Fort Smith Northside 65, Conway 62
Fort Smith Northside’s Jersey Wolfenbarger puts up a shot while being defended by Conway’s Chloe Clardy during Friday night’s game at Bolding Arena in Conway. More photos at arkansasonline.com/1166acentral.
6A-CENTRAL GIRLS
FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 65, CONWAY 62
CONWAY — All of Fort Smith Northside’s scoring came from its starting five Friday night, and the Lady Bears needed every single one of those points to escape Buzz Bolding Arena with a road victory.
Senior guard Jersey Wolfenbarger had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots as top-ranked Northside held on to beat No. 2 Conway 65-62 in a back-and-forth, 6A-Central Conference showdown Friday night.
Tracey Bershers, a senior forward, also scored 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds for Northside (14-1, 4-0), which has won 17 consecutive regular-season games away from its home gym dating back to last season. The Lady Bears also ran their overall winning streak to 12 games and beat Conway for the fifth consecutive time.
“Any time you get a win on the road it’s big, but coming in here is tough,” Northside Coach Rickey Smith said. “Any time you’re able to come to this place and leave with a victory, I don’t care what happens, you’ve got to feel happy about it. Now I wasn’t happy that we let a double-digit lead get away from us.
“But we hit some big free throws down the stretch and got some big games out of our role players. Having five kids in double figures, that’s a first for Northside, but we needed it [Friday].”
Junior forward Yani Releford had 11 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals, and senior guard Jalyn Ford and junior guard Ashya Harris each had 10 points for Northside.
Sophomore center Savannah Scott finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks for Conway (11-3, 3-1), which had its nine-game winning streak snapped. Chloe Clardy, also a sophomore, added 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, and junior guard Jaiden Thomas scored all 13 of her points in the first half.
The lead changed hands 10 times in the first half, and the teams went into halftime tied at 34-34, but the Lady Bears broke free with a dominating third quarter.
Northside held the Lady Wampus Cats to 3-of-11 shooting and forced them into 6 turnovers, 4 of which the Lady Bears turned into points. After Scott tied the game at 36-36 with a basket inside, Northside went on a 13-2 run to open up an 11-point cushion. Clardy, who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her career in the first quarter, stopped the Lady Bears’ surge with a bucket to cut their deficit to 49-40.
Consecutive field goals by Bershers and Wolfenbarger to end the quarter gave Northside a 53-40 lead.
Conway responded with a huge push in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter. Clardy’s two free throws started a 13-3 charge that cut Northside’s lead to 56-53. The Lady Bears held a 60-54 advantage after a layup from Bershers.
A lay-in from junior forward Kalayna King stirred another burst from Conway that led to the Lady Wampus Cats tying the game at 62-62 after a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Kaidyn Beckwith with 57.6 seconds left.
Wolfenbarger would give Northside a 64-62 lead with two free throws with 37 seconds left, and Bershers hit one of two from the foul line with nine seconds remaining. Clardy’s game-tying three-pointer before the final buzzer came up just short.
“Give Conway credit because they made that big run,” Smith said. “We got a little lackadaisical, missed three free throws and a layup, and the momentum flipped in a hurry. But man they’re so explosive, and we knew that coming in.
“With Yani getting those three fouls in the first half really changed a lot for us to the point where we felt fortunate just to be tied. But I think we grew up a little bit. We found a way to win on the road. … but it’s just round one, and we know we’ve got to get better.”
BOYS
FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 52, CONWAY 50
Conway senior guard Cade Swindle missed a three-pointer at the horn, allowing Northside (6-7, 2-2) to pull out a victory.
Sophomore guard Dae’Marion Savoy scored all 13 of his points over the final two quarters for the Grizzlies, who trailed 27-21 at halftime and 50-49 with less than two minutes left in the game. But a basket from sophomore forward Denarion Whitmore with 1:40 to go gave the Grizzlies the lead for good.
Junior guard Ian Hardwick scored 11 points and senior guard Jacob Joe had 10 points for Northside.
Senior center Jayden Williams had 18 points and 13 rebounds for Conway (3-6, 2-2).