Floyd County High School's Lady Buffs are the Group A, District 3 state champs, beating Lancaster 64-50 in a thriller. The team took a 2-0 edge at the tipoff and never lost the lead. The 14-point margin at the end was their largest lead of the night.

Once again, Brittany Avancini (right) led the scoring, racking up 31 points for the second straight game . Kayla Hartman scored 10 and Molly Brown 6. Brandy Phillips, Brittany Bourne and Carmen Bolt tossed in five each  and Alisha Gray scored 2.

With Lindsey Thompson out for the tournament after injuring her knee for the second time this season, Avancini stepped up as team leader and took control of the tournament

"She was unbelievable," Lancaster's coach Joanne Webb-Fary said of Avancini, who led the team in steals (five Friday and eight Saturday) and scoring her 1,000 point during Friday's action.

Floyd Coach Alan Cantrell praised junior Avancini and sophomore Carmen Bolt for their play and talked of a solid team effort that carried the Lady Buffs to a state campionship. With three starters in foul trouble early in the game, Cantrell used his reserves, which helped wear down Lancaster. It was the third straight year that the team went to the state tournament in Richmond. They lost to Gate City in the semi-finals in 2006 and Clarke County in the finals last year.

Floyd brought two busloads of fans to both days of the tournament and a large number drove in on their own and stayed over the final. Roger Mannon will have a detailed report in Thursday's Floyd Press and we will have more photos there as well.