Southside Edges Heritage In Overtime

Lady War Eagles Commit Foul In Final Seconds

Emilie Jobst, a Rogers Heritage sophomore guard, drives past Fort Smith Southside senior post Lauren Fritsche on Wednesday during the first round of the Class 7A State Basketball Tournament at Fayetteville.
Emilie Jobst, a Rogers Heritage sophomore guard, drives past Fort Smith Southside senior post Lauren Fritsche on Wednesday during the first round of the Class 7A State Basketball Tournament at Fayetteville.

— Calli White picked the right time to make her first 3-point shot of Fort Smith Southside’s Class 7A state basketball tournament game Wednesday evening.

The 5-foot-7 point guard drilled a game-tying 3-pointer late in overtime and teammate Payton Hamilton hit a free throw with 3.3 seconds left in the extra period to lift the Lady Rebels to a 59-58 win over Rogers Heritage at Bulldog Arena.

Southside girls coach Sherry White acknowledged her daughter’s 3-pointer was a huge shot.

Heritage (19-9) had taken its biggest lead of the game 58-55 on two free throws by Lacey Murray. White told her mother she wanted the chance to hit the game-tying shot.

FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 59, ROGERS HERITAGE 58 (OT)

Heritage 8 7 20 17 6 — 58

Southside 15 13 10 14 7 — 59

Rogers Heritage (19-9): Ward 20, Murray 18, Lundy 11, Jobst 9.

Fort Smith Southside (20-8): D. Jones 18, White 15, Hamilton 14, Fritsche 7, E. Jones 5.

“She said ‘I can make it, I’ll make it,’” Sherry White said. “I said ‘you’d better.’”

With Heritage coach Kevin Ramey screaming “switch, switch,” Southside skipped the ball to White and she knocked down the long 3-pointer for the tie.

“She just hit it,” Ramey said. “They made a play.”

The Lady War Eagles, who trailed by as much as 15 points in the second half, had a chance late in overtime, but Ashley Ward’s shot inside rimmed out and Heritage was whistled for a foul with 3.3 seconds left.

Hamilton missed the first free throw, but sank the second to help the Lady Rebels advance to a a quarterfinal matchup against Little Rock Central at 4 p.m. Friday.

Coach White said her team appeared to be in control early in the second half, but Heritage refused to go away.

“Dang, they are just a really disciplined team and good defensively,” White said. “Whew, they did a better job guarding our big girls. It was a tough ballgame, but we knew it would be.”

Calli White finished with 15 points for Southside, while Drew Jones, a 6-1 junior, led her team with 18. Hamilton also chipped in 14.

Ramey came away extremely proud of the way his team competed in its first state tournament game in school history, despite shooting just 26 percent from floor and trailing 28-15 at halftime.

“I told then ‘do you want to live with it the rest of your life that you didn’t play your best or do you just want to lay it out there,’” Ramey said. “By gosh they laid it out there in the second half.”

Ward, a 5-7 senior, poured in a game-high 20 points for the Lady War Eagles, including 15 in the second half, while Murray added 18. Ellen Lundy also chipped in 11.

Lundy’s free throw with 5.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter tied the game at 52 and sent it into overtime.

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