Harrison spoils Har-Ber’s home opener

SPRINGDALE — Harrison owned the fourth quarter against Springdale Har-Ber on Tuesday night.

Alex Hill scored 19 points as the Lady Goblins rallied for a 47-40 victory in the season opener for Har-Ber at Wildcat Arena. Harrison (30) outscored Har-Ber 19-7 in the fourth quarter after trailing for much of the game.

Hill was effective around the basket and at the freethrow line, where she made 9 of 10 attempts. Harrison spread the court in the final minute, and Hill and Mariah Hudson each made two free throws to set the final margin.

“Free throws for sure, we made them when they counted,” Harrison Coach Kristian Williams said. “We had a rough first half. But we had a nice talk at halftime and the kids, they fired each other up. We found a way to win on a bad shooting night.”

The game matched two of the top girls teams in the state from last season. Harrison went 27-5 in Class 4A while Har-Ber finished 22-8 in Class 6A.

Har-Ber led 33-26 in the second quarter behind the play of guard Kania Starks, who made four three-pointers and finished with 13 points to lead the Lady Wildcats. But Harrison fought back to take a 35-34 lead with the help of three-pointers from Hill and Hudson.

Maggie Salmon added a three-pointer, and Clare Barger contributed a rebound basket to give Harrison a 41-34 lead with four minutes left in the game.

“Our girls blocked out and went for rebounds, which really helped,” Williams said. “We were undersized, but we never felt that during the game.”

Har-Ber held a 24-17 lead at halftime after Starks opened the second quarter with her second three-pointer of the night. Starks took over the scoring leadership for Har-Ber because Caylan Koons missed the game with an injured ankle.

“No excuses, but I thought they were in better game shape than we were,” HarBer Coach Kimberly Jenkins said. “They’ve played some games, and it felt like we’ve had nine months off from competitive basketball with someone else besides ourselves. We were getting beat down the floor in transition, and they killed us on the boards.”

Pacious McDaniel added 12 points and Ella Nelson eight for the Lady Wildcats.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. Wampler) Harrison’s Alex Hill tries to dribble around Springdale Har-Ber’s Ella Nelson on Tuesday during the Lady Goblins 47-40 victory over the Lady Wildcats in Springdale. Hill scored 19 points to lead Harrison.