Dora girls beat Gainesville, win district championship
Photo by Shana Hambelton District champs! The Dora Lady Falcons are the Class 2 District 10 champions for the first time since 2010 after defeating the Gainesville Lady Bulldogs Thursday, Feb. 25, at the district tournament held at Norwood High School last week. Members of the team are, from left (front row), manager Laney Miller, Callen DePriest, Shauna Lake, Chesney Luna, Kaitlin Hambelton, Cassidy Hambelton, Hanna Bunch, Mia Gray, manager Kinley Luna; (back row) manager Olivia Martin, head coach Cole Garnette, Vanessa Woolbright, Kenley Howard, Natasha Slavik, McKenna Miller, Lauren Martin, Autumn Told, Riley Collins, assistant coach Bobby Spencer.
The Dora Lady Falcons defeated Gainesville 47-32 Thursday, Feb. 25, to earn the Class 2 District 10 championship. “The girls played absolutely amazing this game,” said Dora coach Cole Garnette. “They executed their game plan to a T and did exactly what we had talked about all week in preparation. When you can come out and take away certain things that the other team tries to do, it can sometimes do your team double good. You take away what they’re trying to do, and it can fluster them a bit and throw them off. I think we were able to do both those things this game. Give credit to the girls, though; they have worked their tails off since November for this. Everything we accomplished this season would be impossible without their hard work and determination. They are a special group of girls, and they absolutely deserve every ounce of credit they receive.”
Dora (15-10), seeded in the number two spot on the district tournament bracket, earned a bye for the first round and took on Seymour (10-13), which was seeded third, in semi-final action on Tuesday, Feb. 23. The Lady Falcons won 65-55, propelling them on to Thursday’s battle for the district championship.
Gainesville, seeded first, defeated the Bakersfield Lady Lions 55-26 in semi-finals on Tuesday. The win took the Lady Bulldogs to meet Ozark County rival Lady Falcons in the match where the Dora girls claimed the title.
In spite of the loss, Gainesville head coach Lance West said he is proud of his team. “We had a good season; we’re 15-10,” he said. “This is the first winning season these girls have had in three years. I’m proud of our program and would say our season has been a success.”
Players scoring for Dora were Cassidy Hambelton 29, Riley Collins 9, Kaitlin Hambelton 5, Callen DePriest 3, and Chesney Luna 1.
Players scoring for Gainesville were Elizabeth Kinworthy 13, Erin McKinzie 7, Shayla Wages 6, Mercedes Shaw 3 and Debra Winrod 3.
Dora takes on Richland at 6 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, March 3, at Richland High School.