New Madrid County Central junior guard Alivia Hartman opened the game on fire in the first semifinal against Twin Rivers Monday. Hartman recorded 10 of her team-high 29 points in the first quarter as the Eagles built a 22-7 lead by the start of the second quarter. “Alivia got going early,” Heeb said. “She does a good job attacking the basket and not settling for jump shots. We were prepared for them to force us to shoot from the perimeter. We wanted to make sure we continued to attack the lane and let our defense work for us.” The Eagles, which forced frequent turnovers with its full-court press, also won the second quarter by double digits to pad its lead to 43-16 by halftime. “Our press is what we depend on,” Heeb said. “We knew we had to turn it up a notch tonight because they had seen our press before.” Twin Rivers played New Madrid County Central to a 29-all stalemate in the second half as the Eagles secured a 72-45 victory. “NMCC is long and athletic,” Twin Rivers coach David Crockett said. “Teams with size have hurt us all season. I don’t think we did a great job of handling their press the first half. In the second half, we settled down and played like we are capable of playing. We just came out a little flat but they are a good basketball team. They all well-coached, play hard, and they are used to winning district tournament games.” Junior Ayannah Ruff tallied seven points in each half to finish with 14 points for the Eagles. Junior Shakyra Wright also scored in double digits for the Eagles with 13 points. Junior Jaylynn Williams, who made seven of nine free throws, paced Twin Rivers with 13 points. Junior Abbey Hester, who made four of six free throws, also finished in double digits with a dozen points for the Royals. Twin Rivers finishes its season with a record of 14-14. It graduates three of the 15 players on its varsity roster - Alissa Austin, Madyson Foust, and Natalie Baxter. “We are going to miss these three girls’ dedication,” Crockett said. “All three of our seniors will be highly successful in life because they have great character and are great young women. I wish all three of them the best.” No. 1 NMCC 72, No. 4 Twin Rivers 45 NMC 22 21 15 14 - 72 TRS 7 9 18 11 - 45 NMCC (72) - Isis Ducker 4, Shakyra Wright 13, May Caldwell-Newson 1, Ayannah Ruff 14, Alivia Hartman 29, Amari Robinson 2, Latavia Brooks 5, Mastajah Walker 3. FG 26, FT 16/23, F 19. (3-pointers: Hartman 2, Ruff 1, Wright 1; Fouled out: None). TWIN RIVERS (45) - Emma Thurman 2, Abbey Hester 12, Taylor Watson 4, Hannah Bader 8, Madyson Foust 2, Jaylynn Williams 13, Natalie Baxter 2, Drew Love 2. FG 14, FT 17/22, F 15. (3-pointers: None; Fouled out: None).