Laporscha Williams has been instrumental in helping to guide her team into their third state tournament. This will be the senior's final chance to have a part in winning a state championship. (Tribune photo/Dan Brawner) [Click to enlarge]

CAVE CITY -- The East Poinsett County Lady Warriors rolled into the Class 3A state championship game with a 55-31 win over the Cave City Cavewomen Saturday night.

"This was totally unexpected," said EPC coach Bobby Lewallen of the margin of victory in the semifinal matchup before a packed gym supporting the Cavewomen. "The girls were just so fired up this morning when I went in to talk to them. They wanted to show everybody that has been doubting the strength of our conference that we belong here."

The game was a rematch of the finals of the 3A division of the Northeast Arkansas Invitational Tournament last Dec. 29. EPC won that contest in equally impressive fashion, 64-39.

Jordan Madden set the pace in the game early for the Lady Warriors. Madden's first three shots in a row were from behind the three-point line. She scored 11 of her 22 points in the first quarter.

"She's pretty well known now around the state as an offensive threat," said Lewallen of the Baylor signee. "We moved her up as a ninth grader to help us get to our last state championship game, and now she's doing it again as an 11th grader."

EPC started the game on a 13-3 run in large part due to Madden's three treys. The Lady Warriors led 17-7 by the time the quarter was over.

"We came out playing great defensively," continued Lewallen. "It was probably the best defensive game we had had this year. Cave City had to work for every shot. They had probably over a thousand fans there and went crazy when they got the first three points. But from that point on we didn't give them many looks. Then after we went up and dominated them like we did, they went silent. We took the crowd completely out of the game."

Becca Ross, Jocelyn Joplin and Madden rattled off the first three buckets of the second quarter to give EPC a 23-7 lead. Cheyenne Childers stopped the bleeding with a pair of shots for Cave City (26-7). The Lady Warriors led 26-14 at halftime.

Amelia Bray made the first bucket of the third period for the Cavewomen to cut the lead to 10 points, but it was as close as they would come to EPC again. LaPorscha Williams got six of her 12 points in the third to help the Lady Warriors pull away.

Following Madden and Williams in scoring were Ross and Jocelyn Joplin with seven each, Keyerah Young three, and both Carla Kemp and Katelyn Armstrong with two each.

EPC beat Cave City 30-16 on the boards. Joplin led the way in that department with seven rebounds for the Lady Warriors. Madden and Williams grabbed six each. Jordan Witt led the Cavewomen with 12 points.

EPC (30-3) will make its second appearance in the state championship in three years, but will have to face a Marshall Lady Bobcat squad that is 3-0 against the Lady Warriors over the past two seasons. That mark includes a 56-50 win over EPC at the Region 3 tournament in Marmaduke.

"They've had our number," Lewallen of the Marshall team. "They must do a good job of scouting us. My hat is off to their coaching staff. But we've got a week to prepare for them this time. That's something we haven't had when we've played them."

The two teams square off at 3:30 p.m. Friday. For the second year in a row, the state championship games will be held at the Summit Arena in Hot Springs.