Bitter rivals rematch in district tournament
Lady Cardinals outlast Lady Beavers 41-37
For the third time this season the Glen Rose Lady Beavers faced their arch-rivals, the Haskell Harmony Grove Lady Cardinals, on the hardwood, this time in the 3A-7 District Tournament.
In similar fashion as their two previous matchups, the two squads fought fiercely to get the win. With a chance to move on in the postseason, the two teams fought until the very last seconds of the game. As in their final regular season meeting, the Lady Cardinals were able to pull out the win over the Lady Beavers.
With only 7.3 seconds in the game, the Lady Beavers found themselves trailing by two points and in possession of the ball. As they brought the ball down the court and tried to set up a shot, Harmony Grove’s Megan Clay came up with the steal to give possession to the Lady Cardinals. The Lady Beavers fouled immediately and sent Clay to the free throw line. Clay made both free throw attempts, the Lady Cardinals being in the double bonus, to put the Lady Cardinals up by four with less than two seconds remaining on the clock. The Lady Beavers gave one final attempt to try and win but the inbounding pass was caught by the Lady Cardinals who went on to victory 41-37.
The Lady Cardinals will now go on the road for their third game in the district tournament and face the top seeded Ashdown Lady Panthers tonight. So far, the fifth seeded Lady Cardinals have defeated the eighth seeded Prescott Curley Wolves, 58-38, and the fourth seeded Lady Beavers to advance to the semifinals. The win also gives the Lady Cardinals a regional tournament berth.
In Tuesday’s game, the Lady Cardinals trailed for a combined 1:46 in the first quarter before taking the lead and holding it for the rest of the game. Glen Rose’s Love Doddridge scored the first points of the game after making a basket after a steal by teammate Ashlee Stafford. Harmony Grove’s Shelby Kiker quickly tied the game after a made basket, but the Lady Beavers were able to regain the lead after a steal and assist by Doddridge to Haley Cazort. That’s when Clay swished a 3-pointer to give the Lady Cardinals their first lead. Glen Rose’s Abby Ditzig came back with a threepoint play to retie the game. Grace Reese scored the final six points for the Lady Cardinals with a made basket behind the arc and a three-point play to put the Lady Cardinals up 13-7 over the Lady Beavers after the first quarter.
The Lady Beavers started the second quarter with a 5-2 run to cut into the Lady Cardinals’ lead and trail by three points, 15-12. After that the Lady Beavers were stuck at 12 points as the Lady Cardinals piled on another six points to take their largest lead, nine points, to lead 21-12. Stafford was finally able to get the Lady Beavers back in the game and helped kickstart an 8-1 run that was highlighted by Doddridge nailing a 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining. At the half, the Lady Cardinals led the Lady Beavers by two points, 22-20.
At the start of the third quarter down to the mid-point range the Lady Beavers and Lady Cardinals kept pace with each other. At the 3:41 mark Glen Rose’s Laney Crutchfield made a free throw to put the Lady Beavers down by one point, 26-25. After that the Lady Cardinals gained momentum with a 6-1 run. Reese started the run with a 3-pointer then followed it with a free throw and Kiker ended the quarter with a basket in the paint to give the Lady Cardinals a sixpoint, 32-26 lead going into the fourth.
In the final quarter, the Lady Beavers fought their way back into the game and found themselves trailing 38-37 with 33.8 seconds remaining. The Lady Beavers had an opportunity to take the lead after Emma McJunkins stole the ball from the Lady Cardinals. The Lady Beavers tried to get a shot to fall but was unsuccessful. A jump ball was called on the rebound as multiple Lady Beavers and Lady Cardinals players fought for possession. The possession arrow belonged to the Lady Cardinals and after the inbounds, the Lady Beavers fouled and sent Kiker to the line. Kiker made one of her two free throw attempts to give the Lady Cardinals a two-point lead with under 20 seconds remaining. That’s when Clay came up with the game winning steal and sunk the final two free throws to give the Lady Cardinals the victory.
For the game, Reese led the Lady Cardinals in scoring with 15 points. She was followed by Kiker with nine points and Clay with eight points. Also scoring for the Lady Cardinals was Kallyn Sossamon with four points, Kinley Bradshaw and Lanie Chancellor with two points each and Olivia Wallace with one point.
For Glen Rose Doddridge led in scoring with 14 points. Following her was Cazort and Ditzig each with six points. Also scoring for the Lady Beavers was Crutchfield with four points, Stafford, Kamryn Raper, and Ariany Sanchez each with two points, and McJunkins with one point.