Smith seeks ‘complete game’ from Lady Bears

Fort Smith Northside still has an unblemished record at this point as the Lady Bears improved to 21-0 overall and 9-0 in 6A-Central Conference with a 54-24 victory over Little Rock Central.

But Northside coach Rickey Smith said he has yet to see his team play a complete game this season, and it’s something he would like to see the Lady Bears accomplish.

“I want to see them play a full four quarters, and we’re still chasing that,” Smith said. “We jumped out to a 19-2 lead against Central, but we lost some momentum when we started subbing. In the third quarter, we picked things up again.

“I want to see the girls strive to put together consecutive possessions and grow those. We will have two or three good possessions, then had a bad one. We need to keep focused, and sometimes it is hard to do once you get a double-digit lead. The only thing we’ve accomplished so far is qualify for the state tournament, but the seeding still isn’t set.”

Smith said his team’s top four players — Jersey Wolfenbarger, Sara Bershers, Tracey Bershers and Tiya Douglas — continue to do good things, but junior forward Jazz Coleman has become a “very pleasant surprise” with her play. Coleman, the daughter of former Northside standout Redd Coleman, has become the team’s leading rebounder with an average of 7.2 per game and pulled down nine against Central.

“Jazz is the type of player that wants to go out there and please her coaches and teammates,” Smith said. “She wants to go out there all the time and give us quality minutes.”