Glen Rose wins 1st state tourney game

LAMAR — The mindset for Glen Rose was to be fearless shooting the basketball trying to achieve something that hasn’t happened in program history. It showed Thursday in a first- round matchup at the Class 3A girls state tournament.

Glen Rose (23-8) had every starter make a three-pointer in the first quarter and continued that success in the final quarter to pull away for a 39-34 victory against Valley Springs.

“We talked about going into this game being aggressive,” Glen Rose Coach Devin Jones said. “We wanted to play to win and not to play to not lose. I’m proud of those seniors coming out and being aggressive.”

It was a victory for the history books, as the Lady Beavers were making their first state tournament appearance in 38 years and this was their first victory ever in it.

“We are so excited to win this game because we haven’t been this far and our school hasn’t been in state in a long time,” senior guard Ashlee Stafford said. “It’s such an honor to be here and playing for my school.”

The Lady Beavers have eight seniors on the roster with five in the starting lineup. The upperclassmen led the way with Maci Carver (9 points), Stafford (9) and Makayla Stevens (8) keeping the season alive.

“That’s honestly how we’ve played all year,” Jones said. “Our seniors play so well for us. Defensively, we do it as a team without a rim protector so we all chip in on that side. I’m blessed to have a group that loves to share the ball on offense as well. That’s what seniors do for you they do whatever it takes for the team win.”

In the final quarter with the game on the line, the three-point shot came back just when Glen Rose needed it most. Kaitlyn Stevens hit one to tie the game at 32-32 then Makayla Stevens made another for a 35-32 lead that was never relinquished.

The Lady Tigers were guided by a team-high 11 points from Macy Willis, who made 3 three-pointers in the game.

LAMAR 54, McGEHEE 36

The Class 3A state tournament runnerups from 2022 are back in the semifinals.

The hosts were led by a team-high 14 points from Morgan Cochran and Madison Davidson in a second-round matchup.

McGehee’s Cynara Robinson finished with a game-high 16 points.

Lamar (28-4), playing behind in front of its home crowd, was energized, and Cochran gave them plenty of reason to cheer. She drilled 3 three-pointers in the opening quarter to help take a 19-6 edge against McGehee (23-5)

The Lady Warriors took a 26-18 lead into halftime and a 43-30 advantage into the fourth quarter. Lamar put the game well out of reach by outscoring McGehee 11-6 in the final quarter.

FOUKE 50, FLIPPIN 45

Fouke rallied with a 7-0 run in the final 2:43 of the game after a lengthy injury stoppage to Jacie Bishop, who was carted off the court and sent to the hospital after colliding with a Lady Panther teammate.

Fouke (31-3) found itself down 45-43 before the pause but regained its rhythm to take back the lead and didn’t allow a point down the stretch. Connie Ross led the way with a team-high 16 points for the Lady Panthers.

Flippin (24-11) was led by Ella Alexander and Ally Hodges who scored a team-high 13 points each.