Weather sponsored by:
The Monticello Lady Billies concluded the 2025-26 regular season this past week with a home win over Crossett in a make up contest on Monday, a loss to Warren on Senior Night on Tuesday followed by a road win at Crossett on Thursday night to wrap up the 8-4A Conference play.
Having to make up their conference contest against Crossett that was rescheduled from the last week in January after winter weather disrupted schools across the state, the Lady Billies hosted the Lady Eagles in a game that would end under the Arkansas Activities Association “Sportsmanship Rule” with the Lady Billies defeating Crossett by 40 points, 65-25.
Returning the next night at the Billie Arena, it would be Senior Night at Monticello with the Lady Billies welcoming the Lady Lumberjacks of Warren who were leading the 8-4A Conference with an undefeated conference record.
The Lady Lumberjacks would control the opening tipoff and would be the first to put points on the board on a two by Breize Fellows.
Janiyah Goodman would put the Lady Billies on the board at the 6:55 mark with a three-pointer, but Warren would come down the court for two to get back in front.
Chynna Daniels would put the Lady Billies back in front on a hard two points in the lane while drawing a foul, but would not be able to convert on the old-fashioned three-point opportunity.
Monticello would score 14 points in the first quarter and trail the Lady Lumberjacks 16-14 with 25 seconds remaining in the quarter but Warren’s Charlee Wardlaw would hit a three to end the quarter to take a 19-14 advantage.
Warren would continue to add to their lead to begin the second quarter, scoring the first five points of the quarter to cap an 8-0 run to lead 24-14 with 6:02 remaining in the half.
Warren would go on to outscore the Lady Billies 14-12 in the second quarter to head to the locker room with a seven-point, 33-26, lead at the halftime break.
Warren would get the first four points coming out of the break with Monticello getting their first points of the second half on a two by Eddy Grace Birch with 6:45 on the clock.
Warren would extend their lead to 12 points by the end of the third quarter.
Warren would outscore the Lady Billes in the third, 23-18.
Entering the fourth and final quarter, Goodman would start the quarter for the Lady Billies, connecting on a three-pointer.
Warren would get teh next three points on a two and a foul before Goodman connected on her second consecutive three to cut the Warren lead to 60-50.
Anniyah Smith would score the next four Lady Billie points to cut the lead to six points, 60-54.
Monticello would outscore the Lady Lumberjacks in the quarter 15-14, but Warren would finish the night with an 11-point lead on the scoreboard for the 70-59 victory to remain undefeated in conference play.
Monticello would wrap up 8-4A Conference play on Thursday, February 19, with a 65-17 road win at Crossett.
With the win, Monticello finishes the regular season with an overall record of 11-16 and an 8-4A Conference record of 7-3 finishing as the Conference Runner-up.
Warren would finish as the top seed in the conference with a 26-2 overall record and a perfect 10-0 in conference play.
Watson Chapel finishes third with an overall record of 19-10 and a conference record of 6-4 with Star City finishing as the fourth seed with a 10-16 record and 5-5 in conference.
Monticello will enter the 4A-4 Regional tournament as the second seed.
It is the best finish the Lady Billies have had in the past 10 seasons with the last Conference Runner-up achievement being in the 2015-16 season.
Being the second season does not give the Lady Billies an easy opponent to begin regional play as they will have to face the Camden Fairview Lady Cardinals who enter the regional as the third seed with an overall record of 16-12 and a 5-5 record in the 7-4A Conference.
The two teams faced off at the Billie Arena early in the season on December 9, 2025 with the Lady Cardinals defeating Monticello 72-36.
Monticello and Camden Fairview are set to tipoff in regional action on Thursday, February 26, at 7 pm.
If successful, the Lady Billies will face the winner of Nashville and Star City on Friday, February 27 at 7 pm.
The Regional Tournament will wrap up on Saturday, February 28, with the third/fourth place game beginning at 12 pm and the championship game at 6 pm.
The 4A-4 Regional Tournament is being held in Nashville with first round games set to begin on Wednesday, February 25, with the first lady’s bracket beginning at 4 pm with Warren taking on Arkadelphia.
