Springdale Har-Ber Coach Jaime Green found out Friday her team can handle a minor crisis.
Junior guard Annabel Weber and senior post player Juliza Brown each scored 10 points as the Wildcats rolled to a 48-28 victory over St. Benedict of Cordova, Tenn., during the Crossover Turkey Classic at Pulaski Academy.
TURKEY CROSSOVER CLASSIC
Today’s games
PULASKI ACADEMY
Jacksonville vs. Hot Springs, 10 a.m.
Little Rock Hall vs. Earle, 11:30 a.m.
East Poinsett County vs. St. Benedict (Cordova, Tenn.), 1 p.m.
Forrest City vs. Springdale Har-Ber, 2:30 p.m.
eStem vs. Pulaski Academy, 4 p.m.
Horn Lake, Miss., vs. Conway, 5:30 p.m.
Fayetteville vs. Little Rock Central, 7 p.m.
Har-Ber (1-0) overcame a 5-0 deficit, outrebounded the Lady Eagles 33-22 and forced St. Benedict (1-2) to commit 20 turnovers.
"This was our first official real game," Green said. "We looked really rusty and sloppy, but I really appreciate our kids sticking with it when the shots don't fall because you have to keep shooting, as long as it's within the flow of our offense, of course."
Har-Ber missed its first eight three-point attempts and finished 1 of 12 from beyond the arc. The Wildcats hit 19 of 45 shots from the floor and 9 of 20 from the free-throw line. Green said the performance was not bad considering the Wildcats were more prepared for another opponent.
"I'm really proud of the kids," Green said. "I know they had some nerves in them. We didn't practice [Thursday], and we didn't know we were even playing this team until two days ago. We spent six days prepping for eStem. For our kids to come out and still play hard against the unknown, I was really proud of their effort."
And if preparing for the wrong team was not enough, both Har-Ber and St. Benedict came to the floor both wearing their home white uniforms. The Wildcats returned to their dressing room and quickly emerged wearing their Carolina Blues.
"They handled that pretty well," Green said. "For them, it showed a lot about their maturity. Some teams would get rattled if something like that happened. I think I was more rattled than they were. They handled it with grace and poise."
St. Benedict took a 5-0 lead in the game's first two minutes thanks to two free throws by senior Myah LeFlore (15 points) and a three-pointer by junior guard Catalina Carrasco. The Lady Eagles did not hit another field goal of any type until the 3:12 mark of the third quarter.
The Lady Eagles were 1 of 13 from the floor in the first half and 6 of 27 for the contest. Har-Ber led 21-11 at the half and 37-14 after three quarters.
Senior post player Karrington Whaley led her team with seven rebounds to go a long with her seven points. Junior guard Maci Mains handed out four assists and grabbed three steals.
Har-Ber is scheduled to play Forrest City at 2:30 p.m. today while St. Benedict will play East Poinsett County at 1 p.m.
eSTEM 63,
JACKSONVILLE 41
Sophomore guard Jaylen Mallard scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half as the Lady Mets (7-4) downed the Titans (4-3).
Mallard also came up with 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists. Junior guard Mariah Adams added 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists for eStem, which broke out to a 32-17 halftime advantage. Sophomore Makayla Miller added 11 points and senior guard Carly Clement hit 3 three-pointers to account for all nine of her points.
Freshman Shymaryia Christopher led the Titans with 14 points and eight rebounds. Senior Josie Starr added eight points for Jacksonville.
Jacksonville plays Hot Springs today at 10 a.m. while eStem plays Pulaski Academy at 4 p.m.
HOT SPRINGS 50,
LITTLE ROCK HALL 25
Junior guard Ariana Guinn scored 20 points and the Lady Trojans (2-0) held the Lady Warriors (2-2) to 10 points in the second half.
Hot Springs led 24-15 at the half. Senior Keyneso Hunter scored 12 of her 18 points in the first half for the Lady Trojans. Junior forward Alaysia Kelly scored 10 points to lead Hall.
Hall plays Earle today at 11:30 a.m.
Sports on 11/26/2016