RUSSELLVILLE - The New Bloomfield Lady Wildcats will get another chance to take down the state-ranked Tipton Lady Cardinals.
Senior forward Taylor Howard directed four New Bloomfield players in double figures and the No. 2 seed Lady Wildcats flattened No. 3 Iberia 56-26 in the semifinals of the Class 2, District 8 Tournament on Wednesday night.
With the victory, New Bloomfield (22-5) moves on to battle for the District 8 title against top-seeded Tipton (27-1), ranked fifth in the state, at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The Lady Cardinals advanced by ripping No. 4 seed Russellville 59-26 in Wednesday night's other semifinal.
The Lady Wildcats on Friday night will be looking to avenge a 57-53 loss to the Lady Cardinals in the championship of the Tipton Tournament back in early December.
"We'll have to continue to play defense and we'll have to knock down shots," New Bloomfield head coach Brett Craighead said. "We're kind of hungry for this after they beat us earlier."
The Lady Wildcats had a little difficulty getting going Wednesday night and were only up 9-2 after one quarter. However, New Bloomfield outscored Iberia 19-5 in the second quarter and rolled into halftime with a 28-7 advantage. The Lady Wildcats led 44-19 entering the fourth quarter.
Howard paced New Bloomfield with a game-high 15 points and also collected a team-high 11 rebounds. Senior forward Ashley Kelley and senior guard Sydni Bedsworth also tallied 14 points apiece, while freshman guard Madi Craighead had 12.
"This was one of our better games, all around," Brett Craighead said. "I liked our balanced scoring, we passed the ball exceptionally well and we rebounded well."
Madison Luttrell and Faith Duncan finished with just six points apiece for Iberia (17-8-1).
"I thought our defense was outstanding," Craighead said. "They had four 3(-pointer)s, and that's what they rely on. We did a super job of guarding the 3-point line."