By Tony Burns
Sports Editor
El Dorado’s Lady Wildcats led from start-to-finish Friday in a hard-fought 47-38 victory over Lake Hamilton at Wildcat Arena. The Lady Wildcats improved to 4-9 on the season while the Lady Wolves fell to 8-10.
Lake Hamilton never led but was never too far behind, either. A 6-0 spurt in the third cut El Dorado’s lead to 27-26.
The Lady Wildcats, who have folded in similar situations at other times this season, answered the challenge this time. Martie Wade hit a free throw before Kierra Boone scored down in the low block, sparking a 9-0 run. Wade fed Boone for a lay-up. The Lady Wildcats went back inside to Boone, who kicked it out to Grace Murry for a 3-pointer, pushing the lead to 36-26 with 3:43 left in the fourth quarter.
Tasia Richardson made sure there would be no fourth quarter collapse, scoring six straight points, including four free throws in a row.
“Tasia stepped up big tonight,” said El Dorado coach Destinee Rogers. “I’ve been preaching to them all week long - confidence. I feel like in the games we lost, we didn’t have confidence and we played not to lose. That’s when you make those crucial mistakes. Tonight, we played to win. Tasia was a big reason. She handled the ball. She knocked down her free throws. She got us in our offense. She was a huge, huge, part of why we won this ball game.”
Richardson led El Dorado with 15 points.
Boone established herself in the paint early, coming off the bench to score 12 points with 11 rebounds. She had eight points in a row during a stretch in the first half.
“I’ve been preaching to K.B. I need you in this game. But, you’ve got to play defense,” said Rogers. “Well, tonight she did that. Tonight she blocked out. Tonight she got rebounds.”
The Lady Wildcats still made just 9-of-20 free throws in the fourth quarter. But, they made enough and, more importantly, got enough defensive stops to keep Lake Hamilton at a distance. The Lady Wolves never mounted back-to-back buckets in the final period.
Jenny Peake led Lake Hamilton with 21 points while Grace Tedder scored eight.
Rogers hopes the win will key a run by El Dorado in the second half of the season.
“I think this one was huge. It was huge for our confidence. It’s a huge win because that’s a 6A school, a really good 6A school. I just hope it’s the start of something. I told them, ‘you stay hungry.’ This is a game we’ve got to build on,” she said.
“The difference between tonight’s game and Tuesday’s game is we did the little things. We did the little things. We blocked out. We took care of the ball. For the most part, we hit our free throws. And, that’s how you win. I’ve been preaching. I’ve been preaching. I really think this is the start for something good for us. We’ve been working. That’s all we know to do, just keep working.”
JUNCTION CITY 33,
MCGEHEE 31
JUNCTION CITY - Jhonda Webster banked in an eight-foot jumper with 2.6 seconds left to lift the Lady Dragons to a win in Class 3A-4A District 12 action.
Taykeetria Rogers had 10 points to pace the Lady Dragons (6-6, 1-3), who will be busy next week having to play four games in five nights.
Kenslee McLelland, Keyanna Ross and Webster each had six points for the Lady Dragons.
In the junior girls game, McGehee topped Junction City 30-11.
Tori McLelland had three points, while Leslie Reddick, Breyun Meadows, Zoe Miller and Olivia Creager had two points apiece.
SMACKOVER 43,
CROSSETT 32
SMACKOVER - Sharnes McGhee had 15 points for the Lady Bucks (9-5, 5-3), who swept the season series from the Lady Eagles in Class 3A-4A District 12 play.
Jordyn White added 11 points for Smackover.
Ali Rindt led Crossett with eight points.
In the junior girls game, Smackover knocked off Crossett 26-22 in overtime.
Breunna Patton and Adriana Grant had seven points apiece, while Laylah Gatson had six points, six rebounds and four steals.
Lajada Cooks had 20 points for Crossett.
STRONG 50,
DERMOTT 38
STRONG - Dynasty Davis had 28 points and seven steals for the Lady Bulldogs (8-4, 2-2), who picked up a home win in Class 1A-2A District 16 play.
Kiki Shelton was also in double figures with 14 points for the Lady Bulldogs, who host Woodlawn on Tuesday.
Brittany Murphy and Tasha White had eight points apiece for Dermott.
WEST SIDE CHRISTIAN 30,
GARRETT MEMORIAL CHRISTIAN 27
HOPE - The Lady Warriors (13-3, 5-0) picked up a key road win in the AACS South despite being extremely short-handed.
Starters Sofia Narciso and Hannah Miller did not play for West Side Christian, who has had to contend with a rash of injuries and players being out sick.
Lauren Land and Olivia Voss did all of the scoring for the Lady Warriors with Land scoring 20 points and Voss adding 10.
West Side Christian hosts Columbia Christian in a league showdown on Tuesday.