The Haughton Lady Bucs ended the Parkway Lady Panthers’ remarkable 57-game district winning streak with a 44-43 victory Wednesday night at Parkway.
Parkway’s last district loss was to Captain Shreve on Jan. 16, 2021.
It was Haughton’s second game decided by one point in the last three days.
On Monday, the Lady Bucs fell to Airline by the same score.
Airline suffered its first district loss Wednesday, falling to Huntington 61-35 at Airline.
The loss and Haughton’s win created a logjam at the top of District 1-5A.
Airline (11-10, 1-1), Haughton (21-7, 3-1), Parkway (16-7, 3-1) and Captain Shreve (16-9, 3-1) are tied for first in the loss column. Huntington (13-7, 2-2) and Natchitoches Central (17-7, 3-2) are just one game back.
In the other 1-5A games, Benton rolled past Byrd 59-29 at Benton and Natchitoches Central defeated Evangel Christian 60-13.
In non-district game, Providence Classical Academy fell to Pleasant Hill 54-49 at PCA.
At Haughton, Sariah Shannon hit the first of two free throws to give the Lady Bucs a 44-40 lead with 6.8 seconds left.
She missed the second but it didn’t matter as Parkway hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.
Free throw shooting played a big role in the victory. Before Shannon’s miss, Haughton was a perfect 18-of-18 from the line.
Skylar Branch was 10-for-10, including four big ones down the stretch in the fourth quarter.
Parkway jumped out to an early 8-2 lead but Haughton closed the quarter with a 10-2 run and led 12-10.
The Lady Bucs limited the Lady Panthers to five points in the second quarter and led 25-13 at the half.
Parkway rallied in the third. Khia Thomas hit two 3-pointers and Samahri Garrette one. The Lady Panthers got within 35-30 with a layup at the buzzer.
Trinity Smith-Compton knocked down four free throws in the quarter to help Haughton maintain the lead.
Parkway got within one twice in the fourth, the last time at 41-40 with about two minutes to play.
Branch sank two free throws with 1:33 left to give the Lady Bucs a 43-40 lead with 1:33 left.
The Lady Panthers had a couple of chances to tie or get within one but couldn’t capitalize. Haughton’s Aliyah Delaney got a big rebound in the lane.
After a Haughton turnover, Parkway had one more chance. But the Lady Panthers turned it over with 16.7 seconds left and were eventually forced to foul, setting up Shannon’s free throw.
Branch led Haughton with 16 points. Bella Hammond, who hit two 3-pointers in the first half, scored 10. Shannon added eight.
Thomas led Parkway with 20 points. Jasmyne Hendrix added nine and Kenadie Loche seven.
Haughton hosts Benton Friday. Parkway hosts Airline in another key district game.
At Airline, Addison McDowell led Airline with 10 points. Nia Williams chipped in nine.
Kyndal Graham paced Huntington with 15 points. Kaylee Dupree and Jordae Morris scored 13 each.
At Glenbrook, Jakayla Douglas scored 27 points to lead Plain Dealing (10-13, 1-1). Janiya Douglas added 10.
Plain Dealing hosts Jonesboro-Hodge Friday.
At Benton, the Lady Tigers improved to 16-13 overall and 1-3 in district. Byrd dropped to 11-17 and 0-5.
At PCA, Lauren Hillman led the Lady Knights (19-13) with 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Adilynn DeLoach chipped in nine. Ella Grace Richardson and Alex Thaxton scored eight each.
Pleasant Hill improved to 23-8.
PCA visits Castor Friday.