High school hoops
Freshman Riley Brady had 14 points and 14 rebounds as Episcopal Collegiate took a 39-32 victory Tuesday night over Central Arkansas Christian, ending the Lady Mustangs’ 60-game conference winning streak.
3A-5 GIRLS EPISCOPAL COLLEGIATE 39, CENTRAL ARK. CHRISTIAN 32
Episcopal Collegiate amped up its defense to corral Central Arkansas Christian on Tuesday night.
The Lady Wildcats scored 12 points off six first-quarter turnovers, then allowed just three fields goals in the second half to beat the visiting Lady Mustangs 39-32.
Freshman forward Riley Brady had 14 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals for Episcopal Collegiate (17-7, 9-2 3A-5), which lost to CAC by the same score Jan. 10 but pressed the issue in the the rematch with the Lady Mustangs, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s No. 1 team in Class 3A. The loss ended CAC’s 60-game conference winning streak.
CAC (21-4, 10-1) was harassed into a 9-of-38 (23.6%) shooting night from the floor, including 1 of 9 in the fourth quarter. The Lady Mustangs also were outrebounded 2914.
“We’ve been playing very well defensively all year, and that’s kind of our personality right now,” Episcopal Collegiate Coach Micah Marsh said. “The girls have really bought into that, and that’s hard to do. To be tough and to be ready to guard on every possession is not an easy buy-in. You’re not going to shoot it well every night so you need to be consistent somewhere, and we were on that end of the floor.”
Sophomore guard Avery Marsh added 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals for the Lady Wildcats, who’ve won seven games in a row to move within a game of the Lady Mustangs in the league standings.
Junior guard Bethany Dillard led CAC with 14 points before exiting midway through the final period with an apparent right leg injury and her team trailing 34-27. Sophomore guard Ava Knoedl added eight points for the Lady Mustangs, who put themselves in a precarious spot with a rash of mistakes in the opening quarter.
“Throwing the ball away early like that, we don’t usually make that many turnovers,” said CAC Coach Steve Quattlebaum, whose team was outscored 13-2 over a four-minute span in the first period. “It was a little tough for the girls to focus, but I thought they still competed really hard. Episcopal is a really good basketball team that gets after it on defense.
“We really struggled to get open shots just like the last time we played them. This wasn’t a fluke.”
After trailing 20-18 at halftime, the Lady Mustangs continued to struggle on the offensive end and was down 29-21 with 2:11 remaining before scoring six of the last seven points in the period. Dillard hit three consecutive free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt at the buzzer to get within 30-27.
Episcopal Collegiate scored the first four points of the fourth, with Avery Marsh getting a steal and scoring on an acrobatic flip shot to put the Lady Wildcats back in control.
CAC didn’t make its first field goal of the period until 1:01 remained when senior forward Katie Fox scored on a short bucket. Marsh answered with a running one-hander on the other end for the Lady Wildcats, who went nearly five minutes between made field goals in the quarter.
“Last year, we didn’t talk about wins and losses,” Micah Marsh said. “We just talked about effort, giving it all we got and enjoying it whether we win or lose. This year, we’re changing a little bit.
“We set our expectations a little higher and we’re getting more confident. Now we’re like, ‘Hey, we can go compete against this team and that team,’ and that’s a joy to see.”