Berryville shows mettle, mauls eStem

BERRYVILLE 58, eSTEM 46

BROOKLAND — The Berryville Lady Bobcats were on the ropes Friday in the Class 4A quarterfinals.

But the 4A North Regional champions, with 31 victories under their belts, showed their mettle and found a way to advance in the state girls basketball tournament.

Berryville used a 15-0 run to close out its 58-46 victory over eStem at Bobcat Arena.

“These girls believe they can win every game,” Berryville Coach Daniel Cornelison said. “They believe. I don’t think at any point in time during that game they were going to lose the game. It took them to go, ‘Hey, you know what? I think they’re trying to beat us. I think we’re going to have to put our foot down a little bit.’ That’s how they think.

“They weren’t going to be denied. They’re great competitors.”

The Lady Bobcats (32-2) will play Riverview in a Class 4A semifinal at 6 p.m. today.

Lexy Anderson led Berryville with 18 points. Baylea Smith scored 14 points. Kelcee Hopper had 13 points while Hannah Morrell added 10.

eStem, which had a 39-36 advantage at the end of the third quarter, led 44-40 with 4:06 left when the Lady Mets’ bench picked up a technical foul. Smith made one of two free throws to cut the lead to 44-41.

Berryville trailed 46-43 with 2:50 remaining. That’s when the Lady Bobcats got going.

Hopper began the Lady Bobcats’ run with a basket, cutting the Lady Mets’ lead to 46-45 with 2:40 left. With 1:33 remaining, Makayla Miller missed the front end of a oneand-one.

Berryville took its first lead since the 7:00 mark of the fourth quarter. Morrell’s three-point play with 1:26 left gave the Lady Bobcats a 4846 lead.

“She’s a big-time player,” Cornelison said. “She comes up in moments all the time. What bigger stage than this right here? That was a game-changing play right there, it sure was.”

The Lady Bobcats stretched their lead to 54-46 with 30 seconds left. Smith’s basket made it 56-46, then her two free throws with less than 10 seconds remaining capped the Lady Bobcats’ run.

eStem (22-10) was led by Mariah Adams with 21 points, including four three-pointers. Miller scored 17 points.

RIVERVIEW 76, GRAVETTE 75

Abbie Jiles scored 24 points and Riverview (25-9) held off Gravette (25-8).

Parker Smith had 13 points for the Lady Raiders. Baylee Davis poured in 12 points and Alexa Gray added 11 points.

Jiles’ three-point play gave the Lady Raiders a 65-64 lead with 1:54 left to play. Jessica Bookout’s basket helped Gravette regain the lead at 66-65, but that was the last lead for the Lady Lions.

With 1:30 remaining, Jiles hit two free throws to give Riverview a 67-66 lead. In the final 1:02, the Lady Raiders were 8 of 10 from the free-throw line.

Kyrstin Branscum scored a game-high 27 points for the Lady Lions. Teagon Dixon finished with 11 points and Tori Foster added 10 points.