Defending champions hold off Lady Raiders

CLASS 5A GREENWOOD 57, NETTLETON 49

PINE BLUFF — Greenwood Coach Clay Reeves didn’t think his team needed a scare to understand what’s at stake this week at the Pine Bluff Convention Center, but it got one anyway Wednesday afternoon.

Greenwood, the defending 5A champion, held off a fourth-quarter push to defeat Nettleton 57-49 in the opening round of the girls 5A state basketball tournament.

“Most of our kids are back from last year. … They’ve been here before, so they know it’s gonna be a battle,” Reeves said. “Winning teams are here, and no one’s going to give up. It’s a fight to the end. And so it went about like I expected, that it would not be a pretty game. But we just want to come out on top. And that’s what we did.”

Greenwood outshot Nettleton 38-15 in the first half thanks to 15 turnovers from the Lady Raiders. But the Lady Bulldogs were unable to capitalize on that by shooting 40.5% from the floor while the Lady Raiders made 10-of15 shots to limit Greenwood’s lead to 35-26 at the break.

Greenwood’s primary scorers, Mady Cartwright and Anna Trusty, were held to 14 total points on 7-of-20 shooting in the first half. But as they looked for their shooting stroke, Carley Sexton gave the Lady Bulldogs a much-needed offensive boost with 13 points, including 3 three-pointers.

The Lady Bulldogs started clicking on both ends in the third quarter, outsourcing the Lady Raiders 15-7 to take a 5034 lead into the final quarter.

“I was hoping to end the third quarter tighter than it was,” Nettleton Coach Tim Hawkins said. “I was hoping it would be tied or had it to single digits going into the fourth.”

Trusty took on the scoring load in the third quarter with 12 of her 20 points, but she and the Greenwood offense had its lowest-scoring quarter yet to end the game. Nettleton outscored Greenwood 15-7 in the fourth to push it to the final buzzer.

“The first game is always your hardest game when you get to the state tournament,” Reeves said.

SILOAM SPRINGS 40, PARAGOULD 39

Brooke Smith was everywhere for Siloam Springs. She scored nine points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked the would-be game-winning shot with less than 10 seconds remaining.

Brooke Ross led the Panthers with 13 points on 3-of-8 shooting. Mimo Jacklik scored 11 points thanks to 6-of-8 makes from the free-throw line.

Paragould trailed 36-24 after three quarters but made a late push thanks to a 15-4 fourth-quarter advantage. The Panthers were led by Dixie Williams’ 13 points and Shakira Brown’s 11 points.

MARION 46, RUSSELLVILLE 44

Russellville had one last look, a turnaround three-pointer by Zariah Campbell, but Marion weathered the storm to pull out a first-round win.

Marion was led by senior Alyse Holliman, who scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed four rebounds. Aya Johnson scored eight points. The Patriots had 12 assists on 16 made shots.

Russellville was led by Brenna Burk’s 11 points.