Lady Trojans give winless rival no hope

The winless Hope Lady Bobcats were no match for the Hot Springs Lady Trojans Friday night.

Hot Springs stifled Hope defensively, forcing 12 steals and rolling to a 55-28 win at Trojan Fieldhouse.

“We knew coming into today we wanted to put some pressure on them, not just in the half-court but stretching out and playing some full-court defense,” Hot Springs coach Josh Smith said. “We worked on it in practice, just getting out there and disrupting the passing lanes. Fortunately we were able to force some turnovers and we got some easy points in transition because of it.”

Hot Springs opened the game on a 14-2 run and led 24-6 after the first quarter, Ariana Guinn and KeKe Hunter combining for 15 points. Seizing an opportunity to put the game away early, the Lady Trojans outscored Hope 18-2 in the second quarter for a 42-8 halftime advantage.

“All year we’ve been trying to figure out who we are and what works best for us, and today we were able to try some different things out,” said Smith. “That early lead gave us a chance to play a lot of people tonight and change up the lineup a little bit. We got our bigs some minutes and gave them a chance to work with the guards.”

The Lady Bobcats showed signs of life in the third quarter with 10 points, but Guinn scored six and the Lady Trojans led 53-21 entering the final period. Guinn led all scorers with 21 points, including three shots from behind the arc.

“The way she runs the floor, the defense always has to worry about her and she makes her teammates better because of it,” Smith said.

With the mercy rule and running clock enacted, Hope closed the game on a 7-2 run as Hot Springs coasted to victory. Hunter finished with 15 points and Nya Moody chipped in with nine. Raley Potter led the Lady Bobcats with 10 points.

Hot Springs (14-5, 8-1) travels to Lakeside Tuesday night with first place in conference potentially on the line. The Lady Trojans won the first matchup 39-37 thriller Dec. 6 at Trojan Fieldhouse.

“It’s a rivalry game and we know we’re going to get the best shot that they have,” Smith said of the Lady Rams. “They’re well coached, they know exactly what we do, we know exactly what they do, so let’s who can go and execute and come out with a win. I expect a close game and it to come down to the end like it did last time.”