WAVERLY - There was something in the air, and it made breathing difficult for the South Point Lady Pointers.

A large, vocal crowd was on hand for Friday's Division III district championship game between South Point and the unbeaten No. 1-ranked Oak Hill Lady Oaks.

Having played in the state tournament last season, the Lady Oaks were familiar with big crowds. However, South Point was facing a new experience and coach Dave Adams said it had an effect on his team as they lost 68-42.

The crowd pressure along with the Lady Oaks pressure that forced 34 turnovers proved to be the difference.

"Mainly our problem was not handling the pressure and not handling the ball. I think the atmosphere got to us the first half. We're not use to seeing that," Lady Pointers coach Dave Adams said.

Alyssa Hammond, a Marshall University recruit, led Oak Hill with 32 points, thanks in a large part by the press that produced 12 layups out of her 13 field goals.

Keisa Davis added 15 points and Ashley Midkiff had seven rebounds.

South Point was led by Sarah Lee with 10 points and seven rebounds. Alisha Bridges and Jessica Craft chipped in 8 points each and Latisha Kouns grabbed eight rebounds.

The Lady Pointers defense held Oak Hill to 27 of 68 from the field for 39.7 percent.

"We played pretty good halfcourt defense. They didn't get good looks at the basket. Other than handling their pressure, we did what we wanted to do," Adams said. "It wasn't as bad as the final score. We gave up a bunch of points at the end (of the game) when Koukos fouled out."

Hammond and Bridges exchanged baskets to start the scoring and the game remained tied until the 3:38 mark when Hammond made three straight baskets for a 10-4 lead and it was 15-4 at the end of the quarter as South Point was guilty of nine turnovers.

A 9-2 run to start the second quarter gave Oak Hill a 24-6 lead with 4:46 left in the half. South Point got within 24-13 on a foul shot by Summer Malone, but Oak Hill built a 32-14 lead at the break.

The Lady Pointers got within 15 points on three occasions in the second half, but Oak Hill scored 12 answered points to end the game and win going away.

South Point ends the season 20-3, the most wins in a single season. Adams tributed a lot of the success to the seniors Bridges, Koukos and Joyce.

"We had a really good year. The three seniors started out with us four years ago and got us to the district finals. They helped build the program," Adams said.

Oak Hill (23-0) will play in the regional semifinals Wednesday.

South Point4101513=42

Oak Hill15171224=68

SOUTH POINT (20-3):

Alisha Bridges 2-5 (0-2) 4-8 8, Jessica Craft 3-11 (0-3) 0-0 8, Latisha Koukos 2-4 (0-0) 0-2 4, Whitney Woody 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Summer Malone 1-4 (0-0) 2-5 4, Sarah Lee 4-11 (0-0) 2-5 10, Elisha Joyce 3-8 (2-2) 0-0 8, Amy Frasure 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Vanessa Rogers 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Missy Wheeler 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 15-42

(2-9)

10-22

42. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Koukos (4th 4:36). Rebounds: 14-21=35 (Koukos 8, Malone 7, Lee 7, Craft 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 4. Assists: 5 (Craft 3). Steals: 9 (Koukos 3, Craft 3). Turnovers: 34. FG% – 35.7. FT% – 45.5. 3pt% – 33.3.

OAK HILL (23-0):

Kayla Moore 1-4 (1-4) 0-0 3, Annah Ruff 2-4 (0-0) 2-2 6, Ashley Midkiff 2-6 (0-0) 1-3 5, Keisa Davis 6-13 (2-5) 1-2 15, Alyssa Hammond 13-27 (0-5) 6-6 32, Lacey Adkins 1-2 (0-0) 0-2 2, Kaylin Marshall 1-4 (0-0) 0-0 2, Karla Moore 0-2 (0-0) 1-2 1, Ashley Malone 0-3 (0-0) 0-0 0, Jill Phillips 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Abby Campbell 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 27-66

(3-13)

11-17

68. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Midkiff (4th 3:00), Ruff (4th 1:20). Rebounds: 14-12=26 (Midkiff 7, Ruff 4, Davis 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 6. Assists: 7 (Davis 2, Adkins 2). Steals: 19 (Hammond 6, Davis 5). Turnovers: 18. FG% – 39.7. FT% – 64.7. 3pt% – 23.1.