SPRINGDALE -- A Little Rock Central fan stopped coach Michael Green and asked if he had remembered to take his blood pressure medicine moments after the Lady Tigers' game at Springdale High on Tuesday.
Green responded that he had. That turned out to be a wise decision.
Girls
LR Central 64, Springdale 59
LR Central^9^8^14^19^14^—^64
Springdale^8^14^13^15^9^—^58
LR Central (4-0): K. Williams 18, Brown 12, Tucker 12, S. Williams 7, Ready 5, Jackson 4, Greenwood 4, Perry 1, Allen 1.
Springdale (1-1): Lang 23, Owens 15, Gadison 11, Hood 5, Mack 2, Goodsell 2.
Boys
Springdale 61, Greenwood 28
Greenwood^7^6^11^5^—^28
Springdale^15^18^20^8^—^61
Greenwood: Armstrong 11, Lunsford 7, Sanders 6, Pitts 3, Stewart 1.
Springdale (3-0): McFarlane 14, Young 11, Lindsey 6, Tate 6, Bobo 5, Garrison 5, Carachure 4, Robinson 4, Rose 2, Mahar 2, Hutchinson 2.
Central rallied from a late 10-point deficit to force overtime and then pulled away in the extra period for a 64-59 victory over the Lady Bulldogs in a game featuring two teams with 7A title aspirations.
Arkansas signee Kiara Williams scored a team-high 18, had seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks for Central with Arkansas coach Jimmy Dykes watching from the stands. She sank two free throws with 3.8 seconds left to knot the game at 50 and send it to overtime after Central (4-0) trailed 43-33 with less than five minutes left.
Williams missed her first six foul shots early in the game, but made six of her last seven, including the two to keep the Lady Tigers' hopes alive.
"I have no problem with her shooting free throws," Green said. "When she got the last two (in regulation) I called timeout to give her a little rest and that's it, because I knew she had them."
All three of Springdale's bigs -- seniors Desiree Mack, Maya Hood and Ryann Goodsell -- fouled out in overtime in a game that featured a combined 62 fouls between the two teams. The result was an open lane for Central as the Lady Tigers outscored Springdale 14-9 in the four extra minutes after struggling for the majority of the night against Springdale's length and athleticism.
Springdale's Kierra Lang was the best player on the court most of the night, scoring a game-high 23 on 5 of 7 shooting from the floor and 12 of 14 from the line. She was a big part of the reason the Lady Bulldogs led for most of the game -- Central's last lead was 13-12 early in the second quarter before overtime.
But Springdale couldn't close after leading 49-43 with 1:38 left. The Lady Bulldogs had a number of miscues in the final few minutes of regulation, including a few turnovers, an intention foul that led to a four-point possession and perhaps the most costly, taking two shots with less than 30 seconds remaining and a 50-48 lead.
"We're never going to put blame on one (play or player), but I think what we need to learn the most from this is late-game situations," Springdale coach Heather Hunsucker said.
Springdale had a chance to win on the final play of regulation after Williams' free throws, but Anna Gadison was unable to get a floater off before time expired. Then Central owned the overtime period with Williams and 5-foot-10 freshman Kennady Tucker, who scored 12, leading the way.
"That was our first real test of the season and I was proud of us," Green said. "We didn't shoot the ball well, missed free throws, hostile territory. And they withstood all that and kept us in the ballgame."
Chas Owens scored 15 and Gadison added 11 for the Lady Bulldogs, which came within a few plays of pulling off arguably the biggest regular-season win in Hunsucker's five years with the program.
"I really believed for the last 12 weeks that we were a really good team," Hunsucker said. "Now I hope people got to see it. Do we have things to work on? Absolutely. But i'm very happy and I hope our school and fans got to see the team I know we have."
Boys: Springdale 61, Greenwood 28
Senior Ishine McFarlane scored scored a game-high 15 points to help lead Springdale to a 61-28 mercy rule victory over Greenwood.
The Bulldogs (3-0) led 13-2 early and were up 33-13 at halftime. Springdale coach Jeremy Price had already subbed in most of his bench by that point. The lead continued to balloon in the second half. Devon Young scored 11 points and continued his hot shooting by knocking down three 3-pointers. Alec Armstrong scored a team-high 11 for Greenwood.
Springdale hit six 3-pointers in its best-shooting performance of the year.
"We came out well, got some stops, hit some 3s early," Price said. "And that helped. That really loosened us up. Very pleased with how we shot the ball tonight."
Both Springdale teams will play next at Cabot on Dec. 4.
Sports on 11/25/2015