Mayflower grinds to top Baptist Prep

3A-5 GIRLS

MAYFLOWER 65, BAPTIST PREP 57

Mayflower girls Coach Coty Storms was clearly pleased by his team’s performance in its 65-57 victory over Baptist Prep at Hatton Hall in Little Rock on Friday night, but there was no hint of relief in his expression.

According to Storms and Baptist Prep Coach Chris Smith, the 3A-5 Conference schedule is loaded with challenges from top to bottom.

“Our conference is good,” Storms said. “Every game is going to be just like that one, a battle.”

Smith agreed. “There a lot of good teams we’re going to have to worry about,” Smith said. “I give all of them the utmost respect. We just have to keep our heads up and move forward.”

In a game with 19 lead changes, the final came when sophomore forward Ella York’s three-point shot put Mayflower in front 51-50 with 5:21 left in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore guard Hailey Francis stole an exchange between senior guard Josie Stewart and junior guard Sydnee Knight on Baptist Prep’s following possession and drove for an unguarded layup to give Mayflower (7-4, 2-1 3A-5) a 5350 lead with 5:21 left.

“Hailey is very athletic,” Storms said. “I just try to put them in a good position, and they just go and make the plays.”

Francis’ layup two minutes later put Mayflower’s lead at 56-50.

Stewart’s three-pointer cut Mayflower’s lead to 56-53 with 3:38 left, but senior Karley Brown responded with a three-point shot 18 seconds later that gave Mayflower a two-possession lead of 59-53.

“That was a big shot,” Storms said. “Karley does everything that nobody wants to do in order to win. She’s flying into the bleachers over there to save a loose ball. She’s just awesome. I hope our sophomores learn from her. That’s our goal.”

Smith said the depth of Mayflower’s shooting talent made its team difficult to guard.

“If we were going to go man against them, we would struggle guarding the ball,” Smith said. “That’s why we were in zone. We just let their shooters go a little bit, and that’s what cost us the game.”

Baptist Prep (10-2, 2-1) managed to climb within 61-57 on junior Liv Slayton’s layup with 36.8 seconds left, but it was Baptist Prep’s final shot of the game.

Free throws by sophomore Riley Whittingham and a layup in the final 10 seconds by York gave Mayflower its final margin.

“I was proud of our effort down the stretch,” Storms said. “We switched to zone, and they had trouble with it, and our kids believed in it.”

Francis led Mayflower with 19 points. York scored 17 and Brown added 10.

Senior forward Hope Burnett scored 21 points to lead Baptist Prep. Slayton had 14.

“I knew it was going to be a battle,” Storms said. “The last two years we’ve played them when they were sophomores and juniors, and now they’re all seniors, and we’re all sophomores.”

BOYS

MAYFLOWER 69, BAPTIST PREP 60

Junior guard Caleb Moody scored 29 points to lead Mayflower to victory over Baptist Prep.

Senior guard Marion Kind scored 19 points for Mayflower.

Senior Logan Bevans scored 16 points to lead Baptist Prep. Junior Jackson Mercer scored 12 and senior Jonathan Singleton had 11.