The Sims girls basketball team fell to Pacolet, 45-18, in the championship game of the Middle School Invitational finals on Tuesday. Pacolet jumped out to a 26-13 halftime lead and padded that lead to 36-15 by the end of three periods with the aid of some fine pressure defense.

“The kids actually played better tonight than last night,” said Sims Head Coach Kenny Harris. “I was very proud of their teamwork and attitude on the court. We had not had enough practice time to go over the half-court trapping defense that Pacolet ran so well, so we had to make the adjustments ‘on the fly’ during the game. All of the kids saw some playing time, and we just needed that game experience. I was especially impressed by the improvement on our fast break passing. We really played like a team on several breaks.”

Brooke Smith led the Tigers with 10 points while Aniya Byrd, Cheyenne Lipsey and Alexis Beatty chipped in two apiece. Tay Booker and April Shugart each added a point.

The season opener saw Sims take a hard fought win over Jonesville on Monday at the Middle School tournament in Pacolet. In a tight contest that came down to the final minutes, the Tigers won, 17-12.

“The Jonesville kids outhustled us most of the game, and Coach (LaShon) Rogers had her team better prepared to play than I had mine,” said Harris. “We were very fortunate to get a few baskets when we needed them. Jonesville is very young, but they are going to give some teams a lot of trouble because of their speed and hustle. Coach Rogers is doing a great job with those kids.”

Leading scorers for Sims were Brooke Smith with seven points, Aniya Byrd and Tay Booker with four each and Alexis Beatty with two points.

LaQuandria Ray scored eight points for the Wildcats and Texas Melton had four points.