Plan comes together for Arkadelphia

ARKADELPHIA 58, SOUTHSIDE BATESVILLE 53

BLYTHEVILLE — A long, thought-out plan led to an extended postseason stay for Arkadelphia.

The Lady Badgers capitalized off a rash of turnovers, particularly in the second half, to beat Southside Batesville 58-53 in the first round of the Class 4A girls state tournament Tuesday afternoon at Chickasaw Arena.

Three players finished in double figures for Arkadelphia (20-9), led by Amya Snowden’s 16 points. But it was the on- ball defensive pressure the Lady Badgers employed that allowed them to move on.

“That was the key to the game coming in,” said Arkadelphia Coach Jonathan Klein, whose team forced 28 turnovers, 16 coming after halftime. “The [coaching staff] sat down for about six or seven hours on Sunday watching film and getting a game plan together. That was the plan, though, to take away their two shooters and speed [Southside Batesville] up as much as we could with a lot of pressure.

“We did what the plan was, and it worked.”

Getting timely production also worked for the Lady Badgers, who advanced to play Farmington on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the second round. T.T. Tate scored 14 points, and Taylor Aultman had 13 points.

Kamie Jenkins ended with 24 points, 19 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks for Southside Batesville (26-6), which was able to overcome its slew of mistakes at times during the first two quarters.

Arkadelphia had a 15-14 lead early in the second quarter after Aultman’s putback with 6:20 to go in the half, but the Lady Badgers missed their next eight shot attempts.

The Lady Southerners answered by going on an 8-2 run, with Lilly Swanson scoring seven points in that stretch, to surge ahead. Southside Batesville eventually led 24-19 at halftime and 31-24 in the third quarter until its turnovers really started to mount.

The Lady Badgers scored eight of the final 10 points of the third quarter to get within a point, then scored the first six points in the fourth quarter — four of which came off back-to-back steals — to take the lead. Arkadelphia was ahead by as much as 52- 43 with less than two minutes left before staving off a late push “There were a lot of nerves, especially from me,” Klein said. “But I thought they responded beautifully and played a great game.”

Chaney McCance had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals, and Swanson added 10 points and six rebounds for Southside Batesville, which finished with a 37-29 rebounding edge. Juliann Stevens chipped in with nine points.

GRAVETTE 67, HEBER SPRINGS 49

Keely Elsea scored 14 points as Gravette (18-13) used an 8-0 run midway through the third quarter to break free from the Lady Panthers.

Brynn Romine had 13 points, Dalacie Wishon scored 12 points and Brook Handle collected nine points for the Lady Lions, who were ahead 45- 35 until their eight-point flurry in the third quarter gave them an 18-point margin.

Jaylea Hooten and Addison Hudspeth both had nine points for Heber Springs (26-5).