Paragould finishes off Alma this time

Friday, March 7, 2014

ALMA - Paragould Coach Jay Cook knows from experience that a big halftime lead against Alma in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament is never safe.

This time it turned out OK as the Lady Rams pulled away for a 70-38 victory Thursday night at Charles B. Dyer Arena.

“We were in this same position three years ago when Alma hosted,” Cook said. “We went up around 13 points at halftime and got beat by11. There was some history there, so we knew the game was far from over at halftime. We wanted to finish strong.”

It showed in the second half as Paragould held Alma to five points in the fourth quarter and finished the game with a 14-2 run.

The Lady Rams were led by Sydney Layrock with a game-high 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Korie Bryant came off the bench to add 15 points and a team-high 14 rebounds.

Alma tied the game up early in the first quarter at 11-11, but Paragould never looked back after that. The Lady Rams scored the last 10 points of the first quarter to take a 21-11 lead and pushed it out to 40-20 going into halftime.

Paragould out rebounded Alma 47-22, which included 14 offensive rebounds that turned into 13 second-chance points.

“They shot the ball well and rebounded the ball so well,” Alma Coach Madelyn Flenor said. “We knew if they controlled the boards like that, it would be difficult. That hurt.”

Robin Stewart led Alma with 11 points.

VILONIA 60, FORREST CITY 49

Audrey Moran scored a game-high 24 points and made 3 three-pointers to lead Vilonia past Forrest City.

The Lady Eagles built a big lead by forcing 28 turnovers and turning them into 31 points.

Cassidy McNespey added 13 points for Vilonia while McKenzie Morris 10, and Syndey Wader finished with a team high 10 rebounds.

Deja Collins scored 13 points to lead Forrest City, and Ayanna Hilliard added 11.

HOT SPRINGS 58, LR MCCLELLAN 47

Berniezha Tidwell scored a game-high 24 points as Hot Springs used a strong fourth quarter to secure a first-round victory against Little Rock McClellan.

McClellan cut Hot Springs’ lead to 43-38 going into the fourth quarter, but Hot Springs outscored McClellan 15-9 to put away the game.

Briana Jones had a team-high 17 points for McClellan.

Sports, Pages 23 on 03/07/2014