Batesville conquers familiar opponent

BATESVILLE 70, BROOKLAND 63

MAGNOLIA — Batesville’s fourth victory this season over Brookland was the most important one.

The Lady Pioneers eliminated the Lady Bearcats with a 70-63 victory Saturday at Panther Arena in the Class 4A girls state semifinals.

Batesville (29-3) advances to the Class 4A state championship game in Hot Springs next weekend.

Saturday’s victory was Batesville’s fourth in five meetings with Brookland this season. The Lady Pioneers won the first meeting in the NEA Tournament in December, then took both 4A-3 Conference games before falling to the Lady Bearcats in the 4A-3 Conference Tournament.

Batesville used two 12-0 runs in the first half to lead 39-30 at halftime.

“The fast break was the key,” Batesville Coach Stan Fowler said. “It helped us bump it up there.”

Sophomore Izzy Higginbottom led the Lady Pioneers with 29 points. She went 13 of 13 at the free-throw line.

“Izzy was in her zone,” Fowler said. “She was just in it. We’ll give Izzy the ball and run a play for her. If they foul her, great. She’ll hit her foul shots. She’s just a 10th-grader.”

Senior Taylor Griffin scored 12 points and junior Reese Gardner added 10 for Batesville, which shot 22 of 41.

The Lady Pioneers’ first 12-0 run, which came in the first quarter, put them on top 16-7 at the 2:50 mark as Brookland Coach Joe Baltz used two timeouts to attempt to stem the tide. During the run, Batesville had two threepoint plays (Higginbottom and senior Erin Haigwood). Higginbottom scored seven of the 12 points.

In the second quarter, Batesville’s second 12-0 run gave it a 34-18 advantage with 3:25 left in the first half. Griffin’s layup made it 28-18 with 4:25 left in the second quarter, then Higginbottom scored the next six points to cap the run. Higginbottom had eight points during the run for Batesville.

Brookland pulled within 48-42 in the third quarter with one three-pointer apiece from sophomores Emily Pate, Anna Joy Allen and Kanya Ford, but Gardner responded with a three-pointer to extend the Lady Pioneers’ lead to 51-42.

It was 55-44 Batesville entering the fourth quarter. Brookland got as close as 6358 with less than three minutes remaining, but Batesville closed the game out at the free-throw line, shooting 7 of 9. The Lady Pioneers finished 25 of 32 overall from the freethrow line.

Brookland (23-8) was led by Pate’s 16 points off the bench. Kanya Ford had 12 points, and Kalifa Ford added 11.

BERRYVILLE 54, HARRISON 38

Hannah Morrell scored 26 points and the Lady Bearcats (31-4) advanced to the Class 4A state championship game with a victory over the Lady Goblins (26-6).

Baylea Smith finished with 13 points, including four three-pointers.

Harrison was led by Marion Groberg, who scored 12 points. She was the Lady Goblins’ only player with at least 10 points.

Berryville trailed 26-22 at halftime, but took a 27-26 lead with 5:19 left after Kelcee Hopper made one of two free throws.

Lexy Anderson knocked down a three-pointer to extend the Lady Bobcats’ lead to 36-29 before the end of the third quarter.

Smith’s three-pointer — her fourth of the game — allowed Berryville to stretch its advantage to 39-31 early in the fourth quarter.

Berryville shot 14 of 29 from the floor. The Lady Bobcats held Harrison to 13-of39 shooting, and the Lady Goblins made just 3 field goals in the second half.