GREENWOOD — It took all four quarters and then some for Pine Bluff to hold off Jonesboro in the first round of the Class 6A girls state tournament.
Jonesboro forced two turnovers in the last 30 seconds of regulation as it sent the game to overtime, but Pine Bluff held on in the extra period for a 66-62 victory Tuesday night at the H.B. Stewart Bulldog Arena.
“I give them credit for finding a way to win,” Pine Bluff Coach Loy Moore said. “The bottom line is we got outplayed. It’s very simple. We had no intensity on defense and we weren’t ready to play. That’s my responsibility.”
Jonesboro’s Ivory Thornton made two free throws with 5.7 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 54-54,but Pine Bluff’s Jasmyn Eckermann took over from there. Eckermann scored five points in overtime as Pine Bluff outscored Jonesboro 12-8 in the extra period.
Eckermann finished with a team-high 17 points.
“This is our season right now,” Moore said. “We win or we go home. This is a completely different season. They played much harder than we did. We were fortunate to win.”
Victoria Broady added 14 points and Aija Richardson scored 13 to help pace Pine Bluff.
Jonesboro used a 8-0 run in the third quarter to cut Pine Bluff’s lead to 30-26, then outscored Pine Bluff 26-17 in the fourth quarter.
Raquel Williams led Jonesboro with a game-high 23 points, including 13 in the final quarter. Morgan Malugen added 17 and Ivory Thornton scored 12.
“This is how we’ve played all year, battling,” JonesboroCoach Jodi Davis said. “We fought to the end, and sometimes we were outmatched. This kind of summed up our season.”
Pine Bluff built a 14-9 lead in the first quarter, outscoring Jonesboro 7-4 to end the quarter. Richardson had six points in the quarter.
Jonesboro was held without a field goal until 5:19 remained in the second quarter, but it didn’t take long for the Lady Hurricanes to heat up offensively.
Trailing 22-11, Jonesboro scored the last seven points before halftime to cut Pine Bluff’s lead to 22-18 heading into the third quarter. Malugen scored the final basket and had a team-high four points in the second quarter.
“That was a huge thing for us, for our confidence,”Davis said. “We struggle at times to put runs together, so it showed us we were still right there in it.” LITTLE ROCK HALL 91, LITTLE ROCK FAIR 18
Tyler Scaife and Tierra Coffey were more than enough for a first-round victory for the Lady Warriors.
Scaife scored 19 points and Coffey added 18 in an easy victory at H.B. Stewart Bulldog Arena.
Hall took a 29-6 lead in the first quarter and never looked back in the 73-point victory.
Fair was led by Ja’Nia Williams, Ta-Shayla Meekins and Kimberly Gaines, who each scored five points.
BENTON 43, RUSSELLVILLE 31
The Lady Panther’s Madison Brooks led the way and scored when it mattered most in a victory against the Lady Cyclones.
Brooks scored a game-high 17 points, including 10 points in the fourth quarter, to help Benton pull away for a firstround victory at H.B. Stewart Bulldog Arena.
Russellville held a 26-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Brooks took over and the Lady Cyclones managed just five points in the quarter.
Alyssa Owens finished with a teamhigh 10 points to pace Russellville.
Sports, Pages 26 on 02/27/2013