Gentry girls stymie Lady Sand Lizards
MORRILTON — Gentry didn’t want Alyssa McCarty’s career to end and the Lady Pioneers’ only senior came through with 25 points to power past Dardanelle, 53-46, and earn a state berth.
Gentry coach Toby Tevenbaugh admitted he was concerned going in about the Lady Sand Lizards, a team that he thought mirrored Gentry in many ways, but the Lady Pioneers finished the majority of their drives, while Dardanelle had trouble finding the hoop after early success.
Gentry overcame a slow start to capture the winor-go-home game in the first round of the 4A North Regional at Morrilton on Thursday, Feb. 23. Dardanelle built an 20-12 lead on the first basket of the second quarter. Gentry rallied by fashioning a 17-7 run to close out the half leading 29-27, but there were some tense moments down the stretch.
Destiny Reinhardt’s driving layup with nine seconds left in the third gave Gentry a 41-36 lead but when the fourth quarter got underway, the Lady Sand Lizards closed to within a point at 41-40 following back-to-back baskets by Bethani Walter. She took a feed from Stevie Tanner for a layup, then blocked a shot which led to her spinning bucket.
McCarty’s left-handed finish off a drive started an 8-0 Gentry run. An alternate possession favored Gentry, which led to Brynn Cordeiro’s free throws. McCarty banked a shot in off a spin move to her right, then got an off-balance shot to go down, stretching the margin to 49-42 with just under four minutes to play.
Four straight free throws by Dardanelle’s Karlie Cursh, who led the Lady Sand Lizards with 17 points, sandwiched around a Gentry time-out made it a one-possession game with the Lady Pioneers nursing a 49-46 lead with a minute to go.
McCarty put on a show, driving around two defenders to get to the rack for the answer. Dardanelle could not get several 3-point tries to fall and Kaitlyn Caswell iced the game with a 2 for 2 trip to the foul line with 9.3 seconds on the clock to provide a 53-46 final.
With the win Gentry advanced into the regional semifinals on Friday against tournament host Morrilton.