CLASS 3A

McGehee breaks first-round barrier

JESSIEVILLE -- Shakyla Begnaud and India Lattimore made sure McGehee's stay in this year's Class 3A girls state tournament is longer than last year's trip.

Begnaud finished with 29 points and 15 rebounds while Lattimore had 21 points and 8 rebounds to lift the Lady Owls to a 66-55 victory over Bald Knob on Tuesday at Jessieville High School.

The two scored 35 of McGehee's 38 second-half points to lead the Lady Owls into the second round, where they'll face either Valley Springs or Paris on Friday at 7 p.m.

"I told the girls that we needed to get over the hump," McGehee Coach Karen Broughton said. "In my five years here, this is the first time we've been able to get over that, and it's big for us ... real big."

McGehee (31-2) has suffered first-round losses in each of the past three seasons, including a 53-52 setback to Bergman last year. But the Lady Owls changed that routine with a dominant second half en route to winning their 22nd game in a row. McGehee shot 24 of 44 for the game and outrebounded Bald Knob 30-25.

Bald Knob (19-12), which shot 21 of 44 from the field, found itself down by as much as 11 early in the second quarter but slowly inched back in the game. McGehee still led 26-20 after Begnaud's 8-footer, but Kynlee Brimer's short jumper helped the Lady Bulldogs end the half on a 9-2 run -- which included a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Makensie Nixon -- to grab a 29-28 lead at halftime.

"My hats off to Bald Knob because they outhustled us and wanted it more than we did," Broughton said. "I told them at the half that we may be more athletic, but they were outworking us. And to advance in a tournament, you've got to have both of them to win."

But the Lady Owls regained control in the third quarter by relentlessly attacking the Lady Bulldogs inside, with Begnaud and Lattimore doing much of the damage. The two scored 17 of McGehee's 20 points in the period, all within 2 feet of the basket. Begnaud's putback with 11 seconds left allowed the Lady Owls to take a 49-40 lead into the final quarter.

Bald Knob trailed 57-44 with just over three minutes left, yet closed the gap to 59-54 with 2:01 left to play after a Madi Pierce three-pointer. But McGehee managed to score seven points late to hold off the Lady Bulldogs.

Nixon led the Lady Bulldogs with 18 points. Anna Wolford had 12.

CEDAR RIDGE 60,

COSSATOT RIVER 51

Elizabeth Henderson scored a gamehigh 26 points to help send Cedar Ridge (18-10) into a second-round game against defending-champion Greenland. Cheyenne Brooks added 10 points and 6 assists for the Lady Timberwolves, who led 28-22 at halftime and 47-33 early in the fourth but needed a 7-of-8 effort from the freethrow line over the final 35 seconds to advance after Cossatot River (20-14) got to within 53-49.

Ashlen Gonzalez scored 14 points and Raegan Richardson had 13 for the Lady Eagles.

GENOA CENTRAL 56,

HARDING ACADEMY 43

A 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter gave Genoa Central the breathing room it needed to beat Harding Academy. The Lady Dragons led 36-33 with 7:44 left in the game before its burst.

Eden Crow had 23 points, 16 rebounds and 6 blocks for Genoa Central (27-5), which plays Mountain View at 1 p.m. Friday. Victoria Hill added 16 points and Callie Beckham finished with 10.

Audrey Laird had a team-high 11 points for Harding Academy (18-13).

Sports on 03/03/2016

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