FORT SMITH -- If there is one thing that Little Rock Central girls basketball Coach Michael Green was not worried about heading into Tuesday night's game with Fort Smith Northside, it was his Lady Tigers' ability to bounce back from adversity.
Central teetered on the brink of losing a third game in a row after two tough losses last week to 7A-Central leader North Little Rock, but the Lady Tigers dominated the second overtime to put away Fort Smith Northside 74-65 at Kaundart Fieldhouse.
"This was a great game for the fans tonight." Green said. "They got their money's worth. It was a great to come up here and win."
The victory keeps the Lady Tigers (18-3, 7-2) alone in second place, a game behind North Little Rock.
The Lady Bears (13-9, 6-3) rallied to tie the game at 55-55 on a three-pointer by Meagan Bandimere with 30 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Central led most of the first overtime, but failed to put the game away when Erynn Barnum missed two free throws with 23 seconds left. Topazia Hawkins then made two free throws for Northside to force the second extra quarter.
"I told them that we're not so young anymore, but we're still young," Green said. "That is just part of basketball. We're going to have moments when we make some mistakes and we have to play through them. The thing about this team is ... they are never going to quit. They will keep playing, playing and playing."
Central dominated the extra period, outscoring Northside 7-0 in the first two minutes of the four-minute overtime to lead 68-61. Bre'Amber Scott scored four points to lead the early Lady Tigers charge.
Northside got to 70-65 and had several three-point attempts to climb within a basket, but all rimmed out. Finally, Central corralled the rebound and Scott was fouled with 55 seconds left. She made both free throw to get the Lady Tigers' advantage back to 72-65.
Barnum led all scorers with 26 points, Scott scored 18 and Abigayle Jackson added 14. Hawkins scored 18 to lead Northside, Aniya Webster scored 16 and Fatarah Kinnard had 10.
LR CENTRAL (74)
A. Jackson 7 0-0 14, Hall 1 1-2 3, Perry 1 0-0 2, Peyton 0 0-0 0, Scott 6 6-8 18, Barnum 8 10-17 26, Greenwood 3 0-0 7, T. Jackson 2 0-0 4. Totals 28 17-27 61.
FS NORTHSIDE (65)
Hawkins 4 9-14 18, Carey 1 0-0 3, Kinnard 3 4-6 10, Bandimere 2 1-3 6, Webster 8 0-2 16, Evans 4 1-3 9, Smith 1 0-0 3. Totals 23 15-28 52.
LR Central (18-3) 15 12 16 12 6 13 -- 74
FS Northside (13-9) 12 19 10 12 6 4 -- 65
Three-point goals -- Central 1 (Greenwood), Northside 4 (Bandimere, Hawkins, Carey, Smith). Team fouls -- Central 21, Northside 20. Fouled out -- Hawkins, Kinnard.
Sports on 02/08/2017