Maries County girls basketball bragging rights for a year.

That is what was on the line Thursday night in the annual Battle of Maries County girls basketball game between the host Belle Lady Tigers and visiting Vienna Lady Eagles.

Nursing a 20-15 halftime lead, Belle saw their lead in the third quarter over Vienna shrunk to four at 30-26 with 4:33 for the period on a Marissa Hollis 3-pointer.

Started by a Hali Naber bucket at the 4:06 mark of the third, Belle rattled off a 14-2 run helping them to a 44-28 lead entering the fourth quarter.

From there, the host Lady Tigers were able to pull away from Vienna for a 65-34 victory giving them the Battle of Maries County trophy after the game was not played last year due to it being postponed because of inclement weather.

Belle senior Morgan Willis got the scoring started for the Lady Tigers with a bucket at the 6:17 mark of the opening quarter.

That led to a 7-0 game-opening run capped by a Naber basket with 5:36 for the first quarter.

Freshman Aubrey Schwartze played through an injured ankle hitting a free throw to get Vienna on the board at the 3:04 mark of the opening period.

Another Schwartze bucket and two Jaedyn Schell free throws cut Vienna’s deficit to five at 10-5 with 2:00 for the quarter.

Belle answered with another Naber bucket and a Miranda Sanders 3-pointer in the final minute of the quarter helping the host Lady Tigers to a 15-7 lead entering the second period.

Field goals were hard to come by in the second quarter with both teams combining to hit 11 free throws compared to only an Aubrey Reeves field goal with :46 ticks for the half.

Edging Belle 8-5 in the second quarter, Vienna pulled to with five points of the Lady Tigers at halftime by a score of 20-15.

Naber and Schell led their respective squads with six first-half points apiece.

Limited to three first-half points, Belle freshman Anastyn Lansford caught fire in the third quarter for the Lady Tigers.

Trailing 30-20 at the 5:50 mark of the third quarter, Vienna’s Marissa Hollis connected on consecutive 3-point shots cutting Belle’s lead to 30-26 just over a minute later with 4:33 for the third quarter.

Lansford answered with a pair of 3-pointers of her own as part of a 14-2 Belle run that ended the third quarter with the Lady Tigers owning a 44-28 lead.

Torching the nets for 13 points in the third quarter, Lansford helped the Lady Tigers to a comfortable lead.

Staying hot in the fourth quarter, seven different Lady Tigers helped Belle win the fourth quarter and the game by a final score of 65-34.

Netting 17 of her game-high 20 points in the second half, Lansford added four rebounds and four assists to her game-high point total.

Nevaeh Kinsey also caught fire from beyond the 3-point line in the second half.

Connecting on a trio of 3-point shots in the fourth quarter, Kinsey joined Lansford in double figures finishing with 14 points and three steals.

Naber made it a trio of Lady Tiger scorers in double digits also finishing with 14 points.

She nearly finished with a triple double added nine rebounds, six steals and three assists to her double-figure point total.

Victoria Busch posted an impressive stat line of six points, four rebounds and four steals.

Willis added four points in addition to pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds for the Lady Tigers.

Sanders and Saige Garner each added three points for Belle while Ava Feeler hit a fourth-quarter free throw for one point as time expired.

Schwartze led the Lady Eagles in a losing cause with a double double of 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Marissa Hollis also reached double figures scoring nine of her 10 points in the third quarter.

Schell was a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line finishing with six points all in the first half.

Reeves finished with five points, three rebounds and a blocked shot for the Lady Eagles.

Brooke Mercer also scored all of her points from the free-throw line finishing with three markers.

She also added four rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Prior to the varsity contest between Belle and Vienna, the JV Lady Tigers took on Borgia’s JV Lady Knights.

Leading 20-17 at halftime, Belle was outscored 19-7 in the second half of their 36-27 loss.

Garner led the JV Lady Tigers 11 points and four rebounds.

Feeler added four points followed by the quartet of McKenna Loughridge, Cylee Reed, Adalyn Walters and Busch with three points apiece.