Providence takes tourney title from Pea Ridge
Karolina Kiraga was simply trying to do something to give Providence Academy’s girls the lead before halftime.
Her steal and layup in the closing minute of the first half eventually ignited an 11-0 run that put the Lady Patriots in charge Friday afternoon as they captured the Lady Blackhawk Holiday Invitational championship with a 48-36 victory over host Pea Ridge in Blackhawk Arena.
Kiraga broke an 18-18 tie as she stole the ball and drove in for a bucket with 40 seconds to go in the first half. Ejirohne Edwednuwvedia, Providence’s 6’4” senior post, added a bucket with six seconds left to make it a 22-18 game at halftime, then the Lady Patriots (11-3) started the second half with 7 more points — 5 by Ava Maner — for a 29-18 cushion.
“We had a good ending to the first half,” Providence coach Jeff Daniels said. “That’s the thing: Pea Ridge guards you so hard, and those little momentum things are good going into halftime. I thought we opened up the third quarter with good energy, and a couple of things I thought we could execute our girls did a great job executing.
“We were trying to get some stuff off our high screen and roll, and we did. Ava Maner was able to get into the gap a couple of times, and if she can get into a spot, that’s what she does. It’s called a logo shot, right under the free-throw line. Once she got that first one to go in, she got the 3-pointer on the next one and that energized our defense.”
Pea Ridge (10-8) ended the run with an Amelia Dayberry 3-pointer, only to have Providence run off 7 more points and extend its lead to 36-21 on a Maner bucket with 2:16 left in the third quarter. The Lady Patriots’ biggest lead came when Edwednuwvedia’s two free throws made it a 40-24 game with 5:42 remaining.
The Lady Blackhawks did get within 42-33 after a Leah Telgemeier 3-pointer with 3:41 remaining, only to have Providence score 7 unanswered points and put its lead out of reach for good.
Kiraga had 15 points and Edwednuwvedia added 10 for Providence, which took two out of three from Pea Ridge this season. Telgemeier was the only Lady Blackhawk player in double figures with 15.
Hamburg 42, Fort Smith Southside 41
Southside’s fourth-quarter comeback attempt fell short as the Lady Mavericks fell to Hamburg during Friday’s early consolation game.
Hamburg owned a 2622 halftime cushion and stretched it out to a 38-29 margin to close out the third quarter, then hung on Southside outscored the Lady Lions 12-4 over the final 8 minutes and made things close.
Za’Niya Mooney had 16 points and Shenia Gavin added 13 for Hamburg, which was slated to play Star City for fifth place but a scheduling change was made to keep the two 4A-8 teams from playing each other. Payton Yaffee hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 for Southside (1-14), which had its losing skid extended to 12 games.
Star City earned a 74-41 victory over Bauxite in the other consolation game, while Mena took a 44-41 victory over Viola in the third-place game.