BERRYVILLE — A day after surviving a double-overtime game, the Charleston Lady Tigers found themselves in another fierce battle Wednesday night.
Charleston managed to hold on again, defeating Waldron 65-57 in the championship game at the inaugural Berryville Holiday Hoops Classic at Bobcat Arena.
It was Waldron’s first loss of the season.
After not shooting well in their semifinal victory over Pocahontas, the Lady Tigers (8-5) found their range early against Waldron, erasing a 6-2 deficit to take a 14-11 lead after one quarter and then going on a 9-0 run midway through the second quarter to open up a 31-15 advantage.
The Lady Bulldogs (14-1) cut into the lead some before halftime, scoring seven of the last eight first-half points to pull within 34-24.
Waldron began to make its move in the third, forcing 10 Charleston turnovers in the quarter to fuel a 13-2 run. The Lady Bulldogs scored seven of those 13 points from the freethrow line, including three by Shelbie Trozzi, who hit 1 of 2 with 2:54 left in the third to pull Waldron within 40-37.
Jezalyn Posey finally put points on the board for Charleston at the 2:32 mark, and Lady Tigers post Kally Smith made the last bucket of the quarter t make it 46-41 going in the final period.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the fourth with a 9-0 run that included three-pointers by Taylor Farmer and Jacy Allen and a three-point play by Trozzi to take a 50-46 lead with 5:55 left to play.
All of a sudden, Charleston found its shooting touch again, coming back with a 9-0 run of its own. Chelsea Moore’s three-pointer with 3:10 left to play gave the Lady Tigers a 57-50 advantage.
Smith led the Lady Tigers with 23 points while Katherine West had 10.
Farmer led Waldron with 17 points, while Trozzi scored 15 and Holli Holleman 14.
POCAHONTAS 59, BERRYVILLE 57 (OT)
The Lady Redskins had to play overtime for the second day in a row, but this time came out with a victory as they took the third-place game over tournament host Berryville.
Ten players scored for Pocahontas. Kelley DeClerk and Amanda Aston led the way with 11 points apiece.
Berryville’s Elise Holman led all scorers with 26 points. Arel Ferguson added 13.
EUREKA SPRINGS 39, YELLVILLE-SUMMIT 27
Miranda Smith, the Lady Highlanders’ 6-3 senior post, had been nursing a separated shoulder but returned to form Wednesday by scoring 15 points to lead Eureka Springs to a 12-point victory in the seventh-place game
Maggie McCormick scored eight points to lead Yellville-Summit.
BOYS
BLUE EYE (MO.) 51, BERRYVILLE 47
Garrett Chatman scored 30 points to lead Blue Eye past tournament host Berryville in the championship game Wednesday night.
K.J. Phillips scored 21 points to lead Berryville.
WALDRON 67, CHARLESTON 64 (OT)
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 26-9 lead in the first quarter, only to watch the Tigers fight back and send the third-place game into overtime with the score tied at 58-58.
Waldron scored the first seven points of the extra session before Charleston hit back-to-back three-pointers to make it interesting in the final minute, but the Bulldogs hit two free throws with 3.5 seconds left to ice the victory.
Jordan Tull led Waldron with 24 points while Keith Roets and Byar Nevills added 12 each.
Eric Johnsey led Charleston with 17 points, and Michael Meader had 13.
EUREKA SPRINGS 48, HOLLISTER, MO. 39
The Highlanders overcame a doubledigit, first-half deficit to dispatch the Tigers in the seventh-place game.
Brian Sebby and Dustin Morrell scored 10 points each to lead Eureka Springs, which had nine players score in the game.
Austin Wilson led all scorers with 15 points for Hollister.
Sports, Pages 17 on 12/31/2009