McDaniel leads Har-Ber past Northside

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 42, FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 34

SPRINGDALE — Springdale Har-Ber coach Kimberly Jenkins has been saying for some time how much her team has improved since staring 0-2 in 6A-West Conference play.

Tuesday night’s result is the latest proof of it.

Pacious McDaniel scored 24 points as Har-Ber defeated Fort Smith Northside 42-34 to pull into a first-place tie with the Lady Bears. McDaniel scored 17 of her 24 points in a variety of ways in the second half, including a 10-for10 performance in the fourth quarter.

“[McDaniel] was definitely clutch on that part, but I didn’t think she had a very good first half,” Jenkins said. “She has the weirdest thing about contouring her body to support her game. She’s a kid who’s a competitor and, when she gets amped up, she can change the game. She did that tonight for sure.”

The climb toward the top has been long for Har-Ber (157, 9-2), which opened 6A-West Conference play by losing to Northside and Bentonville. McDaniel is the star of the team, but the Lady Wildcats continue to receive productive play from a handful of athletes.

That was apparent in the third quarter when Har-Ber outscored Northside 16-8 to overcome an early deficit to the Lady Bears (18-4, 9-2). Delaney Roller began the surge with one of her two 3-pointers in the game. Alexus

Plascensia then maneuvered inside for a basket McDaniel followed with five consecutive points, including a threepoint play.

“We finally hit a couple of shots,” Jenkins said. “Delaney Roller didn’t have a great shooting night but she knocked a couple down when it really mattered. I thought some of our other kids did some great things. Ella Luningham, she was going and getting rebounds and being really scrappy. I think that kind of changed the way things looked.”

Har-Ber ended the pivotal third quarter with three free throws to stretch its lead to 27-19 after Northside coach Rickey Smith was assessed a technical foul for arguing a call.

Northside led 17-14 at halftime in the low-scoring but intense game between top teams in Class 6A. Bodies hit the floor on several occasions in the first half with both teams attacking the basket instead of settling for outside jumpers.

Northside took control early behind Karys Washington, a senior guard who scored 10 of her 18 points in the first half. She made three consecutive baskets before finding Kaydence Flemming underneath the goal for a basket to put Northside ahead 15-9.

Galatia Andrew made a 3- pointer for Har- Ber that bounced off the rim, then high off the backboard before dropping into the net. Northside held for the last shot but HarBer forced a turnover and McDaniel scored on the other end to pull the Lady Wildcats to within 17-14 after two quarters.