By Tony Burns
Sports Editor
EL DORADO - El Dorado girls basketball coach Destinee Rogers slumped in her chair in her office after Saturday's game. The Lady Wildcats beat Russellville 49-47 to claim the No. 3 seed in next week's 6A-State Tournament at Lake Hamilton High School in Pearcy.
But, Rogers wasn't pleased with the final few minutes of the game. El Dorado converted on just 8-of-17 free throws in the fourth quarter and had trouble with the Lady Cyclones' pressure defense.
With 1.2 seconds left to play, El Dorado inbounded the ball on Russellville's end of the court on the sideline. The pass went all the way across the court and over the head of Victoria Rice toward the Lady Cyclones' bench. Rice hustled after the pass and touched it just before it went out of bounds. It stayed in bounds long enough for the final seconds to tick off the clock.
"Yes, we wanted to win the game. But, I'm not just thinking about this game. We're looking forward to next week. When you think forward to next week, you can't make those mistakes at the end of the ball game in games like this, especially in postseason," Rogers said. "We've got to do a better job closing out games. We've got to be smart. We have to take care of the ball. We've got to make our free throws. We have to go watch film and keep working on it. We're young. But, I'm tired of using that as an excuse. We work on it every day. But, I have to understand that the best teacher is experience."
El Dorado will take on Little Rock Hall on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
"We're happy with that third seed," said Rogers. "I think it sets us up better for next week. We've got Little Rock Hall. We're going to prepare for them and get ready to roll next week."
Senior Mekaylan Hicks led the Lady Wildcats with 24 points, 14 rebounds and three steals. The UCA signee hit 10-of-15 at the free throw line.
"She's doing exactly what I want her to do. She is playing her butt off," said Rogers. "She's getting rebounds. She's playing defense. She's scoring. She's doing what I need her to do and I'm proud of her. I'm proud of her for stepping up at the right time. We needed this. She's leading us."
El Dorado led 11-8 after one quarter and trailed 22-21 at the half. The game was knotted at 33-33 going into the fourth quarter. The Lady Wildcats' largest lead of the game was 45-40 with 2:24 left to play.
Russellville closed the gap to 47-45 with 32 seconds left. Rice hit one free throw before the Lady Cyclones' Abbie Looper hit a lay-up to pull her team to within one with 10.7 seconds left. El Dorado got the ball to Hicks, who hit one free throw with 8.4 seconds remaining.
Russellville tried to get the ball inside but couldn't get off a good shot before the ball went out of bounds with 1.2 seconds left, setting up the final play.
For the game, El Dorado made 16-of-31 free throw attempts.
"We've got to do a better job making our free throws, not turning the ball over, not giving up transition points," said Rogers. "It's all fixable things. That's why I jump all around. It's because I know what we're capable of. If I didn't think we were capable, I wouldn't say a word."
Despite going 3-for-10 at the line, Rice finished with 11 points and gave the Lady Wildcats another option when Russellville doubled down on Hicks in the paint.
"I thought she stepped up and did her job. She played good defense. She got to the rim. She made good passes. We've got to get her to make some free throws but other than that, she had a solid game," said Rogers, who also got a nice effort off the bench from sophomore guard Breya Clark.
"She came in and she did tremendous. She played good defense. She handled the ball. I don't think she had one turnover. I needed someone with that energy coming off the bench."
Looper led Russellville with 15 points.