Schmitt wins High Point, Sprint Champion awards
BENTON — Lake Hamilton seventh grade swimmer Aubrey Schmitt won the Sprint Champion and High Point awards in the 13- to 14-year-old girls division at the USA-2023 Annual Battle for the Belt with the Central Arkansas Racers.
Schmitt set personal bests in the 200-yard backstroke (2:20.76), 200-yard freestyle (1:57.95) and 400-yard individual medley (4:43.44).
Schmitt won 12 races at the event, also posting Speedo Sectional Bonus time cuts in the 200-yard freestyle, 200yard butterfly (2:13.86) and 400-yard individual medley.
She also notched two second-place finishes at the meet.
LH DOWNS WHITEHALL
WHITE HALL — The Lake Hamilton boys basketball team defeated White Hall 80-63.
Zac Pennington led the Wolves with 28 points, and Ty Robinson scored 22. Easton Hurley contributed nine points, and LaBraun Christon finished with eight. Charter Harris tallied seven points.
The Wolves finish the regular season tonight at Sheridan.
JUNIOR RAMS FALL IN CLOSE CONTEST
The Lakeside junior high boys basketball team lost to Magnolia 30-27 in the district championship to finish as 5A-South regular season and conference tournament runner-up.
Beau Brock led the junior Rams with 16 points, and Quardarius Jackson scored nine. Wally Wolcott finished with two points.
JUNIOR LADY RAMS FALL IN FINALS
The Lakeside junior high girls basketball team fell to Camden Fairview 42-36 in the championship game of the conference tournament.
Devan Garner led the team with 16 points, and Christina Ingram scored 10 points. Belle Smith finished the contest with seven points, and Jaylen Brakebill knocked down a big 3-pointer late in the game.
The junior Lady Rams ended the season with a 15-7 overall record and a 7-2 conference tally.
Before falling to Camden Fairview, Lakeside defeated Texarkana 47-30 in the semifinals. Garner and Smith led the team with 16 points, and Ingram added seven.
The eighth grade Lady Rams finished the season with a 9-0 conference record and a 12-2 overall record. The seventh grade Lady Rams finished with the same records as the eighth grade team.
FOUNTAIN LAKE DEFEATS WALDRON
POTTSVILLE — The Fountain Lake boys basketball team defeated Waldron 50-38 in the district tournament before falling to Morrilton 54-39.
Against Waldron, Colby Lambert led the Cobras with 18 points, and Dedric Blocker scored 16 points. Dillon Dettmering finished with 10 points.
Fountain Lake played Huntsville Thursday night in the Class 4A-North regional tournament with a trip to the state tournament on the line.
NATIONAL PARK SPLITS CONTESTS
EL DORADO — The National Park men’s basketball team defeated South Arkansas 85-82, but the Nighthawk women fell 69-62 in overtime.
The National Park men jumped out to a 45-39 lead after good play from freshman guard Ja’Bryant Hill. Patrick Punch and Nakavieon White dominated in the paint to give the Nighthawks a good start.
South Arkansas got hot from 3-point land in the second half to keep things close, but National Park scored 21-of-24 free throws in the game to secure the victory.
Hill led the Nighthawks with 16 points, and Punch and White scored 14 points each.
The Nighthawk women led
29-27 at halftime after holding South Arkansas to just six points in the first quarter.
South Arkansas outscored National Park 30-28 over the game’s final 20 minutes, and the teams went into overtime knotted at 57. The Nighthawks struggled to score points in overtime, and South Arkansas secured the victory.
India Atkins led National Park with 18 points, and Jhyla Calvin ended the game with 16 points and 17 rebounds.
GAC LISTS WEEKLY BASKETBALL AWARDS
RUSSELLVILLE — The Great American Conference announced that Arkansas Tech’s Taelon Peter and Harding’s Taylor Currie shared men’s co-player of the week honors.
Henderson State’s Ashley Farrar and Southern Nazarene’s Hannah Giddey shared the women’s player of the week award.
Peter averaged 25 points per game and shot 52.1% from the floor in Arkansas Tech’s two wins. He made nine 3-pointers and scored 28 points against Harding.
Currie led the conference by averaging 25.7 points and 10.3 rebounds across three contests, and he notched his 12th double-double of the season.
Farrar scored at least 20 points across three games as the Reddies secured a spot in the GAC Championships with three wins. She tallied 30 points against Ouachita Baptist.
Giddey helped Southern Nazarene grab a share of the regular-season title, tallying 21 points and nine rebounds against Southern Arkansas.
GAC ANNOUNCES BASEBALL AWARDS
RUSSELLVILLE — The GAC announced that Arkansas Tech’s Sawyer Duddleston and HSU’s Luke Farrar shared co-player of the week honors.
Arkansas Tech’s John Gray and Arkansas-Monticello’s Connor Irvine shared the co-pitcher of the week award.
Duddleston registered six hits, including five extra-base hits, in a 4-0 stretch for the Wonder Boys.
Farrar hit .400 with three home runs across three wins, including a grand slam.
Gray pitched seven scoreless innings in a 10-0 win over Oklahoma Baptist, finishing with a season-high 11 strikeouts.
Irvine threw a two-hit shutout against East Central to improve to 3-0 on the season. He struck out eight batters.
NELSON, BECKER SHARE AWARD
RUSSELLVILLE — HSU’s Lily Nelson and Oklahoma Baptist’s Morgan Becker shared women’s golfer of the week honors in the GAC.
Nelson led the Reddies to a third-place finish at The Southern Invite with a score of 7-over par 223 to tie for 14th. Her nine birdies tied for fourth among 77 golfers.
Becker finished tied for 14th at the same event.
GRINBERG DOMINATES
RUSSELLVILLE — Arkansas Tech’s Lea Grinberg won all three of her top-flight singles matches, including wins against Division I Central Arkansas.
Grinberg also partnered with Daniela Baez for a win at No. 1 doubles over Harding.
GAC LISTS WEEKLY SOFTBALL AWARDS
RUSSELLVILLE — Arkansas-Monticello’s Grace Neal and Southern Nazarene’s Natalie Jones shared player of the week honors, while Oklahoma Baptist’s Kayleigh Jones won the pitcher of the week award.
Neal hit three home runs in a series against Delta State, and she came up with a clutch two-out seventh-inning single to tie a game that UAM eventually won 4-3.
Natalie Jones hit .444 as Southern Nazarene tallied a 4-1 record over the weekend.
Kayleigh Jones improved to 8-1 on the season after three outings at the Emporia State Classic.