By Damian Juneau

Special to the American Press

JENNINGS — The ninth-ranked Anacoco Indians used a fourth-quarter rally to take a 43-42 win over top-ranked Hathaway Hornets Thursday in the Class B quarterfinals.

Anacoco advanced to face Oak Hill next week in the semifinals.

The Indians trailed 38-28 going into the fourth quarter before taking the come-from-behind upset victory. The Indians scored the first five points of the quarter to trail 38-33 with 6:10 to play. Madison Suire put the Hornets ahead 41-37 after making 1 of 2 free throws with 1:28 to play.

Suire increased Hathaway’s lead to 42-39 with 1:04 left by making one more free throw. Anacoco’s Bailey Davis scored on the next play to cut the lead to 42-41 with 54 seconds left. Anacoco missed a potential go-ahead shot with 25 seconds. The defense from Anacoco then forced a Hathaway turnover with 10 seconds remaining. Davis scored the winning layup with 6 seconds left to give Anacoco the victory.

“We knew coming into the game it was going to be very tough as they were the number one team in the state,” said Anacoco head coach Tim Parker. “Our girls have been working so hard and they were rewarded tonight.”

The Hornets jumped on the Indians early by leading 14-4 with 2:08 left to play in the quarter. Lamiyah Sanchez and Chloey Guidry scored 12 combined points to give the Hornets the 14-8 first-quarter lead.

Hathaway increased the lead to 25-12 with 5:15 to play in the second quarter after a 3-pointer from Guidry. Hathaway outscored Anacoco 14-10 in the second quarter as it led 28-18 at halftime. The teams were tied at 10-10 in the third quarter before the Anacoco comeback.

The Indians were led in scoring by Davis who finished with 18 points, of which 10 came in the fourth quarter. Abbie Dowden added 12 points.

“A lot of our offense runs arounds our big girls and they have been performing well,” Parker said. “They didn’t play as well as they have been playing tonight but I’m super proud of them as without them we don’t win tonight.”

The Hornets were led in scoring by Sanchez, who finished with 20 points. Guidry finished with 12 points.