Monday night, the McKenzie Lady Tigers were tied with Kinston for the No. 4 seed in the area tournament slated to started Thursday. But, in order to make it into the tournament, they had to take care of business and defeat Kinston.

And that's just what they did.

The Lady Tigers controlled the game from the opening tip to the final gun, posting a 16-12 lead at the end of the first period and then swelling it to 30-21 at the intermission.

When the teams took the floor in the third period, the Lady Tigers and the Lady Bulldogs both posted 12 points each. But the Lady Tigers nine-point halftime lead kept them on top of their opponents, 42-33.

In the fourth period of play, the Lady Bulldogs outscored their opponents 15-11 but, when it was all said and done, it turned out to be too little too late for the Lady Bulldogs.

McKenzie posted the 53-48 victory to add two more days to their season.

LaSha Pitts was the leader on the floor for the Lady Tigers in the victory. Pitts posted the double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. She also posted two blocked shots during the game.

Carrena Davison was also a force on the floor, posting 16 points and Kassie Everett finished the night with six points and five rebounds.

On the other side of the scoreboard, Ramsi Smith finished with 20 points and Kaleigh Sanders tacked on 15 points.

The loss ended Kinston's season with a 1-8 record.

The Lady Tigers, however tacked on another two days to their schedule with the victory.

To the victors go the spoils, not in this case as the Lady Tigers advance into the area tournament to face the area champion Florala Lady Wildcats Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The winner of that meeting will earn the right to compete in the sub-regional playoffs. The winner of the area tournament will host a team and the loser will travel.