CONWAY -- Kierra Lang caught the inbounds pass and took off up the court, racing past several defenders into the lane, where she banked in a shot to beat the third-quarter buzzer.
The Springdale High sophomore point guard didn't look like a player who was coming back from a knee injury on Friday in the first round of the Class 7A state tournament.
How They Scored
Girls
Springdale 60
Fort Smith Southside 50
Southside^13^3^15^19^—^50
Springdale^11^13^18^18^—^60
Southside (16-9): Jones 17, Stegall 10, O’Dell 7, Rainwater 5, Meares 4, Bishop 4, Spicer 3,
Springdale (16-10): Daniels 19, Lang 17, Goodsell 11, Mack 6, Owens 5, Kahn 2.
Lang was as explosive as ever, controlling the game and finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in her first action since Feb. 18 after missing the final three games of the regular season with the knee injury.
Her big game sparked Springdale to a 60-50 win over Fort Smith Southside, the Lady Bulldogs' first playoff win since 2003 in their first postseason appearance since 2009.
"She makes a big difference," Springdale coach Heather Hunsucker said. "She controls our team and is our head. With her, our girls just have a little more confidence. Not that we didn't without her, but they just have a little more confidence with her on the floor."
Springdale (16-10) will face Central No. 2 seed West Memphis (20-7) in the tournament quarterfinals today at 4 p.m.
Springdale trailed 9-2 in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but then turned it on, outscoring Southside (16-9) 37-13 over the next two quarters, including 13-3 in the second quarter, to take a commanding 39-22 lead it wouldn't relinquish.
"I believe we got some of the butterflies out of our stomach," Hunsucker said. "But I thought our defense got better. I thought there in the first quarter, they kind of punched us in the mouth in transition. Then when we got that fixed, they scored three points in the second quarter. And that really settled us in."
The Lady Bulldogs were impressive when they turned up their defensive intensity, flustering Southside and holding the Lady Rebels to 39 percent shooting and forcing 16 turnovers.
"I think we knew what to expect," Southside coach Sherry White said. "We knew they were athletic. We knew they were big and aggressive, especially inside. We knew their posts were physical. Sometimes it is a little focus. It's all mental."
Lang wasn't alone in having a big game for Springdale. Junior guard Ja'Vonda Daniels scored a game-high 19 points and hit 4-of-6 from 3-point range, Ryann Goodsell added 11 points and Desiree Mack had six points and 11 rebounds.
Southside standout Drew Jones scored 17 points and had seven rebounds.
Sports on 03/08/2014