Cooper, Hawkins, Mitchell lead Lady Cubs in close road win against HSC neighbor Ouachita, 33-28
DONALDSON — A trio of the hometown Malvern Lady Cubs’ Chasney Cooper, Alexis Hawkins and Nadia Mitchell all accounted for nine points scored apiece— displayed a productive offensive execution to lead Malvern in victory on the road against the tough and scrappy Ouachita Jr. Lady Warriors 33-28 Tuesday in junior high girls basketball competition at Ouachita High School Gymnasium.
Although the Lady Cubs were victorious, the Jr. Lady Warriors provided a competitive match-up on their Ouachita High School AllCare Pharmacy Court for the entire 24 minute contest.
The Jr. Lady Warriors’ Delaney Daniell dropped a productive nine points to lead Ouachita in scoring. Daniell also knocked down a big trifecta from downtown beyond the arc to spark her team during their battle against Malvern.
The game showcased a hard fought effort by both basketball clubs— which the aggression and physicality play almost seemed this bout had the impact of a very physical battle on the gridiron than on the hardwood.
But both teams laid out all out on the court that presented numerous lead changes throughout each quarter.
In the opening period, Maddie Fulmer dropped a bucket off the big square on the backboard to give Ouachita the 2-0 lead at the 5:11 mark. From that point, the defense of Ouachita’s Olivia Waters and Malvern’s Cooper both played the passing lane for a steal at the 4:58 and 4:35 marks that exchange possession during action. Ouachita’s Fulmer also got a steal down at the 4:01 mark but the game remained with a one basket score in favor of Jr. Lady Warriors (2-0 lead). Off a huge rebound for Malvern, Hawkins coasted full court to score and put the Lady Cubs on the scoreboard to tie the game at 2-2 with 2:38 remaining to play in the first period. Hawkins came right back and made another bucket from the field to put the Lady Cubs ahead—Cooper dash by the Ouachita defense to score following a Hawkins steal and Malvern took a four-point lead 6-2 at the 2:00 mark. In the final two minutes of action, Cooper scored from an assist by Kennedy Bailey while Raylee Slate scored for the Jr. Warriors. At the end of first period play, Malvern led Ouachita, 8-4.
In the second quarter, the Lady Cubs were outscored by the Jr. Lady Warriors 9-2. At the break, Ouachita went into the locker room with the momentum and advantage to lead Malvern 13-10.
In the third quarter, the Jr. Lady Warriors increased their margin to a 15-10 lead by Waters sinking the first bucket of the second half at the 5:13 mark. But the surge of the Lady Cubs took over by Cooper flashing by her quickness and ball control to score in the lane with a pretty floater. Then, Bailey stepped up and drilled a big trifecta from downtown in the corner to tie the game at 15-15 at the 2:33 mark.
Lexi Jenkins gave Malvern their first lead of the second half by scoring a bucket in transition with 1:33 remaining in the third —17-15. Ouachita split a pair of free-throws to cut their deficit 17-16, then Jaylin Finley made a trip to the charity stripe (free-throw line) to make 1 of 2 foul shots
that allowed Malvern lead 1816 over Ouachita after the end of three in quarters.
In the fourth period, the game was tied twice at 1919 and 21-21 down to the 4:44 mark. But in the final four minutes to play, the Lady Cubs arose to take full control on both ends of the court—offensively and defensively to edge off a very determined Jr. Warriors team in victory. Hawkins, Mitchell, and Bailey closed out the win for Malvern by their contributions to score in crucial times. For the Jr. Warriors Waters, Slate and Waters sparked with buckets from field—baseline and Fulmer connecting on foul shots to spark their play. Malvern outscored Ouachita 15-12 for the fourth quarter being the most productive
period for both teams to post double-digit scoring.
For the game, Malvern’s Bailey finished with three points to knock down a 3-pointer, Jenkins had two points and Finley chipped in one point from the foul line.
Ouachita’s Waters and Slate each contributed six points apiece, J. Hubbard had three points, Fulmer and Andi Fowler each finished with two points apiece.
Both Malvern and Ouachita will return to junior high hoops competition next week to continue their progression to be surging competitive hoopsters on the court during the 2020-2021 basketball season under the direction of head coaches (Malvern) Kristen Weigand and (Ouachita) Corey Brown.