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The Huntland Middle School Hornets lost to the Eagleville Eagles 47-29 at Lincoln County High School Thursday in the championship game for the Area 12A tournament.

A slow start on offense put the Hornets in a deep hole that they weren’t able to work out as they finished as the runners-up in the bracket.

The Eagles scored the first four points of the game and held the Hornets at bay throughout the rest of the opening period.

A 3-pointer at the buzzer by Eagleville put the Hornets behind by a score of 11-5 at the end of the first quarter.

A pair of free throws by Ellis Stewart gave the Hornets their only points of the second quarter as the early deficit grew to double digits.

They trailed 23-7 at halftime. Stewart scored six of Huntland’s seven points in the first half.

The Eagles started the third quarter with a 12-3 run to bring their lead up to more 20 points before the Hornets answered back with nine straight points of their own to get their offense on track. Bryant Mooney scored seven of Huntland’s 12 points in the third quarter.

Huntland trailed 35-19 going into the final period.

The Hornets weren’t able to make up any ground in the fourth quarter as they lost by a final margin of 18 points.

Stewart led the Hornets with nine points for the game, followed by Mooney with eight points and Luke Yarbrough with seven.

Julius Miller and Davis Keith scored two points each, and Collin Frame scored one point.

Following the conclusion of the game, Stewart, Yarbrough and Micah Tipps were named to the all-tournament team.

With the loss, the Hornets moved to 21-2 on the season.

They will next play Saturday at Summertown Middle School in a quarterfinal game for the Section 3A tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.