Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Mammoth Spring’s practice ploys pay off
HOT SPRINGS — Mammoth Spring Coach Scott Small didn’t care if his players thought, in his words, he was a jerk.
He was going to make them watch the film of last year’s state final loss to Norfork — specifically, the fourth quarter — over and over and over. Anytime the Bears had a bad practice, Small would pull up YouTube and make them “watch the wheels fall off again.”
But Wednesday’s practice was different.
Small grabbed the runner-up trophy from last year and put it on the scorer’s table, forcing Mammoth Spring to stare at it while also knowing they were 48 hours away from a shot at redemption.
“It reminded us of what we were playing for,” Bears junior Brynn Washam said. “That really stuck in my head coming out here tonight.”
Mammoth Spring wiped away the memories of 2022 with an overwhelming second half in its return to Bank OZK Arena, putting away Norfork late and capturing the Class 1A girls state championship with a 45-36 win Friday night.
Laney Young and Adrianna Corbett combined for 27 points to lead the Bears, but it was Washam, the tournament MVP, who delivered the dagger of the night, drilling a three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:46 remaining to bury any chance of a last-gasp comeback from the Panthers.
“[Last year’s loss is] something that I feel like they should have taken personally,” Small said, explaining why he’d made his team relive that game so many times. “Sometimes, it’s good to remember what you’re playing for and what you’re trying to accomplish.
“We only ever get one shot at this game with this group and this moment, so I wanted to make sure that we were ready for it.”
Early on, Mammoth Spring (38-4) didn’t look ready, trailing 19-11 late in the second quarter.
Small took a timeout, hoping to get a little reset from his team. It didn’t come right away, but Laney Young’s corner three-pointer with 45 seconds left until halftime cut the Bears’ deficit to 22-17 at the break and gave Mammoth Spring a little life.
From that point until just before the end of the third quarter, the Bears went on a 14-6 run that, while not necessarily putting them in full control, gave Small’s group all the momentum it needed.
“We just struggled to score in the second half,” Norfork Coach Luke Cornett said. “To be honest with you, we got played the way that I wanted to get played defensively and [in the] second half, we still struggled to score, so credit to their defense.”
The Panthers retook the lead within the first minute of the fourth quarter at 32-31 and Norfork (28-8) hung within four points of Mammoth Spring in a sluggish fourth quarter until Washam, the Bears’ leading scorer, came through in the most important of moments.
Small called for an elevator screen, bringing Washam up the middle of the lane between a pair of screening teammates and Corbett found her for a three-pointer right at the top of the key.
“I knew that I was open, I knew that I had two defenders far in front of me and…that’s a shot I practice over and over again,” Washam said. “It wasn’t a new situation. I knew what to do.”
But what was new was celebrating a state championship.
Before last year, Mammoth Spring had never played in a title game. Now, they can call themselves winners.
“The state championship was the goal, it’s always been the goal,” Small said. “To put them through the wringer and the biggest thing is to have them trust me through it. … There are a lot of teams who probably have easier seasons, but they don’t get memories like this one.”