-scoring half of the season in the second half of the finals, as the Lady Warriors managed just 10 total points in the second half, and only four in the fourth quarter, and lost the championship by one point, 38-37.

With the loss, Thompson dropped to 16-2 and will now turn its attention to area play.