The Monticello Lady Billies and Billies played their first contest of the season at Dan Coston Fieldhouse on the campus of Monticello High School on Tuesday, December 6, hosting Camden Fairview from the 4A-7 Conference.
Camden would get the first points of the contest, but Lillian Fletcher would tie the contest at two after a successful pair of free throws.
Camden would extend the lead to 7-2 before Ryah Ridgell scored in the paint to cut the lead to 7-4.
The Lady Cardinals would outscore Monticello 20-9 in the quarter.
The Lady Billies would score 12 points in the second quarter with Genesis Freeman scoring six points and Abri Scott scoring five in the quarter, but Camden would score 16 points to take a 36-21 advantage at the half.
Returning for the half, the Lady Billies would produce their worst scoring output in the contest, scoring five points with Camden scoring 16 to hold a 52-26 lead heading in the fourth quarter.
IN the fourth quarter, the Lady Cardinals would put the sportsmanship rule into play with 2:13 remaining in the contest forcing the clock to run and would take the contest 67-36.
Leading the way for the Lady Billies was Genesis Freeman with 12 points followed by Abri Scott with eight. Zaniyah Thompson and Ryah Ridgell each scored four, Lillian Fletcher and Cadence McCray with three, and Mindy Raney rounding out the scoring with two points.
With the loss the Lady Billies fall to 0-3 on the season.
The Monticello Billies came into Tuesday’s contest against Camden Fairview with a 1-3 record after defeating Junction City to open the season on November 25 with a 64-43 win.
The Billies would have two games cancelled before travelling to Blytheville for three contests, a 63-51 loss to Paragould, a 53-34 loss to Manila, and a 46-35 loss to Har-Ber.
The Billies would get out to a solid start against the Cardinals in the first quarter highlighted by two three-pointers by Jagger Hines that helped the Billies to outscore Camden 18-10 in the quarter.
Camden came back in the second quarter to overtake the Billies, outscoring Monticello 30-10 in the quarter to take a 40-28 lead in the locker room at the half.
The third quarter was played fairly evenly with Monticello taking the quarter 14-12 with Camden holding a 52-42 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Camden would outscore the Billies in the fourth quarter by a 14-12 margin to take the 12 point, 66-54 victory.
Quay Rhodes led the way for the Billies with 14 points followed by Luke Jones with 13, and Tejon Tensley with 10.
Jagger Hines added eight points, Jeremiah Daniels with five, Tye Guthrie with two, and Jacorius Ridgell and Jontavion Lambert rounding out the scoring with one point each.
The Billies will return home on Thursday, December 8, to face Lake Village with the JUnior Billies scheduled to tip off at 5:30 pm.
The Billies and Lady Billies will be on the road on Friday, December 9, travelling to White Hall to face the Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs with tipoff scheduled for 5:30 pm.
