Terry Clardy scored four points in Conway's come-from-behind 46-45 home victory over Fort Smith Northside on Tuesday, but the 6-4 senior forward's impact went much further than the box score.
Clardy scored two of the Wampus Cats' final three baskets, including the game-winner with 16.9 seconds left. He also had a steal and an assist in the final four minutes to help the Cats remain as the only unbeaten team in the 6A-Central Conference.
"I knew we had to turn it up on defense," Clardy said. "If I do that, hopefully my teammates will follow. It just ended up working out for us."
With Tuesday's victory, Conway (13-3, 4-0) extended its winning streak to nine games.
"Terry is our energy guy, and he has been all year," Conway Coach Brian "Salty" Longing said. "Even when he's not scoring he's made a big difference for us, especially with rebounding and on the defensive end. He's a really good anticipator on the press. He gets his hands on a lot of balls.
"Terry is the kind of guy who fills up the stat charts. He may not lead us in any one stat, but he's good in all of them."
Conway plays at Little Rock Central tonight.
MARION
Emphasis on defense
When David Clark took over as Marion's basketball coach last summer, the first thing he noticed was that the 2017-2018 Patriots scored -- and gave up -- a lot of points.
Clark realized he needed his team's top priority to be changing how it approached playing defense.
"A lot of times all they did was exchange points," Clark said. "I told them that we can still play an up-tempo brand of basketball, but we can also play solid defense."
Clark and the Patriots have seen significant progress through their first 14 games. Marion (11-3, 4-0 5A-East) is holding its opponents to 56.4 points per game this season, compared to allowing 69.2 a year ago.
And while the defense has done its job, the Patriots' offense has seen an uptick, increasing last season's 69.5 ppg to 71.9 ppg this season.
Marion is the only remaining unbeaten team in the 5A-East, and the Patriots are 9-0 against Arkansas opponents. The Patriots lost twice to Olive Branch, Miss., and once to Memphis Raleigh-Egypt.
Leading the way for the Patriots has been junior Detrick Reeves, who scored 28 points in Tuesday's 50-47 victory at Mountain Home.
"Detrick is the man because he can beat you in so many ways," Clark said. "He's dangerous. He can counter any situation, and if you play him one-on-one, he's going to get 30 on you.
"We have a lot of guys who can score, and I think that's why we've been so successful so far, but Detrick makes us go."
Marion plays Greene County Tech tonight.
NORTHSIDE
A sister act
Fort Smith Northside Coach Rickey Smith was not going to take a chance by leaving senior Sara Bershers on the bench in the fourth quarter Tuesday night.
Bershers was saddled with four fouls entering the fourth quarter, but Smith said he had no qualms about allowing the 6-0 forward to re-enter the game with six minutes to play and Northside holding a 44-36 advantage.
Bershers came up with 4 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in helping the unbeaten Lady Bears hold off Conway 65-55 in a 6A-Central showdown.
"I rolled the dice and put her back in with six minutes to play," Smith said. "I didn't want the game getting back into single digits because I know what [Conway] can do.
"If you look at what the basketball coaching book says, that's not what you're supposed to do, but I had a lot of faith in Sara. I came down here to win. I didn't come down here to take a chance."
While Tiya Douglas led the Lady Bears with 27 points, Sara and her sister -- sophomore Tracey Bershers -- did a little bit of it all. Sara came up with 11 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals and 2 assists. Tracey -- a 6-1 forward -- scored 7 of her 8 points in the first quarter, grabbed 13 rebounds and handed out 9 assists.
"Thank goodness we get along better on the court than we do at home," said Sara Bershers, whose team enjoyed a 41-25 advantage on the boards. "Sometimes we just click. We're both 6 feet tall, so we've got to get those rebounds. That's what we had to do."
CAC
43 and counting
The Central Arkansas Christian Lady Mustangs have won 43 consecutive conference games.
CAC (12-8, 7-0) has not suffered a regular-season league loss since Jan. 29, 2016, when the Lady Mustangs lost at home to Riverview.
The Lady Mustangs won only three of their first 10 games this season, but since Dec. 14, CAC is 9-1 with its only loss coming to Memphis Southwind (53-52) in the Dragon Fire Invitational in Collierville, Tenn.
In Tuesday's 3A-5 showdown with Harmony Grove (13-7, 6-1), freshman Ava Knoedl scored 15 points and senior Madyson Bowman added 10 in a 55-43 victory.
CAC plays at Mayflower tonight.
LAST-SECOND SHOTS
After scoring 36 points in last Friday's 86-61 victory over Rison, Helena-West Helena's 6-2 senior Demond Franklin scored 48 points in a 76-74 victory over Drew Central. ... Jacksonville junior Shy Christopher scored 33 points to go along with 9 rebounds and 8 steals in the Titans' 68-35 victory over Little Rock Parkview on Tuesday. ... Magnolia's Derrian Ford tossed in 30 points while grabbing 7 rebounds and 6 assists in a 69-50 victory over Camden Fairview.
Sports on 01/18/2019