BRANCH -- St. Paul coach Shannon McBee knows all too well the term of survive and advance when it comes to postseason play.
St. Paul did just that Wednesday night against Deer in a 37-32 victory in a first-round matchup at the Class 1A Region 1 tournament to secure a spot in the state tournament.
"Survive and advance; that's exactly what we did," McBee said. "We didn't shoot the free throws well and had some silly turnovers. I give Deer credit, they got after us. There are no style points at this point in the season, so we'll take it."
St. Paul (19-10) held a 28-22 lead heading into the final quarter and pushed it out to 33-25 early in the fourth quarter at County Line gym.
Deer (13-19) was able to use a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 33-31 capped with a free throw from Bailey Reynolds with 1:42 left in the game. But St. Paul was able to close out the game outscoring Deer 4-1 down the stretch.
St. Paul made five of 12 free throws and had eight turnovers in the fourth quarter while being able to hold onto the lead late.
"This is the first time we've made state in many, many, many years," McBee said. "The girls are excited about that. I told the girls we can fix the mistakes we made. But we'll have to play better from this point because it will only get tougher."
Deer was able to cut into the lead late but only made two of 15 shots in the final quarter during the come-from-behind attempt against the higher seed.
"We missed a lot of layups," Deer coach Adam Brothers said. "We missed some put backs and easy ones. It didn't help that we lost Ashlyn Derriston, my post player, early in the first quarter to an injury. That's rebounds and points we missed tonight."
St. Paul was led by Kayla Harp, Jazzman Phillips and Jonann Kimer all scoring a team-high nine points for the balanced Lady Saints offense.
"We are really balanced," McBee said. "That helps us. We got a lot of girls that can score. We even had some freshmen come in and make an impact for us. It was a good team effort."
Bailey Gilmore finished with a game-high 11 points for Deer to help lead the way. Ashlyn Davis also added nine points, all behind the arc, for the Lady Antlers.
St. Paul was able to jump out to a 12-7 lead and then held an 18-12 lead at the break.
The loss for Deer ends its season, but Brothers said it was a good run and final game for his team.
"Bailey Reynolds, Bailey Gilmore and Emily Carney are a group of seniors that have had three coaches in three or four years," Brothers said. "They were a good group that learned a lot. They left it all on the floor."
Deer 7 5 10 10 -- 32
St. Paul 12 6 10 9 -- 37
Deer (12-19): Gilmore 11, Davis 9, Carney 5, Reynolds 4, Breedlove 2, Dotson 1.
St. Paul (19-10): Harp 9, Phillips 9, Kimer 9, Ritchie 6, Stark 2, Perry 2.
Alpena 69, Oark 33
Alpena (28-4) was able to pull away early with a strong first half to build a lead it would never give back Wednesday at County Line Gym.
Alex Hill scored a game-high 16 points to lead the way for Alpena. Amelya Cook added 14 points, while Maddy Milburn and Kayleigh Armer each had 10 points each.
Ozark (11-17) was led by Emma Payne scoring a team-high 10 points, while Chasity Bohannon added nine points as well.
Alpena took a 17-9 lead after the first quarter and then took a 41-22 edge into the break. Alpena then used a 21-point third quarter to extend its edge out to 62-28 entering the final quarter of play.
Oark^9^13^6^5^--^33
Alpena^17^24^21^7^--^69
Oark (11-17): Payne 10, Bohannon 9, Willis 6, Hill 5, Holland 2 , Kitchen 1
Alpena (28-4): Hill 16, Cook 14, Milburn 10, Armer 10, Deitrich 6, Cofelt 5, Davidson 4, Fultz 2, Dean 2.
Boys
County Line 70, Alpena 49
County Line was able to get off to an efficient start from the field early and didn't look back after that Wednesday at County Line Gym.
Pacyn Reames scored a game-high 23 points to lead the way for County Line. Tyler Young also added 18 points, while Mitchell Keezer had 16 for the Indians.
Alpena was led by Jonathan Stone's team-high 21 points, while Corey Holsted chipped in 15 for the Leopards.
The Indians were able to make eight of their 10 initial shots in the game to build a 19-10 lead after the first quarter. County Line used a 13-3 run to close out the quarter.
County Line held a 31-18 lead heading into halftime and then pushed it edge out to 46-26 entering the final quarter of the game making 6 of 10 shots in the third quarter.
Alpena's offense was able to put together a 23-point final quarter, but County Line was able to keep pace with a 24-point quarter of its own.
