7A/6A-CENTRAL GIRLS

Scaife, Lady Warriors roll, win 23rd in a row

Little Rock Hall’s Tyler Scaife (10) is fouled by Fort Smith Northside’s Olivia Hanson while driving to the basket during the Warriors’ 73-64 victory over the Lady Bears on Friday at Cirks Arena in Little Rock.
Little Rock Hall’s Tyler Scaife (10) is fouled by Fort Smith Northside’s Olivia Hanson while driving to the basket during the Warriors’ 73-64 victory over the Lady Bears on Friday at Cirks Arena in Little Rock.

— The bigger the stage, the bigger the performance for Little Rock Hall’s Tyler Scaife.

Two days after burning No. 4 Little Rock Parkview with 35 points, the senior guard had 30 points, 7 rebounds and 7 steals to help the top-ranked Lady Warriors outlast No. 2 Fort Smith Northside 73-64 on Friday night at George Cirks Arena in Little Rock.

“She’s the only McDonald’s All-American in the state ,and she showed why,” Fort Smith Northside Coach Rickey Smith said. “When you’ve got her as well as a 6-foot-4 player in the middle, that’s a lethal combination. But [Scaife] makes that team go.

“She’s definitely a difference maker.”

Scaife played the entire game and was just as effective on the defensive end as she was on offense, picking up four of her steals in the final three minutes.

But Scaife got plenty of help from teammates in a match up between the state’s top two teams.

Katelyn Webber finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots for Hall (26-2, 14-0), which finished the regular season undefeated in 7A/6A-Central Conference play and has won 23 consecutive games heading into next week’s Class 6A state tournament. Tiarra Coffey and Taylor Collins also scored 10 points apiece, while Princess Cole added seven points and five rebounds for the Lady Warriors.

Four players finished with 10 or more points for Northside (24-4, 11-3), with Bria Caldwell scoring 14 points and Brianna Jackson 13. Jill Myers and Olivia Hanson had 12 points apiece for the Lady Bears.

Still, Northside had its chances late in the fourth quarter but wasn’t able to knock down shots when it mattered most. Smith attributed most of that to Hall.

“[Hall’s] speed hurt us,” Smith said. “They took us out of everything we tried to run offensively because they’re so athletic. And on defense, my gosh they’re so aggressive and play extremely hard.

“That’s a very good team over there. Any time you can go through this conference undefeated, you’ve got to be.”

The two teams went back and forth in the first half, playing at a pace that normally would benefit both. But neither was able to fully take control because of the game’s feverish tempo.

Hall jumped out to a 8-0lead before Caldwell’s three pointer jump started a 10-point Northside rally. Coffey answered with a steal and layup, but the Lady Bears seemingly had a response for everything.

Hall led 19-18 at the end of the first quarter, but used a 7-0 run to open up an eight-point cushion. The Lady Warriors would eventually push their lead to 35-23, following a 16-footer from Scaife. But Northside’s Nicole Knight made consecutive three-pointers, starting a quarter-ending 11-4 spurt to get her team within 37-34 at the half.

The lead changed hands six times in the third quarter until Scaife’s jumper with three seconds left in the quarter gave the Lady Warriors the lead for good. Northside twice got within a point with possession of the ball, but the Lady Bears came up empty both times.

Hall scored following both instances and ended the game on a 10-2 run to stop Northside’s six-game winning streak.

Sports, Pages 24 on 02/23/2013

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