Malvern ready, willing, more than able

Saturday, March 8, 2014

LONOKE - Malvern Coach Jess Martin admitted that his Lady Leopards may have had some nervous energy heading into their game Friday, but they rarely showed it while cruising past Berryville.

Malvern (28-2) jumped out to a 15-3 lead and dominated on the glass to earn a 54-34 victory in the second round of the Class 4A state tournament at the Gina Cox Center.

Alivia Huell scored 17 points and had eight rebounds to help the Lady Leopards run their winning streak to 21 games. Raven Baker added 12 points for the defending champions, while Tieris Smith finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 blocked shots.

“That first game is always the tougher one, but we came out with a lot of intensity, had a lot of focus,” Malvern Coach Jess Martin said. “We try to jump on teams early, try to establish the tempo, and we did that for the most part.”

Malvern wasted little time putting Berryville (21-12) on its heels. The Lady Leopards pressed the issue from the outset and scored the game’s first seven points en route to a 13-point lead. Malvern, which shot 22 of 53 from the field for the game, ran down a number of loose balls and kept possessions alive by outrebounding the smaller Lady Bobcats.

“That was a key for us,” Martin said of his team’s 40-18 rebounding advantage. “We did a really good job on the glass and did a pretty good job on defense overall. We had a little lull there in the first half where we were fouling a little too much, but did a much better job of that as the game wore on.”

Berryville was never able to get into any offensive flow. The Lady Bobcats were 0 of 12 from the floor in the first quarter and didn’t hit their first basket until Ally Teague’s jumper with 4:49 left in the half. Still, Berryville was within 27-18 at halftime after taking advantage of Malvern’s aggressiveness on defense to hit 10 of 16 free throws.

The Lady Leopards slowed the game down a bit in the second half and forced Berryville to guard them on the perimeter. As a result, Malvern attacked the middle for easy baskets or extended trips to the free-throw line. The Lady Bobcats cut their margin to 10 late in the third quarter, but that would be as close as they would get.

Allison Smith scored 14 points to lead Berryville, which finished the game 8 of 36 shooting.

BROOKLAND 59, PRAIRIE GROVE 52, OT

Brookland (29-4) fought back from a 38-31 fourth-quarter deficit and then outscored Prairie Grove (21-9) 10-3 in overtime to advance.

Rachel Gramling scored 13 points to lead four Lady Bearcats players with at least 10 points. Menley Long and Cali Milligan each had 11 points, while Jordan Maynard finished with 10.

Lacey Beeks finished with a team-high 16 points for Prairie Grove, which led 30-24 at halftime and carried a seven-point lead into the final quarter. Taylor Hartin had 10 points for the Lady Tigers, and Macie Kultgen finished with eight.

FARMINGTON 71, LONOKE 66

Haley Maxwell scored 11 of her 19 points in the second half to help Farmington (25-5) hold off Lonoke (24-9) and move into Monday’s semifinals.

Tachino Scales scored 14 points for the Lady Cardinals, who led 33-31 at halftime. Tahlon Hopkins had 12 points and Tayton Hopkins had nine.

Jarralyn McCall finished with a gamehigh 21 points for Lonoke. Eboni Willis had 15 points and Amanda Sexton 11.

Lonoke trailed for much of the game but stayed within striking distance. The Lady Jackrabbits had a chance to tie the game at 64 after Tayton Hopkins missed a pair of free throws with 6.7 seconds left in the game. But Scales stole an errant Lonoke pass just as the Jackrabbits crossed midcourt.

Scales, a senior guard, was fouled and hit two free throws to seal the victory.

Sports, Pages 25 on 03/08/2014