Editor’s note: Mark Buffalo, the author of this story, is the Sports Editor for the Grand Prairie Herald.

The Des Arc Junior Lady Eagles made an amazing run through the 2A-6 district tournament as the sixth seed.

The Lady Eagles won three games to get to the finals of the tournament, falling 26-21 to No. 1 seed McCrory in the finals Saturday at the Hornets Nest in Hazen

Des Arc came out quickly, leading 7-4 after one quarter. Brooklyn Ripper scored three points while Ireland Saul and Ava Smith each scored two points.

McCrory outscored Des Arc 9-2 in the second quarter to lead 13-9 at halftime. Smith scored Des Arc’s only points of the quarter.

McCrory led 19-18 after three quarters then outscored the Junior Lady Eagles 7-3 to get the victory.

Smith led Des Arc with nine points. Saul had seven. Ripper had three. Brinlynn Craig had two.

First-year Des Arc coach Allie Banks was proud of her team’s run through the tournament.

“It’s hard to put into words how proud I am of this group,” she said. “All season, I asked them ‘how will you respond.’ And they answered by battling from the 6 seed all the way to finish as the 2A-6 junior high district runner-up. Along the way, we beat two teams that had beaten us by double digits during the regular season and played McCrory down to the wire. They were another team that beat us by double digits in the regular season.

“This loss doesn’t define them. Their work ethic, energy and fight do. I love this group, and we’ll use this as fuel as we prepare for next year.”

Des Arc beat Marianna 29-13 in the first round of the tournament.

Des Arc led 17-7 at halftime then outscored Marianna 8-0 in the third quarter to put the game away.

Smith led Des Arc with 12 points. Saul had six. Craig had five. Abby Morton and Talyn Johnston had two points each.

Des Arc beat Carlisle 32-30 in the second round.

Des Arc outscored Carlisle 8-5 in the fourth quarter to get the victory.

Saul led Des Arc with 13 points. Smith had five. Ashley Collins, Mollee McDonald and Craig had four points each. Morton had two.

Des Arc advanced to the finals with a 27-17 win over Palestine-Wheatley.

Des Arc outscored Palestine-Wheatley 13-2 in the fourth quarter to get the win.

Collins led Des Arc with eight points. Smith had seven. McDonald had six. Saul had five. Craig had one.