The Hebron girls were invited to participate in The Throne High School National Championship held in East Rutherford, New Jersey this week. The six-team tournament, sponsored by the NBA and WNBA, consists of six top teams from around the country, Desert Vista (Phoenix, AZ), South Shore (Brooklyn, NY), Bishop Ireton (Alexandria, VA), Ridgeline (Millville, UT), McDonough (Pomfret, MD). Hebron is the highest ranked team (No. 9 in the US in the latest ESPN poll), and was given the No. 1 seed. The Lions had a first round bye as a result, and faced fifth seeded Bishop Ireton in the semifinals. Bishop Ireton won it’s quarterfinal game 79-54 over fourth seeded Desert Vista after spotting them a 10-0 lead. Bishop Ireton won the Virginia Independent School Athletic Association (VISAA) Division I state championship earlier this month and had a record of 25-9 coming into today’s semifinal, most of their losses being against traditional national powers. The Lions started in a 6-0 hole as the three-week layoff they’d had since the state championship win over Wesleyan was evident. Hebron kicked off the rust and briefly held a one point lead before heading to the locker room down 28-26 at the half. The second half was a back and forth affair. Bishop Ireton led 39-34 with four minutes left in the third quarter when a Kerra Butler putback ignited a 6-0 Hebron run giving the Lions a 40-39 lead. It was short lived however as Bishop Ireton scored the next four points to go up 43-40. The Lions answered with a 4-0 run of their own to close out the third quarter leading 44-43. With Hebron trailing 49-46 at the 4:42 mark, Danielle Osho found Amaya Porter in the corner who drained a three knotting the game at 49-49. This ignited a 10-0 run by the Lions who took a 56-49 lead after a pair of Mia James free throws with 2:51 left in the game. Bishop Ireton would not get closer than three points the rest of the way and Hebron closed out a 64-58 win to advance to the championship game. Butler was phenomenal as she recorded another double-double scoring 23 points while pulling down 16 rebounds, both game highs. She also had five blocked shots, two steals and an assist. Aubrey Beckham added 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and one steal. Osho put up eight points and three rebounds while Mia James had seven points, a game high six assists, five rebounds and a steal. Porter added seven points, three assists and a steal. Hebron ups its record to 31-2 in this extended postseason and will face South Shore (NY) in the championship game. South Shore (25-6) won the NYPSAL (New York Public School Athletic Association) championship earlier this month. The sixth seeded Lady Vikings defeated third seeded McDonough (MD) 54-48 its quarterfinal and routed second seeded Ridgeline (UT) 55-35 in its semifinal to advance to the championship game against Hebron. Tipoff is tomorrow (Saturday) at 12 Noon. The game will be televised on NBATV.