CONWAY - Kiara Williams has not played like a sophomore all season and she was not about to start on Thursday.

Williams, a 5-11 post player, scored 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, blocked 5 shots and made 3 steals as Little Rock Central rallied to defeat Springdale Har-Ber 56-51 in the opening round of the Class 7A state tournament at Buzz Bolding Arena.

Central (22-5) trailed by six points early in the fourth quarter before taking the lead for good on Williams’ final field goal with 2:00 remaining. Free throws by senior Taylor Lewis and sophomore Alaysia Ready in the final 21 seconds sealed the victory for the Lady Tigers who play top-ranked Fort Smith Northside in today’s quarterfinals.

Har-Ber finished its season at 19-9.

“The one good thing about this team is that we don’t quit,” Central Coach Michael Green said. “It’s kind of like a roller coaster ride with us. We’re up, we’re down, we’re up, we’re down. But sometimes we figure it out and we stay up.”

Thanks to Williams, the Lady Tigers finished on the upswing Thursday. She scored 13 of her points and had eight of her rebounds in the second half.

“She’s a heckuva player,” Green said. “I wouldn’t want to play without her. She can handle the ball, she can rebound and if her teammates get beat trying to press, they know [Williams] is great defender.”

Central led 23-11 early in the second quarter, but thanks to 5-10 senior post Marleeya Montgomery, Har-Ber pulled to within 27-24 by halftime.

Montgomery scored a game-high 14 points in the first half and finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds. However, Central held Montgomery to two free throws in final quarter, outscoring the Lady Wildcats 20-11.

Junior Paige Redmond added 12 points, junior Bailey Schalk 11 rebounds and junior Carlye Bohannan four assists for Har-Ber.

Ready finished with 14 points and Lewis 10 for Central.

Har-Ber out rebounded Central 41-30, but committed twice as many turnovers - 14-7 - than the Lady Tigers.

CONWAY 75, ROGERS 56

Sophomore Alexie Tolefree scored 28 points as the Lady Wampus Cats (24-5) pulled away from the Lady Mounties (9-17) for a first-round victory.

Rogers led 16-9 after one quarter, but Conway responded with a 24-9 second quarter and never trailed in the second half.

Asia Willard added 13 points and led the Lady Wampus Cats with 10 rebounds. Hailey Estes scored 11 for Conway, which hit 13 of 26 shots from the floor in the second half and had five turnovers the entire game.

Junior Libby Ganoung led Rogers with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Callie King followed with 17 points and senior Cassandra Trexler added 12 points and a game-high five assists.

NORTH LITTLE ROCK 53, BRYANT 35

Sophomore Kyra Collier scored 17 points and came up with nine steals as the Lady Charging Wildcats (22-6) cruised to a first-round victory over the Lady Hornets (8-17).

Malica Monk added 13 points and Kiara Webb led North Little Rock in rebounding with 10.

North Little Rock led 17-4 after the first quarter and 26-12 at the half.

Junior Jakeria Otey led Bryant with nine points. Junior Jayla Anderson grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Lady Hornets.

Sports, Pages 23 on 03/07/2014