Lady Wolves stave off late push by Greenbrier
Lake Hamilton’s girls basketball team will live to see another day in the Class 5A state basketball tournament.
The Lady Wolves found enough energy in overtime to defeat Greenbrier 72-66 at Trojan Arena Tuesday. The Lady Panthers climbed back from a 20-point deficit to knot the score at the end of regulation.
Lake Hamilton head coach Blake Condley was proud of the effort the Lady Wolves put forth in their first round matchup.
“They never gave up,” he said. “Just kept plugging and plugging. We stretched out a big lead, and they cut the lead.
It’d be easy to give up. … All the momentum was on (Greenbrier’s) side. They had all the momentum. For us to be able to withstand that wave and come back and make plays — I’m just really proud of the girls. I’m just really happy for the girls. That’s what it ultimately comes down to because I’ve been able to experience being in the state tournament, and I hope coaching a lot of more years after this that I’ll get to experience the state tournament some more. These girls have a short window. They have a limited time, and we’re so thankful that we even get to play in the state tournament … Here we are, a year from when COVID started, so we’ve just been trying to celebrate.”
Trailing 53-40 going into the fourth period, a 3-pointer from Greenbrier senior Rylie Myatt signaled a 7-0 run to pull the Lady Panthers within 6. After a turnaround bucket from Lake Hamilton senior Aspen Thornton, the teams traded shots in the paint, but the Lady Wolves started to struggle to hit shots as junior McKayla Betts chipped away at the lead with a layup and a trey.
Thornton sank a free throw, but with under a minute to go, junior Emma Rehm mustered up a 3-point play with sophomore Alexandria Newland coming in for the 2-point field goal to knot the score at 59.
A pair of free throws from Thornton gave Lake Hamilton leverage, but Betts was fouled as she banked in a bucket with 1.7 seconds left, but her andone shot fell away to extend the game an extra four minutes.
Senior Tia Mullenix started off the overtime period coming in from the right for a layup. A dry spell hit the floor, but
Thornton broke it with a set of free throws with 1:55 on the clock. Betts connected with senior Kylie Griffin on a swift pass as Thornton pushed through Panther defenders for a 67-63 lead.
Free throws finished out the game for both sides as Thornton added another pair while Betts and Mullenix were 3 for 4 to close out the game.
“I think it was a combination of factors,” said Condley of Greenbrier’s comeback. “We missed a lot of free throws, and we made some poor decisions on shot selection. Took some shots where we didn’t really have anybody in rebound position and took quick shots where we weren’t making them have to guard us very long and then we’d go back down to the other end. … We haven’t been in situations like that where that’s gonna happen. We’re learning and growing a bit even while in state tournament.
“I feel like we were giving it away and then we got another chance. We had, kind of, new life, and I just told them ‘Take advantage of it. Go play and enjoy yourself.’ That’s one of the things that we’ve tried to talk about, and it’s hard. Stress levels get high and the girls really wanted to win this first round game after we lost in the first round last year.”
The Lady Wolves started off fast in the opening quarter with a 6-1 lead, but Betts quickly narrowed the spread with a 3-pointer, repeating the play with another from the right baseline off a Griffin assist for a single-point lead.
Junior Audri Winfrey dished to Thornton for a layup before Rehm hit two from the line with 4:50 on the clock. Lake Hamilton
reclaimed its lead 22 seconds later with a perfect performance from Mullenix at the line, a floater from Thornton putting them ahead by four.
After the Lady Panthers came within one, the Lady Wolves extended their lead to
11, showcasing their work from the perimeter. With the spread hovering near 10, Greenbrier hit a 6-2 spurt to pull within 35-29 at halftime.
After the break, Lake Hamilton continued to execute on the floor with plays by Mullenix, Winfrey, Wyrick and Thornton for 51-31. Despite the comfortable lead that the Lady Wolves held, Greenbrier showed it wanted to come out on top as the Lady Panthers kept on fighting to knock off 7 points of their opponent’s lead for a 13-point deficit.
Thornton led Lake Hamilton with 37 points, seven rebounds, three steals and an assist. Mullenix and Wyrick put up 15 points apiece — Mullenix with seven boards and two steals and Wyrick with six boards and an assist, a steal and a block. Senior Taylor Humphreys added
3 points, three boards and an assist, and Winfrey had 2 points, eight boards and an assist.
Betts paced Greenbrier with
22 points, four rebounds, two steals and an assist. Rehm tallied 18 points, three boards and a steal, Griffin had 10 points, three boards, two assists and two steals, Newland had 8 points, eight boards and two steals and Myatt rounded out the scoring with 6 points.
Lake Hamilton will play its second-round game at 4 p.m. Saturday agianst the winner of Thursday’s Sylvan Hills-West Memphis game.