It was four up, four down for DeKalb County middle school teams in the James C. Haile State Tournament with the Lady Saints bowing out this past week with a loss to North, 41-21.

The DeKalb Middle School girls were the last hope for a local middle school team to move forward toward the state championship when they took the hardwood in Murfreesboro this past Monday. Both the DeKalb Middle School boys, who amassed an 18-2 record on the season and the West Lady Bulldogs, who went 20-4 on the season had their hopes dashed in the first round of the tourney. The same fate befell the West Bulldogs as they succumbed in the opening round.

However, it wasn’t in the cards for the Lady Saints as North went up 14-2 in the first with only a pair of Ella VanVraken free throws keeping them from posting a goose egg in the opening frame. The Lady Saints would never be able to erase that lead even though they played even in the second thanks to VanVranken who led all scorers on the day with 14. However, she was the only Lady Saint in double digits as she was joined in scoring by Morgan Walker with three and Ally Fuller and Xharia Lyons both with two.

Down 24-10 at the half, the Lady Saints kept pace in the third as both DeKalb and North had eight in that period. The fourth would be the clincher for North as DeKalb could muster only three points in the final quarter.

With the season ending loss, Coach Josh Agee said he is still proud of his team. “They improved so much from summer camps to the end of the season,” he said, noting they were a young team. “We didn’t have a lot of experience coming back from last year so I knew it was going to be difficult at times.”

He said his payers had heart and showed it all season. “These players showed up every day and tried to get better,” he said. “Now we have a ton of experience coming back next year and I’m looking forward to continuing the process.”