Lady Rams top Benton in OT, keep tourney hopes alive
Fortunately for Lakeside, the game was not blackjack or the Lady Rams would have lost against Benton Tuesday night after hitting 22 in the fourth quarter.
It may not hang in the Louvre of Lakeside basketball, but the host Lady Rams (18-5, 5-5
5A-South) sustained hopes of making the Class 5A tournament with a 29-28 overtime victory at Lakeside Athletic Complex.
For one thing, it puts a sharper focus on Lakeside’s road game Friday night against Sheridan (19-3, 7-3), whereas a season sweep by Benton (13-10,
6-4) would have all but sunk the Lady Rams’ postseason chances with four games left.
Though lacking in style, it fit the pattern of two other Lakeside home victories in
2019, 37-34 over Hot Springs
(11-9, 7-3) in overtime and 38-36 over El Dorado (15-7, 6-4). Even in games that they sometimes can’t buy a shot on eBay, the Lady Rams keep battling and give themselves a chance.
For a team once 13-0, now needing to hurdle two spots in the standings for one of four playoff spots from 5A-South, a light remains in the window.
“Even when teams have taken away our best scorers, we’ve found a different way to win that night,” coach Chris Brock said.
Junior Abby Mahoney’s
3-point basket put Lakeside ahead to stay in overtime. Two free throws by junior Chloe Porter made it 28-22, and a 2925 lead after sophomore Erika Bittinger’s free throw with 10.9 seconds left looked safe. But if any fan base should know differently, it’s Lakeside’s this season.
Senior Kati Morrow banked one off the glass, Benton’s second trey in overtime and third straight from long range, with
5.3 seconds left. With Benton unable to stop the clock, time ran out — except that in the eyes of the officiating crew, it didn’t. Lakeside was whistled for not inbounding the ball in five seconds, Benton regaining possession under the Lady Rams’ goal with 0.3 seconds left on the clock.
“They started counting five seconds after the ball went through the net,” said Brock, who along with Benton coach Jerry Chumley received an explanation. “We should have been slower about getting the ball inbounds, I guess.”
Senior Makenzy Davidson missed a shot from the corner that at some levels of basketball, with such little time remaining, would not have counted had it fallen.
Porter scored a game-high
13 points, hitting the first three of the game for a 22-19 Lakeside lead with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter. Lakeside missed a free throw for breathing room, and it went to overtime after Morrow hit a three from the corner with 45 seconds left.
Benton is 13-10 overall and
6-4 in conference for Chumley, former head coach of the Jessieville varsity girls and Lake Hamilton junior boys. Boys
With a 58-34 victory, Benton eliminated Lakeside from contention for the 5A-South
boys’ tournament. The Panthers improved to 14-8 overall and 6-4 in conference with a season sweep of Lakeside (3-18, 0-10).
Senior Maleek McClendon scored 13 points in the first half and finished with 21 after going high for an offensive rebound to end the third quarter 43-26.
Senior Sawyer Oulch made an early three and McClendon a three-point play in the Panthers’ 20-1 getaway. The Panthers led, 28-18, at halftime and rebuilt the cushion to 19 twice in the third quarter, going up by 26 on junior Marqelle Barnes’ three-point play with 1:14 left in the game.
Senior Carl Ross totaled 11 points and Oulch finished with 10 for Benton, the Spa City Shootout champion in December at Bank OZK Arena.
Lakeside did not make a basket until senior Ethan Eastwood’s 3-pointer with 5:13 left in the second quarter. Lakeside ended the half on senior Patrick Davis’ three, his third of the quarter and the team’s fifth, but Benton scored the first nine of the second half, four by McClendon and with Ross sinking a three.
Lakeside did not make a three in the second half, and Davis’ early nine points held up for team-high honors. Senior two-year starter Sawyer Lamb, honored before the game, managed only one basket and four points.