CABOT -- Jay Cook kept telling his eight seniors a big win was coming.
And they believed it -- even if the results weren't there. Cabot entered Wednesday with just four conference wins, all against the seventh- and eighth-place teams in the 6A-Central.
When Cook returned to the locker room after beating North Little Rock, he turned to those very seniors with a message: You finally made me look smart.
The Lady Panthers pulled off a stunner on their home floor, holding off the Lady Charging Wildcats (17-6, 10-3) for a 53-43 victory. Cabot (9-15, 5-7) jumped on North Little Rock 16-2 lead and never looked back. North Little Rock never got closer than six.
"I've always felt like we're better than our record," Cook said. "If you step into our practices and you don't know [our record], you would never dream that we'd only won eight games to this point. The way they operate and the way they go about their business -- under the circumstances, going through a six-game losing streak -- you would never know it."
Playing without star center Amauri Williams, who was ruled out with a non-covid illness two hours before tip, the Lady Charging Wildcats were out of sync all night. Coach Daryl Fimple said he thought his team might've been in a little in "shock," but he was disappointed in the slow start.
Cabot sophomore guard Laylah Reese scored the Lady Panthers' first seven points of the third quarter en route to a team-best 17 along with eight rebounds. Cabot stretched its advantage to as many as 19 late in the third.
"[Williams' absence] really helped a lot because we don't shoot outside the paint much," Reese said. "To have her out of the lane was really key to getting in and getting our shots off."
North Little Rock leaned on Destine Duckworth for the bulk of its offense. The junior forward made eight of her nine free-throw attempts and scored 20 points.
But even 15 second-half turnovers weren't going to stop the Lady Panthers from pulling off the upset. Fimple cranked up the pressure -- the Lady Wildcats were in a full-court press and half-court trap for nearly the entire second half -- for a 14-3 run over six-plus minutes that made it 49-43 with 1:52 to play.
Cabot came up with a couple of late stops and finished things off at the free-throw line for a third win in its last four games.
"We don't talk about winning and losing much," Cook said. "We talk about getting better a lot, we talk about maintaining the standard of practicing and operating day-to-day like a champion. You can be a champion without winning championships.
"We're [always] preparing for what's next and what's next is keeping yourself even-keeled when things are going well...and this group has been great about that."
BOYS
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 64,
CABOT 57
The Charging Wildcats came out sluggish Wednesday in their penultimate regular-season contest but surged to the finish with a 9-3 run over the final 2:23 to escape Panther Arena victorious.
North Little Rock (17-2, 11-2) trailed 25-15 midway through the second quarter as Cabot (5-17, 3-9) looked the sharper side coming off a lengthy layoff. D.J. Smith then got it going for the Charging Wildcats, scoring 20 of his game-high 26 after halftime to keep North Little Rock just a half-game behind Little Rock Central in the 6A-Central standings.
The Panthers were led by Evan Tonnessen, who scored 18 in the loss as Cabot's two-game winning streak came to an end.