Butterfield finds rhythm, leads Mena past Lakeside girls

Despite a solid first-half performance, Lakeside’s senior girls fell to Mena 55-43 Tuesday night at Lakeside Athletic Complex.

Trailing 31-30 at halftime, the Lady Rams (3-2) took the lead off their first possession in the third quarter when senior guard Erika Bittinger hit senior forward Adachi Igbokidi on a fast break for the first points of the half. Lady Bearcats senior Andrea Maechler answered with a 3-pointer to retake the lead.

Mena 5-11 junior Sunshine Butterfield then took control with a steal, driving the length of the floor for a jump shot before converting a 3-point play for a 39-33 lead at the 1:34 mark.

Lady Rams junior Sarah Porter hit a 3-pointer to pull within 4 near the end of the quarter, but Butterfield responded with an inside bucket off the glass for a 42-36 Mena lead heading to the fourth.

Mena (2-0) continued to control the second half as sophomore guard Madi Lyles hit a trey on the team’s first possession of the fourth quarter. Lakeside junior Ronni Formby responded in kind to come within six, but after a short stall, Butterfield put up the final points of the game to secure the win.

“We hadn’t played in 22 days,” said Mena head coach Scott Wright. “That’s only our second game of the year. We’ve been hit with COVID. … Coach Brock does an outstanding job, but to come here and get a win with only playing one

game before we play Fountain Lake in our conference opener Friday, I’m tickled to death. Couldn’t be prouder.”

After jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead to start the game, Mena found itself down most of the first half as Formby and Porter began to take control for Lakeside. Formby hit two free throws at the 4:42 mark of the first quarter to give the Lady Rams an early 10-4 lead.

Butterfield started to find her way to the bucket, but Porter sank one from behind the arc to put the Lady Rams up 16-12 heading to the second quarter.

The Lady Bearcats started to come alive, turning to outside shooting as well with senior Gracie Lyle nailing back-to-back treys. Butterfield converted a 3-point play before sophomore Emmi Hines hit a jumper for the single-point edge at the buzzer.

“We knew they’d be a really good shooting team,” said Lakeside head coach Chris Brock. “We played them, you know, last year a real close game. We ended up beating them, but we knew they had everybody back. I thought the first half we moved the ball better. Of course, we made a few off our open looks. I thought in the second half we rushed a little bit too much. … When we needed to get a stop — when we’d get back close — they’d get a big shot or they’d get an offensive rebound. But I just thought we didn’t work the ball as good in the second half as we did in the first, but I think our kids are playing hard and we’re learning what we are right now. We’re going to keep getting better.”

Butterfield led Mena with 18 points while Gracie Lyle had 10 points and two rebounds. Maechler had 5 points, followed by Madi Lyle with 6 points and sophomore Brooklyn Pennington with 2 points, two rebounds and two assists.

Formby led Lakeside with 12 points, five rebounds and an assist, Igbokidi had 12 points, four rebounds and one block, Porter had 8 points, two rebounds and one block, and junior Madi Davenport had 6 points, one rebound, one steal and one assist.

Lakeside will host Bauxite Thursday at 5 p.m. while Mena hosts Fountain Lake Friday at 5 p.m.