HEBER SPRINGS — Gravette seniors Shelby Newell and Samantha VanOtterloo each scored 14 points to lead the Lady Lions by Pocahontas 52-42 in the opening round of the Class 4A state tournament on Wednesday afternoon.
The Lady Lions, making their first appearance in the state tournament since the 1999-2000 season, never trailed after the game’s opening two minutes.
“We have really come from the ashes this season,” said Gravette Coach Duane Thomas, whose team improved to 17-16. “They’ve worked extremely hard.”
Gravette advances to tonight’s quarterfinals against Star City.
Pocahontas (21-6) scored nine consecutive points in the fourth quarter to trim a 42-28 deficit to 42-37. But when Lady Redskins guard Hilary Hausman missed a wide-open layup with 2:40 to play, VanOtterloo and Newell turned the miscue into Gravette’s advantage.
VanOtterloo grabbed the rebound, threw over the top of the Pocahontas defense and hit Newell, who made the layup to stop the Lady Redskins’ rally.
“That was a big bucket and we made our free throws down the stretch,” Thomas said. “That was the difference.”
VanOtterloo was 8 of 8from the free-throw line, including 6 of 6 in the final 52.6 seconds.
Pocahontas Coach Marty Moore said his team’s downfall came in the final 10 seconds of the first quarter. Newell and VanOtterloo were again at the center of action.
Gravette was leading 12-11 when Newell made a short jumper and VanOtterloo stole the inbound pass and hit another layup to increase the Lady Lions’ lead to 16-11 to start the second quarter.
Shyanne Nichols added 11 points for Gravette while sophomore Monica White had 12 rebounds, 7 blocked shots, 3 assists and 3 steals.
Pocahontas senior Haley Tyler scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half to lead her team. She also had 9 steals, 3 blocked shots and 2 assists. Olivia Bell added 11 points for the Lady Redskins.
In other Class 4A games, Dumas (18-8) overcame a 34-point performance by Clinton senior Logan Blagg to earn a 67-61 victory, giving them a quarterfinal spot against Prairie Grove tonight. Shabr’an Richardson led Dumas with 22 points while A’Diamond Johnson scored 11 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter to help the Lady ‘Cats pull away for the victory. Blagg hit 8 three-pointers, 3 two-pointers and was 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. Haley Scott added 19 points for Clinton (19-12). ... Senior Lindsey Roe scored 10 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Shiloh Christian (26-4) survived a seven-minute plus scoring-drought in the second half to defeat Malvern ( 20-12) 51-39. Shiloh led 42-19 with 2:14 left in the third quarter. The Lady Saints did not score again until Roe hit two free throws with 2:49 left in the game to give the eventual winners a 44-34 lead. Hannah Persing led Shiloh with 13 points while also grabbing seven rebounds. Megan Henley and Maddison Lowe each added 11. For Malvern, Corredur Vaden scored 15 points and had six rebounds while Chantel McGill added 12 points and five rebounds.
CLASS 2A GIRLS COUNTY LINE 48, AUGUSTA 41
MONETTE - Senior center Ashley Lovelace led all scorers with 20 points to lead County Line over Augusta 48-41 in the first round of the Class 2A girls state tournament.
County Line (35-3) led 18-8 at the end of the first quarter and 26-17 at halftime. But the Lady Indians had to hold off a strong third-quarter effort by Augusta.
Augusta (16-12) trimmed the deficit to 32-30 after a field goal by sophomore Gabrielle Scales with roughly three minutes left in the third. But it was the last points of the quarter for the Lady Red Devils as County Line finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to go into the fourth quarter ahead 38-30.
Freshman guard Lea Carroll led Augusta with 12 points, and sophomore guard Gabrielle Scales added 11.
In other Class 2A games, Whitley Boggs scored a game-high 20 points to help lead Marmaduke (27-12) past Foreman (19-7) 49-35. Mercedez Jones made 3 three-pointers and added 11 points. Monica Shoals led Foreman with 15 points, and Jasmine Hardwrick added eight. ... Norphlet (27-5) outscored East Poinsett County (26-6) 31-20 in the second half to win 48-37. Kyia Williams scored 23 to lead Northlet, which trailed 11-6 after one quarter and was tied 17-17 at halftime.
- Austin EmersonCLASS 1A GIRLS KINGSTON 63, ACORN 51
CALICO ROCK - Brooke Poole scored 38 points, including 23 in the second half, to lead Kingston (29-6) over Acorn (22-9) in the first round play of the Class 1A girls state tournament.
Poole, Kingston’s only senior, scored all 16 of the Lady Yellowjackets’ points in the third quarter and their first 20 points of the second half. While Acorn could not find a way to stop Poole, it only trailed 45-42 after three quarters.
After Poole scored the first two buckets of the fourth quarter to put Kingston up 49-42, Acorn switched to a box and one defense on Poole and began to chip away at the deficit. Abby Jackson made two free throws to pull the Lady Tigers within 53-51 with 1:51 to play.
After Acorn missed a three-pointer, Kingston pulled away by making 10 of 12 free throws in the final 1:27.
Courtney Davidson added 11 points for Kingston. Kayla Denton led Acorn with 21 points.
In other Class 1A games, Wickes scored the first 11 points of the second quarter and cruised from that point in a 57-31 first-round victory over Mulberry. Wickes led 14-8 after one quarter before opening up a 31-12 halftime lead and held a 49-18 advantage after three quarters. Danielle Frachiseur led Wickes with a game-high 24 points, while Kelsie Frachiseur added 15. Kealsie Frazier led Mulberry with 16 points. ... Calico Rock made five three-pointers in the first 2:35 of the third quarter to extend a nine-point halftime lead to 21 en route to a 66-48 victory over Mount Vernon-Enola. Calico Rock led 51-30 in the third before the Lady Warhawks closed to within 55-42 by the end of the quarter. Mount Vernon-Enola never got any closer the rest of the way. Johnson led Calico Rock with 21 points, while McCurley scored 12. Freshman Heather Prowse led Mount Vernon-Enola with 13 points.
- Scott McDonald
Sports, Pages 23 on 03/03/2011