Elida junior Amanda Cross-Smith, left, guards Floyd senior Elena Mendoza during Wednesday's District 3-1A girls tournament semifinal at Floyd. The Lady Broncos advanced to Friday's championship game at Dora with a 52-38 win.

FLOYD — Senior Tanna Whitecotton scored 21 points Wednesday night to lead second-seeded Floyd past Elida 52-38 in a semifinal game of the District 3-1A girls tournament.

The Lady Broncos (19-6) play at top-seeded Dora in a 6 p.m. game on Friday for the tourney championship.

Junior Tori Tucker carried the Lady Broncos in the first half, scoring all 15 of her points in that time to give Floyd a 24-20 lead.

Elida coach Dan Howard said defensive miscues by his team and Floyd’s shooting hurt the Lady Tigers (18-9).

“We knew we had to work for it going into the game,” Howard said. “Tucker is an awesome player. She lit it up in the first half and felt like we needed to stop her, but other players stepped up in her place.”

Elida held Floyd to five third-quarter points to pull even.

“They went into a box-in-one on Tori and we adjusted to that,” Floyd coach Adam Terry said. “Tori is a great player, but we have other players who can pick up the slack.”

In the fourth quarter the score remained tight until Tucker got a steal and passed the ball to Whitecotton. who hit a layup for a 31-29 lead.

“We did a good job of being patient in the second half,” Terry said. “We lost something in the first half, and didn’t get the shots we wanted, and committed some bad turnovers because of Elida’s defense and their hustle.”

The Lady Tigers pulled even one more time 35-35 before Floyd ran away, outscoring Elida 17-3 down the stretch.

Senior Shanna Anthony scored 18 points for Elida, while freshman Reda Allison had 10.