5A-WEST GIRLS

LR Christian boosted by pair of seniors

Reagan Bradley and Amber Brown went on a power trip during Little Rock Christian's 5A-West Conference victory over visiting Vilonia on Tuesday night.

The two seniors each scored 21 points in the final two quarters as the Lady Warriors erased a nine-point deficit to start the second half to earn a 71-58 victory over the Lady Eagles.

"That was some explosion," Little Rock Christian Coach Ronald Rogers said of Bradley and Brown. "Two seniors on Senior Night, you couldn't write a better script. But they are both capable of doing that every night. I'm just glad they're a part of our team."

Little Rock Christian's victory puts some added drama into Friday's regular-season finales. Vilonia (23-2, 12-1) will earn the top seed from the 5A-West by winning by 10 or more points at home against Siloam Springs. If the Lady Eagles lose or fail to win by 10 or more points, it opens the door for Little Rock Christian (24-2, 12-1) to grab the league's No. 1 seed if the Lady Warriors defeat host Russellville.

Vilonia defeated Little Rock Christian 77-63 in their first meeting Jan. 22, which meant the Lady Warriors had to win Tuesday's game by 10 or more points to force the conference to use a second tiebreaker.

"Knowing we had to win by 10 or more tonight, it kind of lit a fire under our butt," said Bradley, who finished with a game-high 32 points while grabbing eight rebounds. "I think it made us play a little bit harder."

Vilonia experienced the wrong kind of fireworks. After Brown hit two free throws with 0.0 showing to end the third quarter and give the Lady Warriors a 44-42 lead, Lady Eagles Coach Alvin Riley was charged with a technical foul. When informed he was assessed of the technical, Riley became irate and was then ejected.

Little Rock Christian took advantage, with Bradley hitting all four free-throw attempts. The Lady Warriors scored 12 of the first 13 points of the final quarter and Vilonia was never any closer than 11 the rest of the way.

Vilonia seemed poised to turn the game into a rout when the Lady Eagles scored 12 of the first 13 points of the second quarter to take a 23-13 advantage. Sophomore Lauren Patterson, who tossed in a team-high 21 points, connected on two three-pointers and completed a three-point play to account for 9 of the Lady Eagles' first 12 points of the second quarter.

Junior forward Paige Kelley gave Vilonia its largest lead -- 32-20 -- with 1:00 left before halftime when she banked in a 3-footer. It was the sixth consecutive point for Kelley, who finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Vilonia led 32-23 at the half.

Vilonia was 7 of 12 on three-pointers in the first half, but made only 2 of 6 in the second half.

"That was really the difference I thought," Rogers said. "Going into the game we knew they could shoot the ball. They're a really good team. They can move the ball and put it on the floor. ... They cause some issues because they have knock-down shooters. In the second half, we were able to contest more of their shots."

Vilonia sophomore Laney Mears hit four three-pointers in the first half, but she was held to two points in the second half and finished with 14.

"I think we just buckled down, played defense and carried out the game plan," said Brown, who had 25 points and eight rebounds. "We were down but we knew that all we had to do was come together, play defense and get more aggressive offensively."

Sports on 02/20/2019

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