The Bears ran out to an early lead and never looked back, as they defeated the Blue Devils, 55-27, in a Mountain Empire District girls encounter Thursday night in Independence. Bland County will now play Narrows for the regular-season title.

Bland County (16-2, 7-1 MED) raced out to a 17-8 advantage after the first quarter and increased its advantage to 32-16 at the break. Any hopes of a second half comeback by Grayson County (0-16, 0-18) were put to rest early, as the Bears outscored the Bklue Devils, 23-11, to claim the 55-27 victory and force a playoff game with Narrows for the district title.

Laurel Hankins led Bland County with 13 points and Kirby Mustard chipped in with 11 points.

Alyssa Wingate led Grayson County with 13 points.