Springdale Har-Ber Edges Marble Falls

— Springdale Har-Ber coach Sandy Wright could only shake her head after glancing through the final stat sheet.

Thirty-nine percent shooting from the floor. Fifty-two percent from the free throw line. Twenty-one turnovers.

In the only stat line that mattered, though, Wright didn’t have any complaints. Despite all of its struggles, Har-Ber managed to escape with a 41-39 victory over Marble Falls, Texas, to advance to the consolation bracket quarterfinals in the Meredith Hatch Memorial Mansfield Invitational Tournament.

“Well, I’m not feeling too good about this one because I thought we’d beat them by 20,” Wright said. “The only good thing is we won. We were just real lethargic all game.”

Still, the victory puts the Lady Wildcats in a game against the winner of South Grand Prairie-Abilene today at Summit High. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:15 p.m.

Har-Ber started strong, getting good looks in the paint from forwards Caroline Eubanks and Micayla Patterson, who both finished with a team-high nine points. In fact, Patterson made a layup just before time expired to give Har-Ber a 22-14 halftime lead.

In the second half, though, the Lady Wildcats couldn’t pull away for good. Instead, Marble Falls used a 7-0 spurt early in the third quarter to get close and eventually tied the game at 30 heading into the fourth quarter.

Marble Falls even took the lead early in the fourth quarter with a pair of free throws, but Har-Ber responded. Patterson scored back-to-back baskets to give the Lady Wildcats a 37-34 lead and junior guard Tori Scottmade a pivotal layup to make it a two-possession game.

Scott was the spark that Har-Ber needed late in the game, Wright said.

“It just felt like we needed to get more energy in there,” Scott said. “I was just hoping to go in and give us some momentum and turn the tide.”

Canyon 70, Springdale Har-Ber 44

The Lady Wildcats certainly didn’t get any welcome favors from the tournament committee, as they faced Texas’ top-ranked Class 4A team in the first round. Har-Ber, though, made it a game in the first half and trailed by only one at halftime.

In the third quarter, however, Canyon pulled away by outscoring Har-Ber, 25-7.

“I knew it wasn’t a good thing when all the other coaches started laughing after I told them we were playing Canyon in the first round,” Wright said, smiling.

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