Highland’s Abby Dietsche and Katelynn Miller combined to go 12 of 16 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to seal a 45-40 consolation bracket victory over the Paragould Lady Rams in the 1st Arkansas Bail Bonds Tournament on Thursday morning at The Hangar.
Dietsche scored seven in the first quarter, but the Lady Rebels fell behind 12-9 at the end of one and were down 22-21 at the half.
The Lady Rams led 30-29 going into the fourth, and the teams traded the lead several times through the final stanza.
The teams were tied 36-36 when Paragould’s Zoey Beasley received a technical foul with 1:52 remaining. Dietsche sank 1 of 2 technical free throws, and Ragan Burris hit both personal foul free throws for a 39-36 lead.
Paragould’s Taylor Beasley brought the Lady Rams within one with a pair of free throws, but Miller was good on both tries at the other end. Abby Rogers came up with a layup off a steal to bring Paragould within 41-40 with 1:13 remaining, but Miller sank two more with :34.8 left to play.
Dietsche — a sophomore who played at Mountain Home last season — put the game away with two foul shots for a five-point lead. Dietsche and Miller each went 6 of 8 from the charity stripe in the final quarter.
The 6-foot Dietsche tossed in 16 points to lead the Lady Rebels, while Zoey Beasley scored 16 to lead Paragould.
LADY RAMS (3-9)
Z.Beasley 16, Rogers 8, T.Beasley 7, Hollis 5, Benefield 4.
LADY REBELS (9-3)
Dietsche 16, Miller 6, Burris 6, Yates 6, Bratcher 6, McBryde 5.
PARAGOULD 12 10 8 10 — 40
HIGHLAND 9 12 8 16 — 45
Watson Chapel 50,
Rose Bud 29
The Lady Wildcats shook off a tough first-round loss by using a 13-0 third-quarter run to fuel a big victory.
Jerica Bell scored 14 of Watson Chapel’s 16 first-quarter points as the Lady Wildcats took a 16-4 lead. Taylor Whitted scored six straight for the Lady Wildcats to start the second quarter as they took a 22-8 advantage.
Watson Chapel took a 31-14 lead into halftime after Wyvette Mayberry drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Rose Bud hit a 3-pointer to open the second half, but Watson Chapel reeled off 13 straight to seize a 44-17 advantage. The Lady Wildcats took a 44-20 lead into the fourth quarter.
LADY WILDCATS (12-3)
Bell 20, Mayberry 7, Williams 7, Whitted 6, Thornton 2, Boston 2, Irby 2, Ginger 2, Warfield 2.
LADY RAMBLERS (9-5)
Hipp 10, Smith 9, Hartle 8, Lacy 2.
W. CHAPEL 16 15 13 6 — 50
ROSE BUD 4 10 6 9 — 29
North Little Rock 82,
Farmington 58
The Lady Charging Wildcats booked their tickets to the championship game with their second convincing victory of the tournament.
The game was fast-paced from the start with the teams combining for 15 points over the first 1:45 of the contest. The Lady Charging Wildcats led 19-14 after one quarter, and they pushed further ahead with eight straight points from De’myla Brown.
An old-fashioned 3-point play by Brown pushed the lead to 29-17, but Farmington climbed back to within eight on the hot shooting of Madisyn Pense.
North Little Rock’s Amber Hawkison and Brown each drained treys, and Hawkison scored back-to-back deuces to stretch the lead to 41-23. The Lady Wildcats led 44-25 at halftime.
The Lady Wildcats placed five players in double-figure scoring, including Brown leading the way with 19 points.
North Little Rock will face the winner between Mountain Home and Norfork at 6 p.m. Friday in the championship. Results of that contest were not available at press time.
LADY CARDS (9-2)
Vanzant 16, Pense 12, Journagan 10, Roach 6, Culpepper 5, Ball 3, Taylor 3, Tidwell 2, Drain 1.
LADY WILDCATS (10-2)
Brown 19, Hawkison 17, Backus 11, Morris 10, Tucker 10, Mackey 6, Neal 4, Pettus 3, Carneige 2.
FARMINGTON 14 11 16 17 — 58
N. LITTLE ROCK 19 25 20 18 — 82
Senior boys
Farmington 62,
Brinkley 49
The Cardinals closed the game with a 16-1 run to advance to the consolation finals.
The Cardinals led 14-8 after one quarter and 28-27 at halftime, but the Tigers rallied and went ahead 43-42 on a steal and layup by Dedrek McGaughey to end the third period.
Farmington’s Skylar Montez drained a 3-pointer with 5:06 remaining to put the Cardinals back ahead 49-48. The trey sparked an 11-0 run that was capped by a free throw from Montez to make it 57-48.
Montez pumped in a game-high 29 points to lead the Cardinals, while Cameron Tucker paced Brinkley with 18 points.
CARDINALS (5-7)
S.Montez 29, J.Montez 12, Staten 9, Maxwell 6, Valenzuela 4, Gray 2.
TIGERS (3-8)
Tucker 18, Miller 10, Wilburn 6, Cohen 4, McGaughey 4, James 3, Swanigan 2, Newby 2.
FARMINGTON 14 14 14 20 — 62
BRINKLEY 8 19 16 6 — 49
Batesville 71,
Rose Bud 58
The Pioneers scorched the nets for 10 3-pointers, building an early lead they would never relinquish.
The Pioneers started strongly with JP Morgan scoring seven of Batesville’s first 10 during a 10-1 game-opening run. The lead grew to 17-5 on a 3-pointer by Dawson McMahan, and Batesville took a 17-8 lead into the second period.
Dylan Clem hit his second and third 3-pointers of the first half to help keep the Pioneers in front, and Batesville took a 37-27 lead at the end of the half on Brock Sturdivant’s second trey.
The Ramblers never climbed any closer than eight in the third period, and the Pioneers upped their lead to 13 on a 3 by Tyler Mickle.
Devin Mask and Jacob Warner also added 3-pointers for Batesville, and the Pioneers took their biggest lead yet on a trey by Mickle at 59-42. Batesville led 59-44 going into the final period.
PIONEERS (2-10)
Morgan 16, Clem 15, Mickle 11, Mask 9, Sturdivant 9, McMahan 6, Warner 5.
RAMBLERS (3-10)
Nix 19, Hampton 15, Hall 14, Henry 3, Bomar 3, Wray 2, Arnold 2.
BATESVILLE 17 20 22 12 — 71
ROSE BUD 8 19 17 14 — 58