BY MIKE URSERY

SPORTS EDITOR

The Higbee Lady Tigers (4-1) made history last week when they won the Northwestern Tournament in Mendon, Missouri, on Nov. 28-Dec. 3.

“It was an amazing feeling,” senior guard Rhiannon Runyon said. “As soon as the buzzer (during the championship game) went off, I just went into tears. It was four hard years of a lot of work, and winning that was definitely great. I think that was a game that’s going to set us up for the rest of the season. It will get us motivated and pumped up for the rest of the year.”

The Lady Tigers defeated Hale 65-61 in the championship game on Dec. 3. After falling behind 9-0 to start the game, Higbee put together a 22-5 run to go ahead 22-14.

The Lady Tigers led by as many as 15 at one point, but Hale rallied back to get within four points.

Sam Nelson made a clutch free throw late in the game to make the score 65-61. Higbee then held Hale scoreless the rest of the game to win the game and the tournament championship.

“I told the seniors that this was their last chance to play in the Northwestern Tournament and that they needed to leave it all on the court tonight,” head coach Tanner Burton said. “I told the other players that we have been building this program for four years now and we needed to go out there and win it for our seniors and next year we will win it again for them.”

The Lady Tigers followed that win up with a victory over the Breshear Lady Tigers when they returned home on Dec. 5.

Runyon led the way with 24 points as the Lady Tigers rolled to a 66-23 win over Breshear.

After the game, the team honored senior Sabrina Huddleston, who scored her 1,000th point against Fayette on Nov. 21.

The Lady Tigers have some time off before returning to action when they host Christian Fellowship School on Dec. 15. The game starts at 6 p.m.