Cardinals clinch third district title in four years with balanced attack

IRONTON — Woodland High School’s girls basketball team got a balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures on its way to a 73-67 Class 3 District 2 championship Saturday, March 1, against Arcadia Valley.

The Cardinals improved to 15-11 with the victory while the Tigers concluded their 2024-25 season with an overall record of 22-5.

Senior Mallary Barks led Woodland with 23 points, Addy Massa made four of her team’s six 3-pointers scoring 17 points, Tallie Johnson added 15, while Maci McIntyre collected 10 points. Ella Cook and Peyton Hinkle each had four points.

McIntyre’s corner 3-pointer started the scoring with 7:15 left in the first quarter. Arcadia Valley responded with a 10-2 run thanks to Braelyn Turnbough, who scored eight of those points. She had a three-point play with 6:30 left and drained a 3-pointer with 4:40 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Cardinals responded with a 10-3 spurt of their own, getting a pair of 3s from Massa and another from Barks, going in front 15-13 with 1:45 to go in the opening quarter.

Woodland began the second quarter on a 5-0 run, pushing its lead to 22-15 on a field goal by Johnson plus a three-point play by Barks. Arcadia Valley bounced back with two field goals — a 3-pointer by Turnbough and a basket by Newstead-Adams — to get within 22-20.

The Cardinals then went on a 9-0 run, getting scoring contributions from four different players in pushing their lead to 31-20 with 3:42 before the half.

The Tigers sank three 3-pointers in the next 1:27 to get within 33-29, but Woodland used a 7-0 scoring surge to take a 40-29 advantage with just a minute before the half. The Tigers split a pair of free throws at 31 seconds (40-30). The Cardinals turned the over with 17 seconds left in the half, giving Arcadia Valley a final possession to pull closer. However, a 3-pointer was off the mark, and a follow-up field goal came after the quarter expired.

It was back-and-forth in the third, but the Cardinals continued their nearly double-digit lead for most of it. Johnson’s three-point play gave Woodland a 54-40 lead, its largest of the game with 2:40 left in the third, but Arcadia Valley wouldn’t go away, closing on an 11-4 run to get within 58-51 with just a quarter left.

The Tigers split a pair of foul shots then got a quick 3-pointer to pull within 59-55 with 6:15 remaining. The Cardinals had an answer, however, going on a 6-0 run with a pair of baskets from Peyton Hinkle and a layup by Barks. The 65-55 lead held up as Arcadia Valley’s offense was limited to five field goals — four 3s and a layup — in the final quarter, while Woodland found a way to score enough to hold off a late rally by the home team.

“Arcadia Valley is a very strong team and we knew that they liked to get after it on defense, and we couldn’t hold the ball very long,” Woodland coach Paul Lynch after the game. “We spent a lot of time on passing and the fundamentals, and we feel like they have proved to be successful for us over the years, and tonight we had so many girls step up. I am so proud of this group.”

Johnson was forced to watch the final 6:50 after picking up her fifth personal foul.

She described watching the final moments from the bench.

“It was so amazing,” she said. “Even though I would’ve loved to be in the game, it just didn’t go my way. My teammates really stepped up, they really pushed hard. They amazed, and it was just so fun to be on the bench and cheer them on.

“We always talk about next girl up and we’re established on a team concept, and not just one, we proved that tonight. I am so proud of these girls for stepping up and doing a little bit more, and we had some hardships. (But) that’s why we play the schedule we do, we try to prepare for these games and they stepped up today, every girl. They wanted it. We beat a very good Arcadia Valley team today.”

The Tigers made 11 of 24 from beyond the 3-point arc.

“They are such a good shooting team, so they are never out of the game,” Lynch said. “About midway through the fourth quarter, I felt like the clock running was more important than us scoring anymore, so we really focused on trying to run clock, still looking to score, but it had to be good shots, and we were able to run some clock. They were forced to try and hit some shots, we rebounded well and luckily we made a few free throws down the stretch.”

Arcadia Valley’s Braelyn Turnbough led all scorers with 31 points. Freshman Annabelle Adams contributed 13 points, while Paige Newstead-Adams added 11 points.

Woodland improved to 3-0 this season when scoring 70 or more points. They also are 6-0 on the season when scoring 60 or more points and 6-4 in tournaments and postseason games.

Sophomore Addy Massa helped the Cardinals earn the upset victory. It was her first district championship while seniors from this year’s squad have now won three in four seasons.

“We have a lot of girls with talent in different areas,” Massa said.

Massa didn’t think the victory Saturday was sealed until a late layup from Barks, which gave Woodland a 74-63 lead.

“That last layup when Mallary made it, I was like, ‘We got it,’” she said.

A late 3-pointer fell through for Arcadia Valley as the final buzzer sounded.

It’s the third district championship in four seasons for the girls squad at Woodland, which also defeated Kelly at Kelly High School in 2023.

“With them having the (district) wins under their belt, it really helped motivate us,” Massa said.

Barks was succinct in discussing why Woodland won.

“I think we really wanted it more,” Barks said.

Johnson mentioned how difficult it was to play Arcadia Valley.

“They’re a solid, tough team,” Johnson said. “They have some strong players. It was hard to get in and box them out.

“We have a great community, and we just have a great pep club. All the basketball boys who won last night came here to cheer us on. We always feed off each other's energy.”

Facing the top-seeded team on its home court may seem like a challenge, but Woodland wasn’t fazed.

“We’ve been in this position before,” Barks said. “We played Kelly at Kelly (High School) for the district championship (in 2023) our sophomore year. We knew what we had to do, and we came out and executed.

Maci McIntyre finished the contest with 10 points. She made 2-of-4 foul shots down the stretch to help the Cardinals’ effort.

“I think (early on) when we were rebounding, we were letting them take it out of our hand, at the end I was really trying to hold onto it, and not them bully me around and try to push back," McIntyre said.

Woodland made 23-of-45 field goals in the six-point victory while Arcadia Valley converted 19-of-50 field-goal attempts.

Woodland finished with 11 assists in the contest and forced 14 turnovers.

The Cardinals return to action Tuesday, March 4, when they take on Portageville at 6:30 p.m. in Portageville.