MANSFIELD -- The Acorn Lady Tigers remember well the feeling they had after their first-round loss in the Class 2A girls state tournament last season.
On Wedesday, there were many more smiles after the game.
Harlei McCourtney, Sophie Strasner and Chanity Hall combined for 43 points to lead Acorn past Lavaca in a 60-43 victory at Tiger Gym.
"I don't even know what to say," Hall said with a smile. "I'm just so thankful to be on this team. We've worked really well together and our coach has pulled us all together. Coming out of the locker room with a loss, it's not real fun because everybody is sad. We all wanted to win."
Sharing the basketball was a big part of Acorn's success. They finished with 20 assists as a team with Daisy Dollar and Strasner leading the way and setting up high-percentage shots.
"It has been a trend of late that we are a lot better of a passing team," Acorn Coach Mike Jackson said. "They are an unselfish bunch and share the ball. Over the season, they've found their strengths and are playing to those."
Acorn (32-5) held an 18-11 lead after the first quarter. That lead was pushed out to 34-21 at halftime after Sydney Holliday stole an inbound pass and converted it into a basket at the buzzer.
The Lady Tigers put the game away in the third quarter with a 16-0 run that made the advantage 50-23.
"We came out with a 13-point lead and wanted to up our intensity a little bit," Jackson said. "We wanted to extend it out in the third quarter a little bit. In big games, you never want to let your opponent hang around. We [did] a good job there. Our defense has steadily got better all year."
McCourtney (game-high 16 points with two blocks), Strasner (14 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals) and Hall (game-high 14 rebounds with 13 points) were all key for Acorn, which has a 14-game winning streak. Lavaca (15-19) had Marah Werschem finish with a team-high 15 points on five three-pointers.
Mountainburg 61, Woodlawn 51
Freshman Elliot Owen scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Lady Dragons to their first state tournament win since 2014.
Eden Dean also had 15 points for Mountainburg (25-5).
Woodlawn (18-16) was guided by Kathryn Dixon (18 points), Anna Fitzgibbon (13 points) and Jaci Hoyt (12 points).
The teams combined to hit 15 three-pointers with Mountainburg drilling eight and Woodlawn making seven.
Mountainburg was down 13-9 after the opening quarter but took a 31-29 lead into halftime. The Lady Dragons had a 47-34 edge entering the final quarter.
Cotter 63, Parkers Chapel 57
The No. 3 seed Lady Warriors connected on 14 three-pointers to down the No. 2 seed Lady Trojans. It was the first state tournament win for Cotter in 30 years.
Cotter (26-9) was led by Kylee Chastain's 22 points with Addison Decker and Emma Jones each scoring 15 points.
Parkers Chapel (24-7) kept it close behind Krista Rivers (16 points), Bella Frisby (14 points) and Bella Goodwin (12 points).
Cotter led 51-39 after three quarters. Parkers Chapel got the deficit to 58-57 late, but Cotter held on after that.
Entering the game, Cotter had won 17 of its previous 19 games, while Parkers Chapel had won 16 of 18.
Forward Harlei McCourtney (left) passes the ball Wednesday while being defended by center Madison Proctor (middle) during the second quarter of Acorn’s 60-43 victory over Lavaca in the opening round of the Class 2A girls state tournament in Mansfield. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)