CONWAY - For the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, Fort Smith Northside Coach Ricky Smith said it looked like his Lady Bears were more interested in savoring victory than securing one in the quarterfinals of the Class 7A state tournament against Little Rock Central.

But Northside overcame its hunger pangs and pulled away to a 67-53 victory over the Lady Tigers at Buzz Bolding Arena.

Northside led 55-39 entering the fourth quarter, but Central closed to 55-51 with 3:57 left behind the play of Kiara Williams and Chloe Washington.

“I thought we shot it pretty good and we played well for three quarters, but we went about a four-minute spell where we thought we were on our way to What-A-Burger,” Smith said.

Williams finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for Central, while Washington scored six of her eight points during the Lady Tigers’ fourth-quarter run.

Washington’s free throws with 3:57 to play brought Central to within 55-51.

Olivia Hanson completed a three-point play with 3:09 remaining and Northside outscored Central 12-2 to end the game.

Tiarra McDonald and Brianna Jackson scored 20 points each for Northside.

Williams scored the game’s first four points. She also had two rebounds and two steals in the game’s first two minutes, but she also picked up two fouls and found herself on the bench for the rest of the first quarter.

Northside took advantage, scoring the final nine points of the first quarter and the first five of the second quarter.

“She’s athletic and she’s long,” Smith said of Williams. “But when she went out, we felt like we had a sizable size advantage. We went to our overload offense and got the ball inside and finished. Then we collapsed the defense and hit a couple of threes.”

Hanson added 16 points for the Lady Bears, who hit 22 of 42 from the field, including an 8 of 15 effort from threepoint range. Jill Myers had 5 points, 5 assists and 2 steals.

Alaysia Ready added 10 points and Taylor Lewis nine points for Central, which outrebounded Northside 40-25. Central collected 20 offensive rebounds, including nine from Washington.

BENTONVILLE 54, NORTH LITTLE ROCK 48

Jordan Martin scored 14 of her teamhigh 18 points in the first half and the Lady Tigers (19-8) held off the Lady Charging Wildcats (22-7).

Martin, a junior, made 5 of 8 field-goal attempts and 7 of 8 free throws. Senior Deana Adkins added 11 points while junior Peyton Taylor scored eight points and pulled down 13 rebounds.

North Little Rock sophomore Kyra Collier scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half. Collier also grabbed 10 rebounds and made four steals. Malica Monk posted 17 points and also had four steals.

Bentonville outrebounded North Little Rock 42-30. The Lady Tigers were 16 of 44 from the floor, compared to 17 of 52 for North Little Rock.

SPRINGDALE 60, FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 50

Javonda Daniels scored 19 points and the Lady Bulldogs (16-10) hit the offensive boards to knock off the Lady Rebels (16-9) in a first-round game.

Springdale grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, 11 in the first half, led by sophomore Kierra Lang, who had 5 offensive rebounds. She finished with 10 rebounds. Desiree Mack led Springdale, which outrebounded Southside 39-33, with 11 rebounds.

Drew Jones had 17 points and seven rebounds for Southside, which led 9-2 early and 13-11 after one quarter, but Springdale outscored Southside 13-3 in the second quarter for a 26-14 halftime lead.

Southside never got closer than eight points in the second half.

Daniels, a junior guard, hit 4 of 6 three-point attempts and also had three assists and three steals. Lang finished with 17 points and sophomore center Ryann Goodsell added 11 points and five rebounds.

Sarita Stegall added 10 points for Southside. Lani Meares led Southside in rebounding with eight.

Sports, Pages 25 on 03/08/2014