CENTERTON -- Kelsie Mahone not only scored the first postseason points in Bentonville West's short basketball history, but her 3-pointer from the right corner gave her team a 3-2 lead.
The Lady Wolverines' advantage, however, lasted just 23 seconds. North Little Rock then scored the next 13 points and went on to eliminate the host team with a 69-40 first-round victory Wednesday during the Class 6A State Tournament in Wolverine Arena.
"Our girls are playing really good right now," North Little Rock coach Darryl Fimple said. "We knew they had two good offensive players, and we ran bodies at them the entire night.
"We shot the basketball really well. We took good shots and moved the ball around, and we were able to get our post girls involved early. Overall, for a state tournament game, it was good -- really, really good."
North Little Rock (18-9) used a one-two scoring punch of 6-foot-4 freshman Amauri Williams and 5-10 senior Kennady Tucker, combined with sticky pressure defense, to take over the game early. Both players scored seven points in the first quarter, with Williams hitting the three-point play to put the Lady Charging Wildcats in front for good and Thomas scoring the last five points of the first quarter for a 22-7 cushion.
Williams finished with 16 points and Tucker 13 as four players finished in double figures for North Little Rock, which advances to today's 7 p.m. quarterfinal game against Fayetteville. Jordyn Neal had 19 to lead the Lady'Cats, while Tiona Mackey chipped in 11.
"We're just figuring out that is one of our advantages is having her," Fimple said of Williams. "Early on, she would disappear because we wouldn't throw it to her. We've been doing a much better job over the last month of making sure she stays involved.
"That makes her a better defensive player because she gets involved on that end. With her ability to be able to rebound, we can get out in transition better. We can extend the press a little bit and gamble a little bit. She's an advantage, and she's just 14 years old."
Anna Kash had 10 of West's first 17 points and finished with 15 to lead the Lady Wolverines, who finish the season 10-18, while Shania Wilson added 10.
Bentonville West 7 10 10 13 -- 40
North Little Rock 22 14 15 18 -- 69
West (10-18): Kash 15, Wilson 10, Mahone 5, White 4, Aguilar 2, Wood 2, Curtis 2.
North Little Rock (18-9): Neal 19, Williams 16, Tucker 13, Mackey 11, Duckworth 4, Freeman 3, Brown 2, Carnagie 1.
Bryant 54, Van Buren 35
It is appropriate the video scoreboard at West displayed flames in the third quarter of the first game Wednesday.
It was in reference to hot-shooting guard Kalia Walker, who scored 34 points to lead Bryant to a 54-35 comeback victory over Van Buren. Walker, a senior guard, made six 3-pointers for Bryant, which dominated the second half after trailing 8-0 and 16-8 in the first half.
Walker and Tierra Trotter opened the second half with 3-pointers for Bryant (17-10), which outscored Van Buren 26-11 in the third quarter.
"We were sloppy and a little nervous, and we were lucky to be down only four at the half," Bryant coach Brad Matthews said. "When we play well it's when we're creating some transition opportunities. We play our best when we play like that and Kalia was a big part of that, obviously."
Van Buren grabbed leads of 8-0 and 16-8 behind Rylee Ryan, who opened the game with consecutive 3-pointers. Walker then got the hot hand and scored 11 points to pull Bryant to within 22-18 at halftime.
Ryan finished with 10 points to lead Van Buren (15-13), which had its five-game winning streak ended.
Bryant 6 12 26 10 -- 54
Van Buren 13 5 11 6 -- 35
Bryant (17-10): Walker 34, Trotter 8, Steen 4, Muse 4, Gordon 3, Russ 1.
Van Buren (15-13): Ryan 10, Miller 6, Evans 6, Scnakenberg 6, Kannady 4, Greebe 2, Porter 1.
Little Rock Central 43, Springdale 36 (OT)
Central scored the first eight points in overtime, and the Lady Tigers went on to complete a 3-0 sweep by 6A-Central teams on the tournament's opening day.
Central (12-14) held the ball for a minute before Ariyanna Hall scored inside, then Lauren Pendleton and Jordan Greenwood converted steals into layups. Greenwood then picked up a foul and two free throws to make it 39-31 with 1:02 remaining.
"I just told our girls to keep playing," Central coach Michael B. Green said. "We lost control of the game. It wasn't so much what they did. We missed a lot of little chip shots and made a few defensive errors to let them back into the game.
"I told them to keep playing and keep hustling. Things will work out."
The Lady Tigers led for most of the second half, but Springdale (13-13) strung together seven straight points and took a 31-30 lead on Marquesha Davis' bucket with 3:01 remaining. Central then used a Lillian Jackson free throw to tie the game at 31 with 2:43 remaining and eventually sent it into overtime.
Pendleton finished with 11 points and was the only player in double figures for Central, which plays 6A-West champion Bentonville at 4 p.m.
Davis, the Arkansas signee and the 6A-West Conference's leading scorer during the regular season, led Springdale with 20 points in her final game.
Springdale 9 4 12 6 5 -- 36
LR Central 8 11 7 5 12 -- 43
Springdale (13-13): Davis 20, Gause 8, Minchew 5, Griffin 3.
LR Central (12-14): Pendleton 11, Peyton 9, Hall 8, Greenwood 8, Jackson 3, Woods 2, Linwood 2.
Sports on 02/28/2019