GREENWOOD — Fort Smith Northside’s defense provided just the spark it needed in the second quarter.
No. 5 Greenwood took advantage of some turnovers to grab an early lead, but top-ranked Northside turned the game around with its tough defense in a 63-43 victory at H.B. Stewart Bulldog Arena.
“I thought this was one of our better games defensively,” Fort Smith Northside Coach Rickey Smith said. “We made them take hard shots. I can’t say enough about our kids’ defensive focus.”
Northside’s Kilah Cummings scored a game-high 17 points and provided the spark early in the first quarter with eight points.
“Cummings was very, very active inside and had a great game,” Smith said. “She made a big difference.”
Greenwood’s Megan Hartness scored six points in the opening quarter, but the Lady Bears made a push and took a 17-16 lead heading into the second quarter with a basket by Cummings.
That’s when the Lady Bears (17-1, 4-0 7A/6A-Central Conference) started heating up. Northside outscored Greenwood 15-3 to end the second quarter as it took an 11-point lead into halftime.
“We settled down in the second quarter and made adjustments against their zone,” Smith said. “It was a quality road win, because Greenwood is a very good team.”
Northside turned the tide in the turnover battle and took advantage of baskets by Olivia Hanson and Bria Caldwell. Caldwell’s threepoint basket just before halftime pushed the lead to 34-23.
The Lady Bears continued to build their lead after halftime as it outscored Greenwood (14-4, 1-3) 11-7 at one point in the third quarter and never looked back.
Hanson scored 16 points and Bria Caldwell made 11 of 12 free throws to finish with 14.
“We hit some nice shots and we pushed it defensively and we were able to let them give it up,” Smith said. “The ball bounced our way. That shot before halftime was huge for momentum.”
Lundon Williams scored 14 points for Greenwood, and Hartness finished with nine.
BOYS
FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 66, GREENWOOD 56
Benow Stevenson scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and helped Northside (12-6, 4-0 7A/6A-Central) rally for a victory over Greenwood (8-9, 1-3) at H.B. Stewart Bulldog Arena. Greenwood built an 11-point lead in the second half after leading 31-25 at halftime, but it wasn’t enough. “We’ve been talking about taking care of your games at home and stealing games on the road,” Fort Smith Northside Coach Eric Burnett said. “We knew Greenwood was going to be ready.” Jace Richardson scored a team-high 17 points for Northside, while Stevenson finished with 12, Tyler Triplett had 10 and Joe Dye scored 10. After trailing 48-45 heading into the final quarter, the Grizzlies used a 12-3 run to close out the game. “We started stepping up our defense and started making plays,” Burnett said. “My guys did a great job believing and coming back.” Greenwood’s Evan Lensing finished with 17 points, and teammates Ethan Clark had 15, Drew Caple 10 and Colton McEvoy 8. Greenwood built a 12-9 lead in the first quarter with the help from threepoint baskets from Lensing and McEvoy. Clark then took over offensively for the Bulldogs, scoring eight points in the second quarter that helped to build a 31-25 lead at halftime.
Northside cut the lead to five in the third quarter and Darrick Church made the last basket before the fourth quarter to cut Greenwood’s lead to 47-44.
Sports, Pages 21 on 01/16/2013