The Carroll Academy Rebels repeated as district champions, but it wasn’t easy.
The Rebels survived a scare in the semifinals as they beat Central Holmes 56-54 on Thursday and then took a hard-fought 51-42 win over homestanding Oak Hill on Saturday to win the District 2-3A Tournament title.
The Rebels, now 14-3 on the season, advance to the North 3A Tournament as the No. 1 seed out of District 2 and were scheduled to take on Kirk Academy on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The winner of that contest will play the winner of North Delta and Winona Christian on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s boys championship game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Carroll boys 56, Central Holmes 54
The Rebels build a big lead and held on late to take a two-point win over the Trojans on Thursday in the tournament semifinals.
Carroll led 14-10 at the end of the first and then outscored Central Holmes 18-11 in the second to lead 32-21 at the half. The Trojans mounted a comeback in the second half as they outscored the Rebels 13-11 in the third and 20-13 in the fourth but fell short.
Noah Beck led Carroll with 21 points and seven rebounds while Hunter Grantham had 16 points and six rebounds. Bryce Collier had nine points while Mathis Beck had eight points.
Lawrence Wiley led Central Holmes with 27 points.
Carroll boys 51, Oak Hill 42
After splitting games in the regular season, the Rebels took the third contest with a nine-point win over the homestanding Raiders on Saturday.
In a slow first period, Oak Hill led 5-2 heading to the second period. But Carroll outscored Oak Hill 13-4 to lead 15-9 at the half. The Raiders cut into that margin in the third period, outscoring Carroll 24-20 to cut the lead to 35-33 going to the fourth. But Carroll outscored Oak Hill 16-9 in the fourth to take the win and district title.
Noah Beck led Carroll in scoring again with 16 points while Brennan Blaylock and Mathis Beck each had 11 points apiece. Hunter Grantham added seven points for the Rebels.
Indianola girls 33, Carroll 31
The Lady Rebels’ season came to an end as they dropped a two-point decision to the Lady Colonels in the elimination game of the district tournament on Tuesday.
Carroll led for most of the first half, outscoring Indianola 10-8 in the first and 7-3 in the second for a 17-11 halftime lead. Indianola outscored Carroll 8-4 in the third and 8-6 in the fourth to send the game into overtime tied at 27-27. Indianola outscored Carroll 6-4 in the overtime period to take the win and advance.
Bella Carter led Carroll with 13 points while Meri Brynn Reeves had nine points and Anna Laken Taylor added seven points.
