In two hard-fought battles, the Hayfield Hawks defeated perennial powerhouse Madison 60-53 and the Oakton Cougars kept up their winning ways by downing a very tough, physical West Springfield squad by a score of 39-34.

In the 7:00 pm opener, Hayfield jumped out to a 27-24 halftime lead behind their offensive triple threat. Sarah Palcek led the O from the point guard position, scoring 7 and dishing pin-point passes to Iyan Napier who scored 7 and to All-Everything Anesia Smith who ended the half with 9. Tiara Cruse threw down a tough running jumper just before half to finish with 10 points for the Warhawks. Madison went on a third quarter run when Anesia Smith had to leave the game with 4 fouls and the Lady Warhawks scratched their way to 41-40 lead by the end of the third. The momentum changed early in the 4th when Smith came back into the game and scored 9 quick points to Madison's 2 during the first 3 minutes of the quarter. Madison tried to scrape back but this was to be Hayfield's night. Tiara Cruse (shown here with an assist) finished with 18 and Tara Eddy played her heart out scoring 13. The Lady Hawks were led by strong board play by Napier and Mary Edwards both pulling down 8 boards. Smith, Napier and Palcek scored 20, 16 and 12, respectively as Hayfield will move on to meet Oakton at 9:00 pm at the Patriot Center on Saturday night.

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The 9:00 pm semi-final game proved just as exciting. Both teams came out with the jitters as Oakton scored the first 6 points of the contest and West Springfield pumped in the next 7 to give the Lady Spartans a 1-point lead at the end of the 1st. The 2nd quarter was a repeat as West Springfield took a 2 point lead to the locker room leading 13-11. Megan Scott was tough on the boards, pulling down 7 rebounds and Amaka Agugua led Oakton's scorers with 6. Katie Hammerer was a monster on the boards for the Lady Spartans as she scored 6 and yanked down 7 rebounds. The third quarter was all Oakton. Relentless defense and the ball distribution of Katherine Fill led to a 24-19 Cougar lead by the end of the 3rd. The play of Agugua, who finished with 8 boards and 16 points on 8-for-11 shooting, proved too much for the scrappy West Springfield team as they tried to claw their way back in. Oakton went into a semi-stall offense and their adept ball handling kept the Spartans at bay. Megan Scott also had a big night for the Lady Cougars as she scored 9, pulled down 9 rebounds and played tenacious defense. West Springfield was led by Hammerer, Ginny Horner and Sarah Flanagan who combined for 27 of their points.

Don't miss the Regional Championship on Saturday night at 9:00 at the Patriot Center. It should be a war - HAYFIELD vs. OAKTON.