FORT SMITH -- Feb. 20, 2014, was the last time the Fort Smith Southside girls team won a 7A Conference game.
The 16-game conference skid ended Tuesday as Southside held on to beat Cabot 49-45 on Tuesday night at Southside Gym.
"They just played really hard tonight," Southside Coach Steve Brown said. "I am proud of them."
Last season was one of the worst in school history for Southside, which finished 3-25 and 0-14 in the 7A-West. But with five victories already this season, Brown hopes Tuesday will be a springboard to a postseason berth.
"You have to win the first one to win the second one," said Brown, whose team is now in the 7A-Central. "We know what we have ahead of us, and they don't get any easier in this conference. The key thing was we found a way to win this one. We made some free throws when we had to at the end."
Southside (5-8, 1-0) led 23-20 at halftime, then opened the second half with a 13-4 spurt to take its biggest lead of the game at 36-24 on a Montana Smith three-pointer.
Cabot (11-3, 0-1) made a late charge with 11 consecutive points, capped by a Josie VanOss three-point play with 5:15 left to get within 36-35.
"I told them during a timeout to hang on because they are going to come after you, and Cabot did," Brown said. "They are going to double team, and you have got to find the open man."
The Mavericks never lost the lead in the final five minutes.
Kelly Carson, who led all scorers with 20 points, clinched the victory by making 7 of 8 free throws in the final 2:46. She rebounded her only miss with four seconds left and dribbled out the clock.
Southside made nine three-pointers and limited Cabot to just two. Smith added 12 points on four three-pointers.
VanOss scored 15 to pace Cabot while Holly Allen added 14.
GIRLS BOX
CABOT (45)
Harmon 0 0-0 0, VanOss 5 5-7 15, Roberts 2 1-2 5, Allen 5 3-4 14, Sobczak 2 0-1 4, Wagner 1 2-4 4, Bush 1 0-0 3. Totals 16 11-18 45.
FS SOUTHSIDE (49)
Carson 5 7-8 20, Kleck 0 1-2 1, Smith 4 0-2 12, Rainwater 4 0-1 9, Schmidt 1 0-0 3, Hernandez 1 0-0 2, Sharum 0 1-3 1, Lockhart 0 1-4 1. Totals 15 10-20 49.
Cabot (11-3, 0-1) 10 10 ^7 18 -- 45
FS Southside (5-8, 1-0) ^9 14 13 13 -- 49
Three-Point Goals -- Cabot 2 (Allen, Bush), FS Southside 9 (Smith 4, Carson 3, Rainwater, Schmidt). Team Fouls -- Cabot 18, FS Southside 16. Fouled out - none.
Sports on 01/11/2017