Needing to replace several key players and their head coach, New Madrid County Central entered the season with a lot of question marks despite reigning as Class 3, District 1 champs. Gone were two starters, including their leading scorer, while new head coach Toby Heeb came in looking to implement a new style of play. All the Lady Eagles have done since then is prove doubters wrong, ending the regular season 22-2 and locking up the top seed in the district tournament. On Thursday, NMCC continued their impressive run by locking up their second-straight district title with a 52-28 win over Kelly, punching their ticket back to the state tournament. “One of our goals was to go back-to-back,” Heeb said. “We knew it would be hard because we had a new coach, a new system, new everything. Losing a big senior in Aaliyah Phillips and an all-stater in Tylei Byrd, a lot of people questioned whether we’d be able to do it. “They wonder who’d score points and who would step up. I think we’ve had about seven or eight girls, plus some girls on the bench that push us in practice every day, fill that role.” Like their first two games of the tournament, sophomores Ayannah Ruff and Alivia Hartman did the heavy lifting offensively. Ruff had a game-high 22 points, going 3 for 4 from the free throw line, while Hartman finished with 10 points, all but two coming in the second half. It was a role reversal for the two as Hartman led the Lady Eagles in each of the last two games with a combined 37 points with Ruff second on the team in both contests, scoring a collective 27 points against Malden and Charleston. “She does a great job of getting in the lane,” Heeb said of Ruff’s performance against Kelly. “I think in the second half she turned it on too. She’s been battling a little knee injury the last couple of weeks. She set out a whole week out last week. “For her to come out and play that way on championship night was huge.” Despite the lopsided final, the Lady Hawks (17-12) hung tight with the Lady Eagles (25-2) for over two quarters of play. Trailing 26-20 at the half, Kelly hit a quick 3-pointer to open the third quarter. A basket from Alaney Moore followed, making it a one-point game, 26-25, with 5:57 left in the frame. After that, it was all NMCC, however, as they forced numerous turnovers en route to closing out the quarter with 13-unanswered points over a nearly six-minute stretch. Ruff scored six points in the frame and Hartman five, guiding the Lady Eagles to a 39-25 lead entering the fourth quarter. “We rely on our defense to get turnovers for easy buckets,” Heeb said. “They did a great job of packing it in and forcing us to take tough shots that we normally don’t hit. “That was a great game plan on their part. I told the girls at halftime we’re going to have to let our defense generate some offense. That’s what they ended up doing.” NMCC continued to pull away in the final frame, opening with straight points to extend their run to 18-0 dating back to the opening minutes of third quarter. Anna Goering hit a 3-pointer to break up Kelly’s nearly eight-minute scoring drought, but Hartman answered with an old-fashioned three of her own, extending NMCC’s advantage back out to 20 points with 4:37 to play. Playing stall-ball most of the final four minutes, the Lady Eagles were able to comfortably watch the clock tick down until they could claim their title. “The first two quarters they played really, really well,” Lady Hawk’s head coach Darrin Pruitt said. “They were scrappy and put up the first two points on the board. The second half we came out, and it’s the same thing that happened against New Madrid the last time we played them at our house. “We turned cold and weren’t boxing out, doing some of the things that we were doing in the first half.” Goering led Kelly with nine points, and Moore’s eight points were good for second on the team. While Kelly’s offense ebbed and flowed, peaking with a game-high 14-point second quarter, NMCC’s was the model of consistency. The Lady Eagles scored 13 points in each quarter of the game; only getting outscored in the second frame. Behind Ruff and Hartman, Mastajah Walker scored seven points, and Shakyra Wright pitched in five. Heeb credited Wright’s role off the bench as being critical in picking the team up. “I just think we turned up turned up some intensity, turned up our pressure,” He said. “Wright coming off the bench in the first quarter and second half both gave us a spark for sure. Once she did everyone else kind of fed off her energy. It snowballed, and we just took off from there.” With the win, NMCC moved on to play the winner of Saturday’s District 2 title game between Licking (23-4) and Liberty (26-2). That sectional matchup will occur Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter. Last year the Lady Eagles saw their season come to a close in sectionals, losing to Saxony Lutheran 64-43. Kelly, meanwhile, will look to a bright future, returning all but one player from this year’s squad. “The is the first time these girls have been in the title game in a while,” Pruitt said. “Nerves are always a factor. Now we’ve been here, and we’re coming back again. We’re 17-12 right now, and I can’t ask for a better group of girls. “Hopefully they come out this summer and work on some things they need to. We have a good group of freshman and sophomores. We don’t have but two or three juniors, so we’ll still be a little young but a lot better.” Kelly 6 14 5 3 – 28 NMCC 13 13 13 13 – 52 KELLY (28) – Allison Owens 4, Alaney Moore 8, Mallory Glastetter 2, Anna Goering 9, Adison Musgrave 5. FG 12, FT 0-2, F 17. (3-pointers: Goering 3, Musgrave 1. Fouled out: none.) NMCC (52) – Alexis Phillips 3, Shakrya Wright 5, Ayannah Ruff 22, Alivia Hartman 10, Kiara Brown 2, Allisia Hester 2, Mastajah Walker 7, Jimmya Caldwell Newson 1. FG 21, FT 8-17, F 7. (3-pointers: Wright 1, Ruff 1. Fouled out: none.)