Conway’s Roetzel leads way in fourth
CONWAY 59, LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 54
Conway kept its hopes for a 7A-Central Conference title alive Friday night, and the Lady Wampus Cats have guard Reagan Roetzel to thank for it.
The junior hit 3 three-pointers during a crucial fourth-quarter stretch to help the No. 3 Lady Wampus Cats hold on to beat Little Rock Central 59-54 at the Tiger Fieldhouse.
The victory allowed Conway (23-3, 10-2) to keep pace atop the league standings with No. 1 North Little Rock, which lost at No. 2 Fort Smith Northside on Friday. The three teams are tied for first in the conference at 10-2 with just one week left in the regular season.
“These types of games really get you ready for the playoffs,” Conway Coach Ashley Nance said. “It’s always tough to win at Central, but I was so proud of the way we fought. The foul disparity was just crazy, but to battle the way we did says a lot.
“And Reagan was just unbelievable for us down the stretch.”
Roetzel finished with a game-high 18 points, all on three-pointers, for the Lady Wampus Cats, who trailed for just 31 seconds. Junior guard Asiyha Smith added 13 points while backcourt classmate Myia Yelder had 10.
Freshman guard Lauren Pendleton had a team-high 19 points and senior center Erynn Barnum had 15 points and 13 rebounds, all in the second half for Central (15-9, 6-6), which lost to Conway for the third time this season.
The Lady Wampus Cats hit six three-pointers in the first half and held a 26-19 lead at halftime. Conway forced Central into six turnovers on its first seven possessions in the third quarter and pushed its advantage to 12 (40-28) after Yelder’s three-point play with 55 seconds remaining. The Lady Tigers continued to trail early in the fourth quarter and were down 44-32 at the 6:55 mark but used a full-court press to claw their way back in it.
“We started to play sluggish late in the third quarter, but Central makes you play that way,” Nance said. “They’re distinctively really good, and Erynn, who I think is the best player in our conference, started to get it going. Our bigs got into foul trouble, and they really had us on our heels.”