SPA CITY SHOOTOUT GIRLS

Leopards rough up Trojans

— It was going to be tough for Hot Springs to catch up with Malvern in the fourth quarter Saturday. It became even tougher when the Lady Trojans lost their top two scorers in the opening minute of the final quarter.

In a four-second span, sophomore Tiaunna Watkins went out with a leg injury and sophomore Berniezha Tidwell fouled out.

Malvern held a 14-point lead at the time and pulled away for a 53-34 victory in the semifinals of the Spa City Shootout at Summit Arena.

“That game got so physical, it was unbelievable,” Hot Springs Coach Mark Upshaw said. “The game was so physical, and they weren’t calling enough to stop it. It got way out of hand, way too physical. I lost my point guard and my backup point guard within a few seconds.”

Hot Springs (8-2) was in a hole at that point because it shot only 1 of 11 from the field in the third quarter. The Lady Trojans finished 3 of 25 (12 percent) for the second half.

Malvern (13-1) took advantage by opening the second half on a 6-0 run and put the game away with a 7-0 run late in the fourth.

“We had to overcome some adversity. We had some kids banged up, and it was a tough, physical game,” Malvern Coach Jess Martin said. “There was a lot of contact on both ends. I thought we kept a level head and fought through it and maintained our composure when a couple things didn’t go our way.”

Despite persistent defensive pressure, Malvern’s offense maintained a consistent shooting clip of 39 percent(21 of 54). Alivia Huell led the Lady Leopards with 15 points while sophomore point guard Raven Baker had 13 points, 5 assists and 5 steals.

“Baker has been playing well for us. She led us in scoring the other day,” Martin said. “She’s leading us in assists as well, so she’s not just shooting the ball, she’s distributing the ball, making good decisions with the ball. And I thought the Huell girl played pretty well inside as well. She’s such an athlete. It was a well-rounded effort.”

Shakara Penix added 12 points for the Lady Leopards. Akasha Westbrook led them with 12 rebounds before going down with an ankle injury with seven seconds left in the third.

Watkins scored a team-high 14 points for Hot Springs. She had 13 in the first half.

LAKE HAMILTON 44, CAC 42

Sophomore Karli Herron’s three pointer with 15 seconds left gave Lake Hamilton a semifinal victory over Central Arkansas Christian.

CAC, the defending tournament champion, rallied from a 34-25 deficit entering the fourth quarter to take a 40-39 lead on Falan Miller’s free throw. Herron put Lake Hamilton (9-2) back ahead with a layup off a steal, then sank the winning shot after a Miller basket gave the Lady Mustangs (10-4) a 42-41 edge.

Herron led the Lady Wolves with 14 points. Junior post Kori Bullard added 13. Miller led all scores with 18 points. Sydney Jones added 16 for CAC.

Sports, Pages 27 on 12/30/2012

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