W. Memphis makes it
With three wins over a span of five days, the West Memphis Lady Blue Devils put themselves in a spot nobody could have expected: playing for a state championship. West Memphis will take aim at a title after upsetting West No. 1 seed Vilonia 70-58. Sophomore Janiyah Tucker and freshman Aniya Price combined for 38 points in their Class 5A state semifinal win.
HOT SPRINGS — A little more than a month ago, West Memphis was on the outside of the postseason picture.
The Lady Blue Devils had just finished their regular season with three consecutive losses, all by double digits, and West Memphis sat at the bottom of the 5A-East with a 1-11 league record.
Then, one conference tournament win got them into the postseason. Another eight days later locked up the 5A-East’s No. 3 seed.
Now with three wins over five days at Trojan Arena, the Lady Blue Devils have put themselves in a spot nobody could have expected: playing for a state championship.
That’s exactly what West Memphis (11-14) will be doing Saturday afternoon after it upset 5A-West No. 1 seed Vilonia 70-58 on Monday. The backcourt duo of sophomore Janiyah Tucker and freshman Aniya Price combined for 38 points in the state semifinal win.
“For me, this being my first year as head coach here — not having a summer with my girls, the first year of coaching with a mask on,” West Memphis Coach Erica Taylor said. “They’re trying to get to know me, trying to create that bond and trying to build that chemistry has been tough. But at the end of the day, we did it.”
The Lady Eagles, despite a sluggish start, threw most of the punches in the opening half. After going down 12-10 early in the second quarter,
Vilonia (25-3) ripped off six consecutive points — all from Dessie McCarty — on its way to a 26-20 halftime lead.
West Memphis scored six points in a minute to start the third quarter, tying the game at 26-26 and setting the tone for what was to come.
The Lady Blue Devils outscored the Lady Eagles 32-14 over the game’s final 15 minutes. Much of their work came in the paint, especially on secondand third-chance opportunities. Clemisha Prackett dominated the boards, racking up 17 rebounds to go along with her 18 points as West Memphis outrebounded Vilonia 28-6 after halftime.
“They killed us on the boards,” Vilonia Coach Jeremy Simon said. “They got every loose ball. Their 2-3 zone defense gave us all kinds of trouble. They knocked down free throw after free throw, and when they missed free throws, they got their own rebound every time, it seemed.”
It wasn’t a runaway until late in the fourth quarter. Vilonia tied things up at 3535 midway through the third quarter on a Clara Grace Prater three-pointer. After going down by 12 points early in the fourth quarter, they pulled got all the way within three on a Mackenzie Floyd three-point play with 4:45 remaining.
Although Floyd and fellow senior Laney Mears each scored 15 for Vilonia, the Lady Blue Devils closed on a 17-5 burst to earn their first shot at a state title since 2003.
“Me and my team, we wrote our story,” Tucker said. “Everybody counted us out but look where we are.”
JONESBORO 51, MARION 32
Lady Hurricane Coach Jodi Christenberry was the first one to admit her mistake.
Against a Lady Patriots team her group had handled earlier in the year, sitting deep in their usual 2-3 zone wasn’t going to be good enough.
When Jonesboro cranked up the defensive heat, it showed why it’ll be playing in its fourth state final in the past six seasons come Saturday night. The Lady Hurricane forced Marion into 10 second-half turnovers, using a threequarter-court press to flip the game and run away after leading by just two at halftime.
Junior Destiny Thomas dominated the paint for Jonesboro (22-6) as she piled up a game-high 17 points to go along with 9 rebounds and 2 blocks. Fellow junior Ereauna Hardaway also turned it on out of the break, scoring 12 of her 14 points in the second half while also dishing out six assists.
Yet it was a senior who gave Jonesboro its biggest lift. Chas Jackson drilled two three-pointers early in the third quarter — she finished with 11 points — as Jonesboro seized control thanks to a 15-2 run spanning nearly seven minutes.
“She may only have five or six points a game for us at times, but she’s been hitting huge shots for us,” Christenberry said of Jackson. “When you’ve got more than two kids that can score, it makes things so much easier for you as a coach.”
Early on, the offense ran through Thomas — the Jonesboro center scored nine of her team’s 16 first-half points, and she drew a pair of fouls on Lady Patriots center Daedrianna Cail — something both Thomas and Jonesboro knew would be damaging to Marion (12-16).
The Lady Patriots hung around for a while as Ny’asia Jackson drilled a three-pointer — one of five on the game to account for her team-high 15 points — to make it 16-14 at the break.
“Coach was just telling us to go out there and play our hardest,” Thomas said of the halftime message. “It was either that or go home.”
Instead of going home, Jonesboro will come right back to Hot Springs on Saturday afternoon to take on West Memphis.