Broaddus will play for a state championship for the first time in program history. (Brandon Ogden/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

TATUM — In a matchup of a state semifinal veteran and a newcomer to the stage, it was the experience squad that grabbed the early advantage in a Class 1A Division 1 semifinal on Tuesday night.

Neches, which was in the state semifinals for the fifth straight year and 13th time overall, lead 25-15 over No. 2 Broaddus, which had already made program history with its run through the playoffs, midway through the second quarter.

Broaddus, which had not made a 3-pointer in the first 12 minutes of the game, made three triples in the final four minutes of the half as part of a 15-4 run to lead 30-29 at halftime.

It was all Broaddus in the second half as the Lady Bulldogs pulled away to a 61-38 victory, punching their ticket to a state championship game for the first time.

“First of all, we had a lot of prayer for us, and the lord answered all of them,” Broaddus head girls basketball coach Nigel Boyles said. “We’ve been pretty banged up and pretty sick, and all we asked was for God to heal us and help us get through this playoff run.

“So first of all, we want to thank God for everything he’s done for us. Second of all, the crowd has been amazing. Broaddus blue is for real. We’ve had fans show up, and our crowds get bigger and bigger. We just want to tell our fans thank you so much.”

Broaddus led 7-5 early after four straight points by Macie Cook. A Joely Jenins three sparked an 8-0 Neches run. The Lady Tigers led 15-11 after the first quarter.

With the score at 17-15, Neches got triples from Sealy Hines and Jenkins as part of an 8-1 spurt that pushed the lead to 25-15. Kaylynn Quinney then scored nine points as part of a 15-4 run to end the half, including an and-one putback with five seconds on the clock to give the Lady Bulldogs a 30-29 halftime lead.

“They’re a very good perimeter shooting team,” Boyles said. “So we were trying to put as much pressure on them and run them off the 3-point line as quick as possible and have a couple of helps in the paint. I think the turning point of the game was when we came out in the third quarter, and we really sold out on that triple-post offense. I think we had a little bit of nerves in the first quarter, which is typical, but we really calmed down and had a great third quarter, and we were really just able to run it out in the fourth.”

Broaddus scored the first six points of the third quarter and ended up outscoring Neches 20-6 in the frame to push the score to 50-35. Broaddus held Neches scoreless for the first 6:40 of the fourth quarter until Jenkins made a three — the Tigers’ only points of the quarter.

“That’s a great basketball team we lost to,” first-year Neches head girls basketball coach Bryan Braddock said. “They are well-coached. They made a great adjustment in the second half. They tandemed off my post players and shut down the driving lanes, so it made it a little hard to score. And their transition in the second half kind of cost us a little bit.”

It was the final high school game for Neches seniors Jenkins, Hines and Aubrey Kincade, who have played in the state semifinals every year of their careers.

“This is a great group of girls,” Braddock said. “They’re great basketball players, but if you get to be a part of their life like I got to be the last eight months, they’re better kids than they are basketball players. They fought hard tonight.

“But overall, it was a great year, making it to the state semifinals four times in a row for the seniors. I felt like I let them down a little bit because I was brought here maybe to try to get them over the hump. But at the end of the day, I worked hard this year. I can hold my head high, and they can hold their head high.”

Jenkins and Kincade led Neches (22-8) with 11 points. Kincade also had seven assists. Addison Spaith scored 10 points, and Jenkins added 5 points.

Broaddus outrebounded Neches 29-16.

Quinney, a sophomore, scored a game-high 17 points, reaching the 1,000-point milestone for her career. Caelyn Williams had 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists, five blocks and three stals. Cook had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Jalia Mitchell had 8 points, four rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Kaeli Yarbrough scored 7 points, and Alaya Wilson added 2 points.

Broaddus (34-4) will face No. 3 Clyde Eula (36-2) in the Class 1A Division 1 championship at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.