Northside's basketball teams are aiming to take advantage of playing the first two 7A-Central Conference games at home.
Both the Lady Bears and Grizzlies welcome Little Rock Central today to Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse as Northside attempts to start conference play at 2-0 in both divisions.
The Lady Bears are also seeking to avenge being swept at Central last season, including Central winning in overtime in the game played at Northside. So far this season, the Lady Bears are 13-1 overall, coming off a 58-39 win against Bryant in the 7A-Central opener Friday.
In that game, junior forward Sara Bershers recorded a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds, five of those on the offensive glass. Bershers also made all four of her field-goal attempts and both of her free-throw chances. She also had two assists and three steals on the night.
Freshman post Tracey Bershers led Northside with 12 points and also hit three 3-pointers while blocking three shots. As a team, the Lady Bears recorded 11 steals.
Central (9-4, 0-1) dropped its conference opener Friday at home to highly ranked North Little Rock, 68-62.
As for the Grizzlies (10-5 overall), they began conference play on a high note with a 65-51 win against Bryant.
Senior guard Isaiah Joe had 18 points and went 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-5 from the line. Senior forward Kentrell Jacobs made 6-of-8 shot attempts, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, in finishing with 16 points.
Joe is now averaging 23.4 points on the season and has hit double figures in 14 of the Grizzlies' 15 games. Jacobs, who is second in scoring with 10.4 points per game, hit double figures for the 10th time with his performance against Bryant.
Central (4-8, 0-1) began conference play with a home loss to defending 7A runner-up North Little Rock, falling to the Charging Wildcats, 50-46.
Northside will have its first conference road game this Friday with a trip to Little Rock. The Lady Bears will play at Mount St. Mary while the Grizzlies travel to Catholic.
Wrestling
Southside senior Thai Ta and sophomore Joseph Williams won gold in their respective weight classes last week at the Fayetteville meet.
Ta is the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the 106-pound class.
Williams, who is currently unranked, went 6-0 at the meet.
Senior Dominik Garretson battled back from an injury and earned two wins over top-ranked wrestlers to earn a third place finish. Maverick junior Shawn Smith and freshman Jason Arnold also competed well.
Also for Southside, juniors Gavin McDaniel and Bailey Fry earned wins at the meet.
Northside traveled to McAlester, Okla., on Saturday to compete at the McAlester Invitational.
The Grizzlies' top finisher was Alec Phetchareun, who finished in third place in the 132 class. Northside wrestlers Victoria Mersberger and Sutton Eddins placed sixth in the 106 and 113 classes, respectively.
Both Southside and Northside will travel to Greenwood today.
Southside
The Mavericks travel to Cabot today for a pair of 7A-Central basketball games.
Coach Charlie Cooper's boys squad dropped a 74-51 decision to Conway in last Friday's league opener. The Mavericks (8-7, 0-1) fell behind 33-19 at the half and eventually trailed by 25 heading to the fourth quarter.
The Southside Lady Mavericks (1-10, 0-1) dropped a 78-52 decision to Conway in last week's league opener.
Both Southside teams are home Friday when North Little Rock comes calling.
Bowling
The Southside Mavericks defeated the Northside Grizzlies, 2389-2322 on Monday at Midland Bowl.
Colby Harger led Southside by bowling a 221.
Times Record sportswriter Kevin Taylor also contributed to this report.