7A/6A-CENTRAL GIRLS

Caldwell, Hanson take control

— Foul trouble didn’t stop Fort Smith Northside’s Olivia Hanson from hitting key shots Tuesday night against Fort Smith Southside.

Hanson, who had three fouls at halftime, scored 12 points and Bria Caldwell finished with a game-high 25 in a 67-62 victory over Southside at the Stubblefield Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.

“We got in some serious foul trouble with Kilah Cummings and Hanson,” Fort Smith Northside Coach Rickey Smith said. “That hurt our scoring, but we stepped up when we had to. When you play this matchup, it’s exciting.”

Hanson helped hold off the Lady Rebels in the fourth quarter after Northside (24-3, 11-2 7A/6A-Central) took a 10-point lead into halftime. She hit a three-pointer and then made a layup to give Northside a 65-56 lead late in the game.

“The play of the game was Hanson hitting that three,” Smith said. “That gave us some breathing room. She has played through some adversity, which we’ve been talking about. She hit some big shots we had to have.”

Fort Smith Southside’s Calli White scored 11 points in the third quarter and made 3 three-pointers, including one to end the third quarter. That helped cut the Lady Bears’ lead to 50-47 heading into the fourth quarter.

“Those were huge, and I’m glad Calli showed up tonight to sling a few of those up,” Fort Smith Southside Coach Sherry White said. “I wish we could’ve given her an opportunity to do a little more than that, but they did a good job defensively on her.”

White finished with 17 points, Drew Jones added 14, Emily Jones scored 12 and Lauren Fritsche had 10 for the Lady Rebels (19-7, 8-5). But Southside couldn’t complete the comeback as Caldwell ledthe way in the fourth quarter, scoring a team-high six points in the quarter.

“We made some miscues defensively,” White said. “We knew Caldwell is shooting the ball well, and we let her have some open shots.”

Northside built a 38-28 lead going into halftime as Caldwell scored 10 points in the second quarter.

The Lady Rebels used a basket to cut the lead to six before the Lady Bears used a 12-6 run to build the lead to 10 going into halftime.

BOYS FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 64, FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 41

It didn’t take long for the Grizzlies to take a commanding lead against the Rebels.

Northside (18-9, 10-3 7A/6A-Central) used a 12-0 run to start the game, including eight points by Joe Dye, and led 33-18 going into halftime as it cruised to a victory over Southside (6-21, 1-12) at the Stubblefield Center.

“We had it going early, and that’s what we wanted to do,” Fort Smith Northside Coach Eric Burnett said. “I was glad Joe started off shooting the ball well. That’s how I pictured him playing this year.”

Dye finished with a game-high 21 points and Chris Eckes and Benow Stevenson scored nine each.

The Grizzlies used a 12-4 run to close out the third quarter to extend the lead to 50-29.

Eckes and Dye combined to make six of Northside’s seven three-point baskets, which allowed Northside to turn to its inside game to help close out the game.

“I thought they did a good job sharing the ball, and we had some nice passes inside after Joe and Chris hit outside shots,” Burnett said. “They really did a good job finding each other.”

Clayton Pankey scored a team-high 12 points for Southside.

Sports, Pages 17 on 02/20/2013

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