LR Christian 66, Greene County Tech 38
MAUMELLE -- Little Rock Christian passed its first postseason test Wednesday afternoon.
Reagan Bradley had 17 points, 7 steals, 5 assists and 5 rebounds as the Lady Warriors shut down Greene County Tech in the second half to pull away for a 66-38 victory in the first round of the Class 5A girls state tournament at Maumelle High School.
Senior guard Emma Kelley scored 15 points, all on three-pointers, and senior forward Adrianne Chambers had 12 points and 8 rebounds for the Lady Warriors (29-2), who gave up 12 points in the second half to win for the 24th time in their past 25 games. Freshman forward Wynter Rogers added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
"That first one is always the toughest one," Little Rock Christian Coach Ronald Rogers said. "Everyone's kind of got the jitters, but I was proud of the girls. Our defense kind of led the way for us in this one."
Little Rock Christian, the top seed from the 5A-Central, moves on to play either Watson Chapel or Clarksville in the second round Friday.
Senior guard Allie Thomas had 12 points and junior forward Tiffany Gramling finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds for Greene County Tech (16-14), which hit just four shots after the first quarter and finished 9 of 36 for the game.
Little Rock Christian, which went 22 of 50 from the field, used a 9-0 run in the first quarter to open a 10-point lead. The Lady Warriors maintained that margin throughout the second period despite hitting just 2 of 14 shots, but it wasn't until a three-pointer at the buzzer by Greene County Tech senior guard Kaylee Edgar that Little Rock Christian's lead dipped to under double figures.
Little Rock Christian led 33-26 at halftime but stretched that margin to 56-30 by the end of the third quarter.
"I told them we had to win the third quarter, and we had to do it with our defense," Rogers said. "That's one thing that we've gotten so much better at, and we did a really good job during that period."
Greene County Tech went 0-of-9 shooting and had 6 turnovers in the third, then missed its first five shots of the fourth quarter.
BATESVILLE 57, BEEBE 39
Junior guard Taylor Griffin scored 27 points, including 18 in the second half, to lift Batesville (22-7) to victory.
Junior forward Alley Edwards had 15 points and freshman guard Isabella Higginbottom had 11 for the Lady Pioneers, who held a 24-17 lead at halftime but shot 8 of 12 in the third quarter to establish a comfortable lead.
Batesville will play Hot Springs on Friday in the second round.
Senior guard Libbie Hill had 14 points for Beebe (20-11).
LITTLE ROCK PARKVIEW 70, PARAGOULD 63
Senior guard Kania Lasker finished with 26 points and 9 steals as Little Parkview (19-9) outscored Paragould 20-2 over the game’s final five minutes to advance to the second round.
Junior guard Kaylan Larry scored 20 points and senior forward Desiree Bumpers had 10 for the Lady Patriots, who lost the rebounding battle 37-15 but came up with 16 steals. Parkview will play Farmington on Friday at 1 p.m. Junior forward Zoey Beasley had 19 points and 16 rebounds for Paragould (17-14), which couldn’t hold on to an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead. Junior center Kalyssa Hollis finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds while senior guard Abby Rogers had 14 points. Sophomore forward Taylor Beasley added 10 points.
Sports on 03/01/2018