Healthy LR Hall holds on

6A/5A-4 GIRLS LR HALL 66, JACKSONVILLE 59

Recovered from a combination of wintertime ailments, the Little Rock Hall Lady Warriors held on for a 66-59 victory over the Jacksonville Lady Titans at Cirks Arena on Tuesday night.

Six days earlier, Hall traveled to Jacksonville without three starters and lost 41-21. Those three players combined to score 48 points in the rematch.

“It’s going to be hard to win without those three,” Hall Coach Selita Farr said.

Even with them, and 18-point leads in both the third and fourth quarters, victory was far from easy for Hall, which led 57-39 after sophomore Kendra Pride hit two free throws with 4:48 left in the third.

Pride scored 15 points for Hall. She, junior Allexias Adams, who had 13, and senior Erin Carbin, who also scored 15, each missed the previous game against Jacksonville. Farr said one had the flu and the others had a viral infection and a stomach ailment.

“I’m very pleased with the way they played tonight, because they played the entire game, and they didn’t give up,” Farr said.

Neither did Jacksonville. A layup by senior Alaysia Kelly gave Hall a 59-41 lead with 4:22 left in the fourth quarter, but Jacksonville scored the next nine points to pull within 59-53 on sophomore Shy Christopher’s three-pointer with 2:03 left.

“Jacksonville never gave up,” Farr said.

“Our girls did a great job to come back,” Jacksonville Coach Marian Kursh said. “I think we learned a great lesson tonight to take into the playoffs.”

Hall took early control and led 10-4 after Carbin’s layup midway through the first quarter.

Jacksonville tied the score at 15-15 on a Christopher’s three-pointer near the first-quarter buzzer. After Hall scored on a layup by Pride to start the second quarter, Jacksonville scored the next 10 points, helped by turnovers by Hall on four consecutive possessions. A layup by junior forward San Shockley followed by a free throw from junior guard Sharonda Perry gave Jacksonville a 25-19 lead with 4:57 left in the quarter.