El Dorado’s Lady Wildcats gnawed a 22-point fourth quarter deficit down to three Tuesday but couldn’t climb all the way out in a 75-70 non-conference loss at Maumelle at Wildcat Arena.
Carshaila Rozier’s 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining pulled El Dorado to within 72-69. But the Lady Hornets’ Kennedi Borkins hit two free throws with 8.9 ticks on the clock. Rozier hit one at the stripe for El Dorado with six seconds remaining but the Lady Cats would run out of time as Maumelle added another free throw to ice the victory.
El Dorado used an 18-0 run during a five-minute stretch in the final period. Rozier scored 10 points during the run, which was spotlighted by energetic play on both ends by the Lady Wildcats.
“I am proud of how we fought and how we gave that extra effort. I’m frustrated we were at that point where we had to give that extra effort and had to fight like that,” said El Dorado coach Jae Kell. “We should’ve been starting off the whole game with that kind of intensity. That’s what our game plan was. Overall, it was just a frustrating night. There were positives. That fourth quarter was a positive quarter for us.
“You can’t score 70 points and still lose the game. Something has to give. You have to have better defense. If you score (70), you’ve got to win the game. You’ve got to.
“That’s why I’m frustrated. That’s the most we’ve scored all season and we still didn’t come out with the win because we can’t stop people. Overall, it’s frustrating. I am proud of my kids. I am proud of the fourth quarter. But we can’t just have one quarter like that.”
El Dorado trailed 19-13 after one quarter and 38-31 at the half. The Lady Hornets carried a commanding 63-48 lead into the final quarter and led 72-51 with 5:07 left in the game.
But the Lady Wildcats began clawing away on the offensive end with buckets by Lauren Nelson, Rozier and Charalyn Rester. Lauren Lockhart converted a steal into a bucket and Rester drained a 3-pointer to close the gap to 72-62 with 1:27 remaining.
Rozier scored inside and then Nelson blocked a Maumelle shot in transition, leading to another Rozier layup.
The ending, ultimately, was exciting but seemed destined to fall short. Maumelle controlled much of the game, scoring points in transition. The Lady Wildcats, even with the fourth quarter surge, missed four straight free throws during one point.
Kell harped on the Lady Hornets’ transition layups.
“It’s missed assignments. We have one or two girls that are supposed to get back every single time. They just forgot. That’s just missed assignments. It’s really what beat us,” said Kell.
“They scored almost half of their points in transition or on the free throw line. You’ve got to get in front and stop somebody.”
Rozier led El Dorado with 20 points with Rester adding 16 and Nelson 10.
Rhyan Curtis led Maumelle with 21 points while Borkins added 19 and London Robinson 15.
The Lady Wildcats will return to action on Thursday at Little Rock Parkview.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how our girls respond. I told them in the lockerroom, I want our game at Parkview to start off like we finished this game – with the same intensity, the same fight we ended this game, I want the next game to start like that,” said Kell.
“We could’ve beat that team. There’s no doubt in my mind that we should’ve beat that team. But now I think they have it in their mind …. Now, I think they can see what it takes to win. I think they can see the intensity they have to play to win a game. That’s what I’m hoping is that fourth quarter opened their eyes a little bit to show them we can hang with whoever we want to play with. We just have to play harder.”