Sophomore scores 30 to rally Morrilton
MORRILTON — An extended break may not have been ideal for Morrilton, but Cheyanne Kemp made it worthwhile for the Lady Devil Dogs.
The sophomore guard racked up 30 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals to carry Morrilton to a 64-58 victory over upset-minded Joe T. Robinson on Thursday during the quarterfinals of the Class 4A state tournament at Devil Dog Arena.
Kemp scored nine of her points during the third quarter, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer off the glass to break a 45-45 tie.
Junior guard Grace Brown tacked on 12 points to help Morrilton (22-3) win its 19th game in a row. The Lady Devil Dogs hadn’t played since winning the 4A-North Region on Saturday, giving them a five-day break in between games. Morrilton Coach Carin McNabb said her team experienced some nervousness and didn’t play well at the start, but it did what was necessary.
“Survive and advance, that’s what you gotta do,” she said. “We haven’t played in a little while, and that’s a tough thing sometimes. We missed some shots that we normally make, but I thought we rebounded the ball well, hit enough baskets and made stops when we needed to.
“We’ve just got to keep working.”
Alex Rouse gave the host team all it wanted. The senior guard had a game-high 36 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals for Robinson (9-16), which led 34-26 with 6:21 left in the third quarter. Morrilton would battle back, thanks to a 10-0 run midway through the quarter, to regain the lead. An 8-0 rally early in the fourth quarter accumulated a cushion after Rouse tied it at 48-48 with a three-point play.
The Lady Devil Dogs hit enough free throws over the final four minutes to stay ahead.
“She’s a really good player,” McNabb said of Rouse. “She’s tough to stay in front of one-on-one. But we had to stop [Robinson] from getting offensive rebounds and easy shots. And in the second half, I thought we finally did that.
“We made a few threes and kind of got into it a little bit. So I’m proud of the way they hung in there.” HARRISON 62, STAR CITY 57
Harrison (19-3) rattled off a 16-1 run in the fourth quarter to erase a 44-36 deficit and to get past Star City (28-4).
“After last week when we lost some close games, I think the state kind of brushed us off,” Harrison Coach Kristian Williams said. “Star City was the favorite, and we kind of took that to heart. The first half was kind of slow, and we had the big eyes.
“But at halftime, all in all, we talked about the fact that we thought we were the best team in the state, and we wanted to prove that.”
Senior guard Alex Hill had 16 of her 21 points in the second half for the Lady Goblins, who trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half and faced a 40-31 hole late in the third quarter. Harrison wouldn’t notch its first lead until senior guard Mariah Hudson hit a three-pointer with 3:59 to go in the game, putting the Lady Goblins ahead 46-44.
Sophomore guard Claire Barger had 12 points and senior guard Sydney Shrum finished with 10 points for Harrison, which finished 21 of 38 (55.2%) from the floor and 15 of 18 (83.3%) from the foul line.
Star City shot 19 of 39 (48.7) for the game but didn’t make its first field goal of the fourth quarter until junior guard Hope Thomas nailed a 22-footer with 1:50 remaining. The Lady Bulldogs also were just 15 of 27 (55.5%) from the free-throw line, including 5 of 13 after halftime.
Senior guard Janiya Johnson had 18 points and senior forward Bre Grayson scored 12 points for Star City.