CONWAY -- There was nothing timid about Shy Christopher's game Friday night.
Cabot's senior guard scored 36 points to carry the Lady Panthers to a 64-50, 6A-Central Conference victory at Buzz Bolding Arena.
Izzy Arnold, also a senior guard, tallied 8 points, 4 steals and 3 assists, and senior forward Emily Belin ended with 7 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocked shots for Cabot (20-3, 8-2), which made amends for an earlier loss to Conway. The Lady Panthers have won their past four games to grab sole possession of second place in the conference.
"To say this one is huge for us is an understatement, especially with how we started off the game," Cabot Coach Jay Cook said. "As good as Conway is and has been in the past, we consider this as a signature win for this group. With the way we opened the game, I wasn't so sure I'd be able to say that when it was over.
"But I told them we have to go make something happen, and that was all Shy needed to hear."
Christopher, who had 30 points in the teams' first meeting Jan. 17, burned the Lady Wampus Cats repeatedly with drives to the basket and rarely took a shot outside of 7 feet. She hit 13 of 15 free throws and added 9 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assists.
Freshman guard Chloe Clardy had a team-high 15 points and senior guard Lydia York chipped in 12 points for Conway (18-6, 7-3), which was coming off a loss in three overtimes to North Little Rock on Tuesday.
The Lady Wampus Cats played without a pair of front-court starters in 5-10 sophomore forward Jaiden Thomas and 6-3 freshman center Savannah Scott because of leg injuries, but Conway threw a wrinkle at the Lady Panthers in the beginning.
"I bet we haven't seen [Conway] play a quarter of man-to-man defense all year long," Cook said. "Of course, we've seen that enough, but we didn't prepare for that because we know them. We literally ran out there and played like we didn't know what we were doing."
Cabot missed all seven of its shots in the first quarter but finally made its first basket on a stick back by senior forward Hannah Ogilvie with 7:42 showing in the second quarter to pull within 8-3. But the Lady Panthers hung tight because the Lady Wampus Cats encountered similar shooting problems.
Conway made just 4 of its 14 shots in the opening period and improved just marginally in the second quarter. The Lady Wampus Cats continued to struggle to find an offensive rhythm, but Cabot began to find its mark behind Christopher.
The lefty scored 16 points in the second period, including 13 in a row at one point. Her three-point play with 1:43 to go before the half gave the Lady Panthers a 19-18 lead, their first of the game. Her 15-foot step-back jumper allowed Cabot to take a 24-21 advantage into halftime.
Christopher scored 11 points in the third quarter as Cabot pushed its edge to 44-34. The Lady Panthers led 46-36 early in the fourth until a pair of free throws from senior guard T'yauna Rector started an 8-2 run that pulled Conway within 48-44 with less than four minutes to play.
The Lady Panthers put the game back in Christopher's hands. She hit two free throws on the next possession to start a 12-2 run to shut down Conway's rally.
"When Shy gets in space, it's hard to stay in front of her," Cook explained. "She can put the ball in the basket, and she did. Her being able to do that loosened everybody else up. But she really delivered when we needed her."
Cabot shot 20 of 46 from the floor while Conway finished 18 of 50.
BOYS
CONWAY 55, CABOT 42
The Wampus Cats held the Panthers scoreless in the fourth quarter while making seven of their eight shots to stage a comeback victory.
Senior forward Caleb London had a game-high 20 points for Conway (17-6, 6-4 6A-Central). The Wampus Cats trailed 26-24 at the half and 42-35 at the end of the third before dominating the final quarter. Senior guard Trey Tull had 12 points for Conway.
Senior guard Seth Vance scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half for Cabot (15-8, 5-5), which went 0 of 12 from the field in the fourth. Senior guard Jackson Muse followed with 13 points.
Sports on 02/15/2020