Lady Wolves outstretched by Lady Blue Devils
A speedy and athletic West Memphis team that boasts plenty of height limited Lake Hamilton Saturday as the Lady Blue Devils cruised to a 51-43 win at Trojan Arena in the Class 5A state basketball tournament.
“I just was so proud of our girls,” said Lake Hamilton head coach Blake Condley. “I didn’t see a sniff of giving up or quitting. We went right down to the wire giving them everything we had. Just so proud of the girls for that.” Both teams struggled to shoot early with junior Hayleigh Wyrick grabbing a steal before
hitting a shot in the paint for a bucket with almost three minutes elapsed in the first. Tanya Burnett answered with a 3-pointer from the perimeter before some back-and-forth inside shots allowed Lake Hamilton (24-4) to take a 6-5 lead.
Junior Audri Winfrey sank the first free throw of the game with
3:36 left in the first as Burnett capitalized off a steal by teammate Terika Inmon for a 2-point field goal, Inmon adding another less than a minute later.
The Lady Wolves got it rolling again as senior Tia Mullenix backed her way in for a shot in off the glass to knot the score, but a pair of buckets pushed the Lady Blue Devils (10-14) out to a
13-9 edge.
A big block by Inmon kept Mullenix at bay from the outside, but Thornton found a way in to pull within 2. West Memphis slowly began to broaden the spread to 7, but a field goal in the paint by Wyrick and a set of free throws from Mullenix cut it down to 3 with 2:30 until halftime.
A 3-point play by Aniya Price kickstarted a 10-0 run for West Memphis, the Lady Blue Devils garnering a 31-18 lead at intermission.
“We threw everything that we could at them defensively,” said Condley. “They kept hitting shots, kept finding ways to get to an open spot and then we had trouble putting it in the hole. They’re a strong, long, physical team and just got us a little bit off. … They’re a tough team. It’s difficult to look at their record — they’re much better than what their record indicates.”
Wyrick opened second-half play with a steal and a trey for the Lady Wolves, but Lake Hamilton struggled to hit shots as West Memphis hit a 6-0 spurt. The momentum shifted for the rest of the third as Wyrick popped off for the Lady Wolves with a quartet of buckets, West Memphis unable to answer as Thornton knocked in one from inside to pull within 37-31.
After another bucket by Thornton to open the final stanza to pull within 4, Tucker nailed a pair of 3-pointers to widen the spread to 10. Rallying behind Thornton for a 5-0 run, Lake Hamilton cut the deficit to 43-38, but Clemisha Prackett banked in a bucket off an inbounds pass.
West Memphis closed out on a 6-5 run as a steal and layup from Wyrick set the final.
“We got out early,” said West Memphis head coach Erica Taylor. “Kind of got our confidence there to know, ‘Hey, we can play. We can play with them.’ That’s what I’m most proud about. The highlight is when we faced adversity in the fourth quarter when Lake Hamilton made their run, and we handled the mental capacity, fighting through that adversity right there when the team was hitting shots and having a few breakdowns. We had Burnett foul out, but we still kept pushing. Our sub came in off the bench and held her own. Very proud of the team effort.”
Wyrick led the way for Lake Hamilton with 16 points, five rebounds and three steals. Thornton tallied 13 points, four boards, two assists, four steals and a block, senior Taylor Humphreys had 6 points and four boards, Mullenix put up 5 points, three boards, an assist and a steal and Winfrey rounded out the scoring with 3 points, eight boards and two steals.
Tucker paced West Memphis with 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists and a steal. Prackett and Price each tallied 11 points — Prackett added eight boards and Price five boards and three steals. Burnett came away with five boards, two assists, two steals and a block and Inmon rounded out the scoring with 2 points, two boards, a steal and a block.
West Memphis will play Vilonia Monday at 4 p.m.
VILONIA 67, BATESVILLE 63
Laney Mears and Lauren Patterson combined for 25 points to lead the Lady Eagles (25-2) past the Lady Pioneers (22-3) in the second round of the Class 5A state basketball tournament at Trojan Arena.
Vilonia jumped out to an 18-11 lead in the opening quarter before Batesville cut its deficit by 1 to trail 34-28 at the half. Vilonia regained control, taking a 48-39 lead into the final quarter, but the Lady Pioneers outscored the Lady Eagles 24-19 to set the final.
Mears put up 13 points to lead Vilonia, Patterson added 12, and Brandie Rottman finished with 10. Isabella Higginbottom led Batesville with 18 points, and London Cuzzort and Riley Freeman had 13.
Vilonia will face West Memphis Monday at 4 p.m. in the semifinals at Trojan Arena.
MAUMELLE 59, RUSSELLVILLE 50
The Cyclones (21-7) were unable to overcome a 10-point deficit early as the Hornets (19-5) held on to advance to Monday’s semifinal.
Maumelle jumped out to a 19-9 lead in the opening frame, stretching out to a 34-21 lead at the half. Russellville made a run in the second, outscoring the Hornets 19-13, but it was not enough to reach the next round.
Nicholas Dalliver led the Hornets with 16 points, and Carl Daughtery Jr. and Darvis Rasberry added 14 each. Donyae May led the Cyclones with 23 points, and Reynard Allen finished with 12.