Smith Leads Eureka Springs Girls
Posted: November 12, 2009 at 5:32 a.m.
BENTONVILLE — Eureka Springs girls basketball coach Aaron Hall has to rebuild his team and he’s happy to have a solid foundation to start with.
Senior center Miranda Smith is the lone returning starter from last year’s team that went 21-18 and advanced to the program’s first state tournament in 31 years.
“If you’ve got to have someone coming back, you like them to be 6-3,” Hall said. “We are rebuilding at the guards.
“(Smith) brings experience, scoring and rebounding. She’ll block several shots and changes a lot of shots. We’ll rely on her offensively to do a lot of stuff.”
Smith averaged 10 points and five rebounds last year for the Lady Highlanders.
She had 20 points Tuesday as Eureka Springs (1-5) beat Oark 49-14.
Eureka Springs, which only has eight girls on the varsity team, will look to Moriah Sanchez and Tanisha Morrell to lead an inexperienced group of guards.
“(Those) two girls with most experience are handling the ball the most and were back up (forwards) last year,” Hall said. “It’s not a comforting thing. The girls are working hard and getting better.”
Decatur also has just eight players this season but coach Donnie Smith has three seniors — Kimmie Nelson, Tiffany Wright and Chelsea Woodall — in the starting lineup.
Nelson returns at point guard and is focused on cutting down her turnovers. Woodall gives the Lady Bulldogs a presence inside.
The Lady Bulldogs (0-1) are playing in the Pioneer Tipoff Classic in Gentry this week.
County Line and Hartford return most of their players from last year and Hall expects those teams to be atop the 2A-4 Conference.
“Those are the best teams head and shoulders in the league,” he said.
Hartford’s Megan Phelps averaged 17.2 points and Johnson County Westside 3-point shooter Ashley Henson are two of the league’s top players.
2A-4 Conference
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