FORT SMITH -- With the state tournament looming, top-ranked Conway sees a three-game week to end the regular season as a good thing.
The Lady Wampus Cats were forced into a grind-it-out style of game by Fort Smith Northside, yet seized control in the second half to capture a 61-47 6A-Central victory Tuesday at Northside Arena.
Conway (26-1, 12-0) is no worse than the second seed, and after traveling to Bryant on Friday, will host North Little Rock on Saturday with the 6A-Central title on the line. The Lady Bears (20-5, 7-5) need a win Friday over Little Rock Southwest or a Bryant loss to Conway to clinch the third seed for next week's Class 6A state tournament.
"Playing at Northside, at Bryant, then hosting North Little Rock -- it cannot get much tougher than that," Lady Wampus Cat Coach Ashley Hutchcraft said. "Knowing we have a first-round bye, playing games like this are better for you. It gets you prepared for the state tournament. Plus, there was a lot of coachable moments that we can look at the game, correct our mistakes and get better."
This was only the fourth time in 12 conference games that Conway was held under 70 points and all four games were in the 60s.
Northside, despite poor shooting, was still in the game at halftime, trailing 32-35 thanks to a 23-13 rebounding advantage, including 10-1 on the offensive glass.
"We did not do a good job rebounding," Hutchcraft said. "On our end, we were one and done, but Northside kept getting second and third chances. They were getting to the line and the game was no longer and up-and-down style. The clock was stopping and there was no momentum. We want to go fast and get our opponents tired."
In the end, it was Conway's 1-3-1 halfcourt zone trap that forced 22 turnovers in the game that wore down Northside, which finished the game 14-of-51 from the field, including 5-of-23 from the three-point line.
"We missed a lot of good shots and we turned the ball over, yet we were down only seven and I felt like we had a chance to make a run at them," Northside Coach Rickey Smith said. "In the third quarter, we missed some shots that could have put pressure on them and they made some big shots. Give Conway credit. There is a reason why they are a top-10 team in the country."
Chloe Clardy scored a game-high 27 points to pace Conway, while Savannah Scott added 14. Yonni Releford scored 23 points to lead Northside.
The Lady Wampus Cats led 17-13 after a quarter, but a pair of Clardy baskets and a three-pointer by Emerie Bohannon increased the lead to 26-16 with 5:05 left in the first half.
Northside fought back, capped by a Erianna Gooden drive with two seconds left, to get to within 32-25 at halftime. After Releford's basket to start the second half trimmed the deficit to five, Conway pulled away again, scoring 12 of the next 15 points, finished off with a Clardy three-pointer, for a 44-30 advantage.
The Lady Bears could not get the deficit under double digits after that. Scott scored eight points in the fourth quarter as the lead ballooned to as large as 59-41 with 2:47 left.