For the second straight year, the Hebron girls got a tough early round test from a team from Region 7-AAA. Last season the Lions faced No. 7 ranked White County in the first round and posted a 68-53 win in a hard fought contest. This year it was No. 5 ranked Pickens’ turn to make an unfortunate early exit. Hebron led wire to wire and took town the 7-AAA runner up Dragonettes 82-63 in the second round of the Class AAA state tournament in front of a loud capacity crowd at Lions Arena Friday night. Amiya Porter started things off for Hebron connecting on two early three pointers as the Lions held a 9-3 lead. Pickens closed the first quarter with a 7-4 run however as Hebron held a 15-13 lead at the end of the period. The basketball being played was at a very high level with both teams exchanging buckets throughout. Things opened up offensively in the second quarter as Hebron outscored Pickens 28-16 in the period taking a 43-29 lead into halftime. Pickens’ shooters kept firing and connecting as the Dragonettes outscored Hebron 20-17 in the third quarter cutting the lead to 60-49 entering the fourth. Early in the period the Lions had a 9-2 scoring burst in what seemed like less than a minute, and suddenly the lead grew to 17 at 69-52 with just over six minutes to play. Ballgame. The Hebron lead grew as high as 23 late in the period. Aubrey Beckham was outstanding, posting a double-double scoring 20 points while dishing 10 assists. Porter also made a huge impact knocking down six threes on her way to 19 points and four assists. Kerra Butler battled through the physical play in the post and put up solid numbers with her own double-double. She scored 14 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and had five blocked shots. Mia James had a solid night with some very timely momentum shifting buckets. She scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds for the Lions while Danielle Osho added nine points, six boards and two blocks. Nicky Daniel chipped in five points for Hebron who ups its record to 27-2 on the year and advances to its fifth straight Elite 8. Coach Azar has now led her teams to 24 straight Elite 8 appearances. Pickens’ season comes to a premature close with a 25-5 record. Credit to Pickens for a hard fought, well played game. They are well coached, scrappy and talented. It’s unfortunate that they had a tough draw as this was more of a Final Four caliber game. The Lions move on to the quarterfinals where they will face Region 4-AAA runner up Morgan County (17-12), who scored a 46-37 upset over Calvary Day in its second round game. Game date and time to be determined.