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The Huntland Middle School Lady Hornets lost to the Unity Lady Lions 37-29 at home Monday for their ninth loss of the season.

The Lady Hornets rallied from a double-digit halftime deficit to make it a one-possession game in the last two minutes, but they couldn’t find a tying or go-ahead score as the Lady Lions pulled away late.

The teams traded baskets throughout the opening period with a 3-pointer from Stratton Davis giving the Lady Hornets the lead late in the quarter.

They led 9-8 after one quarter.

The Lady Hornets were held to one point in the second quarter on a free throw by Abigail Denton while the Lady Lions ended the half with 10 straight points to create some separation.

Huntland trailed 23-10 at halftime.

The Lady Hornets began chipping away at the deficit in the third quarter as they did most of their damage in the period from the free-throw line. Abbey Mason scored seven of Huntland’s 11 points in the third quarter with all of her points for the period coming on free throws.

They trailed 30-21 going into the final period.

The Lady Hornets continued to make up ground in the fourth quarter and cut the deficit down to 31-29 on another free throw from Mason with about two minutes remaining.

However, the Lady Lions didn’t allow any points for the rest of the day and iced the game with free throws to give Huntland the loss by eight.

Davis and Mason led the Lady Hornets with 11 points each for the game, followed by Denton with three points.

Millie Walker and Lynsey Jakubowski scored two points each.

With the loss, the Lady Hornets moved to 11-9 on the season.

They will next play in their area tournament at Lincoln County High School. A schedule for the tournament had not been confirmed at the time of writing.