PINEVILLE — Knox Central locked up the 51st District’s top seed Tuesday night, defeating Pineville 63–41 to improve to 16–4 overall and 3–0 against district opponents. Pineville fell to 10–10 on the season and 1–1 in district play.
“We played a pretty good in the first half,” Knox Central coach Steve Warren said. “We were up 39-22 at half. Our defensive pressure really set the tone early. Being off with the weather we were kind of slugging at times. This matchup with Pineville was for the first seed in our district, so it was a big win for our girls. Really proud of our defensive effort and look forward to carrying this effort forward the rest of the season.”
The Lady Panthers leaned on a dominant scoring performance from Shelbie Mills, who poured in a game-high 33 points. Mills got going early, scoring 11 points in the first quarter while knocking down three three-pointers. She followed with 10 points in the second quarter, added eight in the third, and finished with four in the fourth. Mills connected on five shots from beyond the arc in the win.
McKenzie Hensley provided strong support with 13 points, while Kaylynn Smith added nine as Knox Central.
Rachel Howard led Pineville with 22 points, while Madison Johnson added 11 points in the loss.