Alpena 10 8 8 23 -- 49
County Line 19 12 15 24 -- 70
Alpena (19-14): Stone 21, Holsted 15, Woodworth 6, Coburn 4, Bell 2, Cook 1
County Line (27-5): Reames 23, Young 18, Keezer 16, Franklin 8, Robberson 3, Williams 2.
Jasper 52, Scranton 32
Jasper got a game-high 22-point performance from Caleb Carter to pull away in a first-round matchup of the regional tournament at County Line.
Laythan Collins also chipped in 14 for the Pirates to keep the offense balanced.
Scranton was led by Ethan West, who scored a team-high 10 points. Greg Kohler also had eight points.
Jasper was able to take a 25-16 lead into the break after leading 15-8 after the initial quarter of the game.
Jasper outscored Scranton 14-5 in the third quarter to extend its lead out to 39-21 heading into the final quarter.
Scranton 8 8 5 11 -- 32
Jasper 15 10 14 13 -- 52
Scranton (12-21): West 10, Kohler 8, Rodrigues 5, Horn 3, Shelton 3, Forst 2, Turner 1.
Jasper (29-9): Carter 22, Collins 14, Pruitt 8, Reynolds 4, Schweitzer 3, Lorimer 1.
Class 4A North Region
At Morrilton
Girls
Farmington 67, Ozark 32
Farmington closed out the third quarter with a 22-5 run and pulled away from Ozark to earn a first-round victory.
The Lady Cardinals (24-6) led 25-17 at halftime, but Ozark pulled with 27-23 before Farmington's big run made it a 49-28 game going into the fourth quarter.
Alexis Roach and Tori Kersey each had 14 points, and Madisyn Pense added 11 for the Lady Cardinals, who advanced to Friday's semifinal round and earned a spot in next week's Class 4A state tournament at Magnolia. Savannah Scheffer led Ozark with nine points.
Clarksville 53, Pea Ridge 48
Emmaline Rieder had 11 of her 18 points in the second half as Clarksville snapped a 20-20 halftime tie and defeated Pea Ridge.
Alysa Cummins added 11 for the Lady Panthers, who took a 35-32 lead into the fourth quarter. Hollyn Davis led Pea Ridge with 19 points, followed by Blakelee Winn with 14 and Gabby Adams with 12.
Clarksville, the top girls seed from the 4A-4 Conference, advances to Friday's 7 p.m. game against the winner of today's game between Pottsville and Harrison.
Boys
Ozark 58, Harrison 48
Garrett Shaffer had 28 points to lead Ozark to an upset victory over Harrison.
Ethan Dorrough added 16 for the Hillbillies, who led 29-26 at halftime and 38-33 after three quarters. Ben Elliott scored 12 of Harrison's 15 points in the second quarter and finished with 15, while Carson Journagan added 13.
The win gives Ozark, the No. 4 seed from the 4A-4, a semifinal game Friday and a trip to next week's Class 4A state tournament in Magnolia.
Pottsville 56, Farmington 36
Wesley Haikes had 18 points to lead a trio of Pottsville players in double figures as the Apaches rolled past Farmington.
Carter Horton added 14 and Kade Maynhart 10 for Pottsville, which led 17-4 after one quarter and 27-10 at halftime. Will Pridmore led Farmington with 15.
Class 3A Region 1
At Mountain View
Girls
Valley Springs 48, West Fork 23
Valley Springs outscored West Fork 11-2 in the second quarter and pulled away for the big win.
Alyssa Karr finished with a game-high 16 points, while Bethany Richardson added nine. Hannah Johnson led West Fork with eight points.
Charleston 55, Clinton 37
Payton Rucker poured in a game-high 19 points to lead the Lady Tigers to the big win.
Alexis Grandison chipped in 14 and Allie Green 12 for Charleston, which led 34-14 at halftime.
Aly Bramlett led Clinton with 11.
Boys
Valley Springs 61, West Fork 43
Ethan Flud scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Valley Springs to the win.
Isaac Ragland added 20 points and nine rebounds, while Trell Trammell chipped in nine points for Valley Springs, which led only 20-18 at halftime but extended it to a 43-33 advantage after three quarters. Mason Ramey led West Fork with 15 points, while Brenon Burks added 13 and Justin Bivens 10.
Charleston 66, Marshall 38
Blaine Rowland poured in a game-high 24 points, including six 3-pointers, to lead the Tigers to the big win.
