Villisca girls advance to state tournament

CLARINDA — The Villisca girls basketball team defeated Bedford Monday night 57-50 to advance to the state tournament.

Villisca trailed by four points at halftime, but rallied and pulled away from the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter.

This is the first state tournament appearance for Villisca's girls team since 1968.

The Blue Jays will play Newell-Fonda in the quarterfinals of the 1A tournament. The game will take place Monday, Feb. 25 at 10 a.m.

Villisca is the second team from Montgomery County to make it in the tournament. Red Oak advanced to the state tournament in Class 3A Saturday night.