The Sullivan South Lady Rebels jumped out early and stayed ahead throughout Wednesday night’s TSSAA District 1-AA tournament game against Happy Valley in John Treadway Gym.

Led by 15 points from Sullivan South’s Mollie Leslie, the Lady Rebels rolled to a 42-27 win, eliminating Happy Valley and advancing to the semifinals.

“We came out nervous and made a lot of turnovers,” said Happy Valley head coach Larry Abel. “It was lack of execution. It has been a tough year for us. We couldn’t get it done.”

The Lady Warriors had two seniors on this year’s team, Kaitlyn Roberts and Hayley Green.

“I told them that in life things like basketball will come to an end,” said Abel. “And tonight it came to an end. They leave the Lady Warriors with good memories. They had some JV championships. They had a district championship, first one since 1996, last year.”

The Lady Rebels broke loose for a 10-point run in the top of the first with Sullivan South’s Mollie Leslie connecting for six-straight points. On the back of the first quarter, Happy Valley’s Roberts was good for five points to cut Sullivan South’s lead to 10-5 heading into the second frame.

Lady Rebels Meredith St. Clair opened the second period with a bucket before Lady Warriors Emily Lunceford hit a layup before teammate Adrienne Heneger knocked down a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game, 12-10 with 5:22 left in the first half.

Down the first half stretch, the Lady Rebels, with four points from St. Clair, posted six unanswered to take an 18-12 lead into the half.

On the front end of the third quarter, Sullivan South outpaced the Lady Warriors 11-3 as the Lady Rebels rained in three treys with two of those coming from South’s Alex Harris. The rally allowed South to take a 26-13 lead.

Henegar popped a last-second 3-pointer to narrow the Lady Rebels’ edge to 31-21 heading into the fourth.

The Lady Warriors managed six points in the fourth period as South posted 11 en route to a victory.

For Happy Valley, Roberts had 15 points while Henegar posted 8.