BENTON COUNTY TOURNAMENT: Gravette Girls Move On
DECATUR AVOIDS MERCY RULE
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Decatur’s Tiffany Wright, center, looks to shoot as Gravette’s Kaitlynn Britton defends during the first half of Monday’s game in the Benton County Invitational Tournament at Siloam Springs High School.
Photo by Andy Shupe
SILOAM SPRINGS — A big second quarter from Gravette allowed the Lady Lions to pull away from the Decatur Lady Bulldogs 60-44 in a senior girls game Monday at the Benton County Invitational at Panther Arena.
The Lady Lions outscored the Lady Bulldogs 20-7 in the period and took a 33-13 lead at halftime. Gravette led by as many as 25 points in the second half.
A hot second-half shooting performance from Decatur’s Kimmy Nelson allowed the Lady Bulldogs to escape the running clock mercy rule.
Gravette seniors Julia Himsl and Morgan Bayley and junior Shelby Newell combined for 48 of the team’s points.
A putback by Newell off a missed Bayley 3-pointer in the third quarter gave Gravette a 40-15 lead.
That’s when Nelson started to heat up for Decatur. She closed out the quarter with eight points and scored 12 in the fourth quarter, including two 3-pointers.
“I thought we played pretty good defense for the most part,” said first-year Gravette coach Duane Thomas. “We controlled it but we kind of got in foul trouble. When that happened, we just relaxed and (Decatur) can shoot a little bit. They can knock a few down from way out there. We’ve just got to do a better job of that down the stretch.”
Decatur knocked down eight 3-pointers in the game.
Nelson finished with a game-high 22 points, 20 of which came in the second half. She hit three three-pointers.
“I don’t know what to say about what got (Nelson) going,” Decatur coach Donnie Smith said. “She hit a couple and then she got warm. She just kept going.”
Tiffany Wright had 11 points, including three 3-pointers for Decatur.
Himsl finished with 21 points while Bayley added 16. Newell chipped in 12 for the Lady Lions, who advance in the winner’s bracket to play host and top seed Siloam Springs at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Decatur will play at noon Saturday in the consolation finals.
Gentry 74, Decatur 41
BOYS — Gentry pulled away late to defeat the Bulldogs by more than 30 points.
Leading the way for Gentry was Aaron Dalla Rosa with 20 points while Decatur’s Hunter Beal scored 21.
Hartford 64, Pea Ridge 55
GIRLS — Hartford got a huge performance from Megan Phelps as it defeated Pea Ridge.
Phelps finished with a game-high 40 points while Pea Ridge’s Lexy Paryzek scored 20.
Gravette 47, Hartford 41
BOYS — The Lions used a productive late effort to get a first-round win.
Gravette’s Cody Montee scored a team-high 17 points to help guide the Lions to victory.
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