Jacob Green added 16 and Brayden Ross 14 for the Tigers, who led 31-20 at halftime and 50-26 after three quarters. Artione Vince Gerrod led Marshall with 12 and Matt Gregg added 11.
Class 3A Region 2
At Perryville
Girls
CAC 60, Paris 48
The Lady Mustangs jumped out to a 32-16 halftime lead and cruised to a first-round win Wednesday, punching their ticket to the Class 3A state tournament.
CAC had three players in double-figures, led by Bethany Dillard with 22 points. Madyson Bowman added 12 and Brittany Williams 10.
Paris, which scored 22 points in the third quarter to pull within 41-38, got a game-high 24 points from Kieli Robinson and Jadyn Hart added 13.
Lamar 44, Episcopal 38
This one was close the entire way with the Lady Warriors pulling out the win as three players scored in double figures.
Lamar led 23-21 at halftime and held Episcopal to single-digit scoring in both the third and fourth quarters to advance to the regional semifinals.
Lakyn Sanders scored 11 points to lead Lamar. Amber Brown and Ginny Nordin scored 10 points each.
Olivia Jackson hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points for Episcopal, and Avery Marsh added 8.
Boys
Baptist Prep 57, Perryville 37
There was no slowing down Kansas signee Isaac McBride, who scored a game-high 29 points to lead Baptist Prep to the first-round win.
Baptist Prep led 34-17 at halftime and cruised in the second half.
Andrew Evans added 11 and Brooks Spoon 9 for Baptist Prep.
Reid Standridge led Perryville with 12 points, and Landon Walker scored 8.
Booneville 63, Episcopal Collegiate 47
The Bearcats rallied from a 31-24 halftime deficit to claim the win.
Logan Bradley led Booneville (27-2) with 24 points, including 18 in the second half to go with seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Grant Goers and Blackley Cobb added 10 points each.
Shea Smith led Episcopal with 13 and Chris Smith added 11.
Class 2A West
At Danville
Girls
Lavaca 57, Decatur 32
The No. 1 seed Lady Arrows blow past Decatur to advance to the semifinals.
Beth Ann May and Skylar Hyatt scored 21 points each for Lavaca.
Samantha Skaggs scored 15 points for Decatur.
Cotter 41, Mountainburg 31
The No. 1 seed Cotter took control in the second quarter and downed No. 4 seed Mountainburg.
Kate Cheek scored 13 points for Cotter, and Candice Lambert added 12.
Maley Brooks led the Lady Dragons with 9 points, and Maddy Beasley scored 8.
Boys
Mountainburg 41, Cotter 34
The No. 1 seed Dragons are headed to the state tournament after knocking off Cotter on Wednesday.
Ethan Gregory, Jacob Ortlieb and Waylon Cluck scored 10 points each for the balanced Mountainburg attack.
Cole Adams scored a game-high 22 points for Cotter.
Eureka Springs 31, Danville 28
The No. 1 seed Highlanders survived an upset bid by outscoring the No. 4 seed Little Johns to advance to the semifinals and punching their ticket to the state tournament.
Host Danville led 25-20 after three quarters after only scoring two points in the first quarter. But Eureka Springs got a big 3-pointer from Carter Drennon in the fourth and held Danville to just three points to claim the win.
Garrett Cross scored 14 points for Eureka Springs and Matthew Lester finished with 8.
Eli Lane and Dalton Reagan scored 8 points each for Danville.
Class 1A Region 2
At Calico Rock
Girls
Norfork 61, Armorel 23
Norfork went on a 25-4 run to grab a 40-17 halftime lead and cruised to the win
Whitlee Layne led all scorers with 27 points for Norfork. Ayrielle Appleton led Armorel, which trailed only 15-13 after one quarter.
Mammoth Springs 43, Calico Rock 31
Terra Godwin scored a game-high 14 points to lead Mammoth Springs to the win.
Emma Mitchell led Calico Rock with eight.
Boys
Hillcrest 67, Viola 53
Hillcrest pulled away in the second half to pick up the win.
Caleb James led Hillcrest with 19 points, while Gage Harris finished with a game-high 21 for Viola.
Izard County Consolidated 68, Maynard 23
The Cougars jumped to a 40-14 halftime lead and rolled to the first-round win.
Coby Everett led the way with 16 points for Izard County, while Dakota Lee led Maynard with nine.
Sports on 02/21/2019