HOT SPRINGS - One nearly perfect quarter was enough for the Conway Lady Wampus Cats.
Conway scored 30 points in the second quarter to turn a three-point deficit into a 20-point halftime lead, which helped it withstand a comeback bid by Fort Smith Northside as the Lady Wampus Cats secured a 74-67 victory in the Class 7A championship game Thursday at Summit Arena.
Northside led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter, but Conway Coach Ashley Nance said she remained encouraged.
“As badly as we played, we were only down by three points,” Nance said. “I just told our players to hang in there.”
Conway (28-5) scored on its final eight possessions of the second quarter to take the lead for keeps. Six of Conway’s baskets were three-pointers, four by sophomore guard Alexis Tolefree.
Northside (25-4) watched its three-point lead at the end of the first quarter disappear in a fog of missed shots and turnovers.
Northside Coach Rickey Smith called a timeout after Conway took an 18-12 lead on a baseline jumper by Tolefree with 4:40 left in the second quarter.
“I said, ‘Keep your head up,’ ” Smith said. “I said, ‘Let’s don’t give them anything easy.’ But then, bam, from that point on they didn’t miss.”
Conway scored 21 points over the final 4:05 before halftime, beginning with a three-pointer by sophomore guard Halley Estes.
“I think we’re a great shooting team,” Nance said. “We have a lot of great shooters and a lot of competent people who come off the bench, like Halley Estes. She comes off the bench and gives us a spark.
“With our team, once we hit one, there’s really no telling what we can do.”
Northside made one field goal in the second quarter on a layup by junior center Tiarra Tate with 8 seconds left. But, typical of Conway’s quarter, Tolefree answered with a three-pointer just before the first-half buzzer.
“The second period, I’ve never seen a team shoot like that,” Smith said. “It was unbelievable. Whenever we tried to make a game, get a steal, whoever was open would hit a three.
“The difference in the game was the three-pointer.”
Northside trailed by as much as 43-20 in the third quarter but managed to remain in contention as it pulled to within 44-36 on a three-pointer by junior Jay Nee Alston midway through the quarter. When senior guard Jillian Myers hit a three-pointer with 1:02 left in the third quarter, Northside was within 49-43.
“When we made that run, it was all about our effort,” Myers said. “We knew we’d make a run if we just kept trying.”
“A lesser team, down by 20, wouldn’t have come outwith the kind of intensity,” Smith said. “I couldn’t be prouder of my players. In the matter of a few minutes, we came back and cut the lead to six, but we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
The Lady Wampus Cats pulled away again in the fourth quarter and was up 64-47 after a 15-footer by junior guard Jordan Danberry with 4:21 left.
Northside pulled to within 68-62 after a three-pointer by junior guard Kira Shepard with 1:43 left, but Conway scored the next three points and Northside could get no closer than the final score.
“All the credit goes to Conway,” Smith said. “They have a great team.”
Quotebook
“I said, ‘Let’s don’t give them anything easy.’ But then, bam, from that point on they didn’t miss.” Fort Smith Northside Coach Rickey Smith, on Conway’s 30-7 secondquarter run
Sports, Pages 22 on 03/14/2014