FORT SMITH -- The North Little Rock girls cut into their deficit early in the fourth quarter, but Fort Smith Northside bounced back to take control Friday night at Grizzly Fieldhouse in a 58-48 victory in 6A-Central Conference action.
The Lady Charging Wildcats used a 5-0 run to cut the Lady Bears' edge to 40-37 early in the final quarter. Northside missed its initial three shots and had four turnovers before it scored in the fourth quarter.
"We'll learn from this one," Fort Smith Northside Coach Rickey Smith said. "This was a sloppy ballgame. Both teams had opportunities to score.
"It was just an emotional ballgame. I'm very proud of the kids."
Sarah Bershers helped preserve the home victory with a game-high 19 points, including a team-high eight fourth-quarter points. She also had 17 rebounds.
North Little Rock was led by Kennady Tucker and Jordyn Neal, who each scored 10 points.
Northside (17-0, 5-0) used a key scoring stretch capped with a free throw from Bershers to take a 53-41 lead in the fourth quarter.
Northside took a 26-23 lead into the break with the help of strong bench production.
North Little Rock (9-8, 3-2) held a 12-10 lead after the first quarter, which was aided by forcing Northside into seven first-quarter turnovers.
"I didn't do a very good job getting our kids ready for what we faced," Smith said. "They busted us in the mouth with a full-court press like there was three minutes left in the game from the very start."
The Lady Bears didn't turn the ball over in the second quarter and used a 9-0 run to take a 23-19 lead. Jazzlyn Coleman, who came off the bench, started the run with a basket, then capped it with a three-point play.
Sports on 01/19/2019