DIXON’S MILLS — No. 3 seed A.L. Johnson (8-7) upended second-seeded Linden (10-10) 52-38 Thursday night in the first round of the Class 1A, Area 4 tournament.

Having lost to Linden twice earlier in the season, A.L. Johnson hung 19 points on the board in the second quarter to build a lead it never relinquished.

The Lady Eagles went into halftime with a 27-16 advantage largely on the shoulders of Ashley Edwards and the 15 points she scored over the game’s first two quarters.

The teams played to an 8-8 tie in the third frame as Linden got no closer than a nine-point deficit in the period.

Tonya Evans drained a three-pointer with 6:10 left that cut the Lady Eagle lead to 38-31 before ALJ pulled away on a 10-1 run.

Edwards finished the night with 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, narrowly missing a triple-double.

LaRobyn Harris had 13 points for A.L. Johnson while Tiffany Barber had 11.

Alexis Johnson led Linden with 11 points while Briana Delaine finished with nine.

ALJ is set to play top-seeded Marengo Saturday at 6 p.m. in the tournament final.