Lady Lions hold on against Malvern
Despite scoring just two points in the final eight minutes, the Jessieville Lady Lions held off a spirited resurgence by Malvern to take a 32-29 win in the Lakeside Classic Thursday afternoon.
The Lady Lions kept Malvern scoreless in the third quarter to take a 30-15 lead, but Malvern put up 14 unanswered points by the 1:51 mark in the fourth to pull within 30-29.
“We just picked up the intensity on defense,” Malvern head coach Gordon Cleveland said. “We were trying to get one stop at a time. That’s how you get back in the game — one stop at a time, just grind, grind, grind. That’s all we were trying to do. We did it, but we just came a little short again.”
A free throw by Lilliana Fehrenbacher pushed the spread back to two points 20 seconds later before a free throw by Lexi Bassett with three seconds remaining set the final spread.
“I just felt like we settled offensively and defensively,” said Jessieville head coach Magen Scrivner. “We kind of, midway through the fourth quarter, got back in the defense we started in, so I think that helped us a little bit.
“We just settled from the perimeter too much offensively. We quit attacking, and that just allowed them to get back in the game. The shots that we did take weren’t the shots we were wanting at those times. When we did take shots, we were forcing them. We just settled in the second half.”
Jessieville jumped out to an early lead, putting up five unanswered points in the first two minutes en route to a 16-6 lead at the end of the first period.
Malvern cut the spread to six points with 2:38 left in the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Jasmyne Monk before Jessieville set up a 22-15 lead at the break.
Taryn Anderson led the Lady Lions with nine points, all from outside the arc, while grabbing eight rebounds and seven steals. Jaidyn Fortenberry and Bassett both ended up with six points. Amy De Haas had seven rebounds, and Fehrenbacher had six.
Jessieville outrebounded the Lady Leopards, 27-22.
“That’s something I’m really big on,” Scrivner said. “We’re going to have four people going to the boards at all times, offensively and defensively.
“On defense, we’ll have five going to the boards at all times. It’s just something I talk about in practice. That’s just more second and third opportunities to score. She’s really been helping to lead us right now.
Kiya Mitchell led Malvern with 13 points, nine rebounds, one block and a steal. Kym Summerville ended up with seven points, and Viktoria Jergenson had six with two assists. Tiaunica Henderson had seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“She’s going to lead,” Cleveland said of Mitchell. “We’ve just got to get it together. We’re a little rusty coming from volleyball, but we’ll get there. We’ll figure it out.”
Malvern is set to face Lakeside at 11:15 a.m. in the Lakeside Athletic Complex, and Jessieville will face Arkadelphia in the Ram Fieldhouse at 12:30 p.m.