JOHNSTON CITY — Wednesday night, Carterville and Nashville will do battle for a fourth time this year. This time it will be for the Johnston City 2A Sectional Championship and a spot in the Elite 8.

The Lady Lions and Hornettes took care of business in the semifinals, knocking off a pair of Black Diamond-East squads. Carterville shook off a slow start to beat Carmi-White County 25-19, 25-14 in the opener. Nashville then beat Hamilton County 25-13, 25-9 in the second semifinal.

After the Hornettes’ win, the team presented head coach Josh Konkel with a ball commemorating his 400th win, which he picked up last week in the regional championship.

The Hornettes have won two of the first three meetings with the Lady Lions this season, winning twice in Carterville–once in the SIRR Tournament and once in conference play. The Lady Lions won the return game at Nashville. Carterville knocked off SIRR Mississippi champion Pinckneyville in the regional final. That was the fifth meeting this season between those two teams.

The sectional championship will be at 6:00 Wednesday in Johnston City. The winner will advance to the Nashville Super-sectional Friday night against the winner of the Vandalia Sectional, either Breese Mater Dei or Staunton.