Aggressive Vilonia puts down Lake Hamilton

VILONIA 65, HOT SPRINGS LAKESIDE 42

Vilonia may not have shot the ball well Thursday, but that didn’t stop it from relentlessly attacking Hot Springs Lakeside throughout.

The Lady Eagles made 23 of 33 free throws and forced 21 turnovers to beat the Lady Rams 65-42 in the first round of the Class 5A girls state tournament at Maumelle High School.

Sophomore forward Paige Kelley scored 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, and freshman guard Lauren Patterson had 14 points for Vilonia (25-5), which shot just 29 percent (16 of 55) but kept constant pressure on Lakeside by aggressively going inside and drawing fouls.

“We were a little bit bigger, little bit stronger in the post, and we were able to draw some fouls by driving inside,” Vilonia Coach Alvin Riley said. “Paige usually draws a lot of fouls anyway. The girls were a little nervous coming out, and you could tell on the free-throw line. But we played solid on defense.

“It’s always good to get that first one out the way, though.”

Vilonia also got key contributions from freshman guard Laney Mears, who had five points but came away with seven steals. Senior guard Aaliyah Cash had eight rebounds and junior guard Hannah Montgomery made 3 three-pointers.

The Lady Eagles shot 23 free throws in the first half and led 34-13 at halftime, but the margin could have been much larger. Vilonia, the No. 2 seed from the 5A-West, missed nine free throws. The Lady Eagles were aided by poor Lakeside shooting and turnover woes.

Hot Springs Lakeside (2010), which got 17 points from senior guard Thea Rice and 6 points and 14 rebounds from junior forward Belle Neilson, was 15 of 47 (32 percent), but it was its second-quarter struggles that hurt the most. The Lady Rams missed their first eight shots of the quarter and turned it over six times. Vilonia scored the first 15 points of the quarter, with Kelley and Patterson combining for 9, to turn an 11-6 lead into a 26-6 spread.

The Lady Eagles were never seriously threatened from there.

“We’ve got a good Nettleton team next, but we’ve got to shoot it better,” Riley said. “We’ve got to be able to rebound and can’t let them get a lot of second shots. And hopefully, we can hold out defensively to slow them down some.”

WATSON CHAPEL 50, CLARKSVILLE 43

Senior forward Jerica Bell had 18 points and 16 rebounds as Watson Chapel (26-4) used a 12-2 third-quarter run to help knock off Clarksville.

Senior guard Jakhiya Boston and sophomore guard Wyvette Mayberry had 11 points apiece for the defending state champions, who led 21-16 at halftime and 33-20 late in the third quarter before fending off the Lady Panthers in the fourth quarter.

Junior guard Alexie Tibbs had 11 points for Clarksville (15-16). Sophomore forward Emmaline Rieder had 9 points and 8 rebounds.

HOT SPRINGS 76, BATESVILLE 74

Senior guard Imani Honey scored a game-high 39 points, including 19 in the fourth quarter, to lead Hot Springs (29-3) to a comeback victory.

Senior guard Arianna Guinn added 19 points for the Lady Trojans, who trailed 55-44 early in the fourth quarter before rallying back to win their 21st game in a row. Honey went 15 of 15 from the free-throw line in the final eight minutes and 25 of 29 for the game.

Freshman guard Isabella Higginbottom scored 27 points for Batesville (22-8), which turned the ball over 14 times in the second half. Junior forward Alley Edwards had 18 points and 11 rebounds, while junior guard Taylor Griffin had 17 points and 5 steals.