Pea Ridge 47/Berryville 57
Berryville senior Britni Smith was the smallest player on the floor Friday night, but the 5-foot-4 guard wasn't afraid to mix it up inside against Pea Ridge.
Smith scored 16 of her game-high 19 points in the paint and Berryville held off a late Lady Blackhawks rally to post a 57-47 victory in a 4A-1 Conference game. Smith had 12 points at halftime as the Lady Bobcats took a 31-19 lead.
"Smith is basically a three-year starter, and she is the heart and soul of our team," Berryville coach Daniel Cornelison said.
Smith set the tone early when she hit a running jumper in the the lane on Berryville's first touch and she then had a steal and layup that gave the Lady Bobcats a 5-0 lead two minutes into the game. She then hit 2-of-3 free throws the final 48 seconds after the Lady Blackhawks cut the lead to six points late.
"We didn't play as well as we are capable of, but Pea Ridge had a lot to do with that," Cornelison said. "But the bottom line is that we got out of here with a victory."
Pea Ridge stayed close in the first half after Kealy Skaggs hit back-to-back 3-pointers but the Lady Blackhawks missed the front end of two 1-and-1 chances in the second period as Berryville took a 12-point lead at halftime.
Berryville led by as many as 17 points late in the third period, but Casi Caton, Mikheala Cochran and Skaggs all hit 3-pointers in the fourth period as Pea Ridge closed to within 53-47.
But the Lady Blackhawks (7-17, 3-9) were 4-of-9 from the free throw line the final five minutes of the game. Cochran led Pea Ridge with 16 points.
"We kept playing hard, and we came back and gave ourselves a chance," Pea Ridge coach Larry Walker said. "It took a lot of steam out of us to get to that point. We missed some free throws, and that is uncharacteristic from what we have been doing. The last five games, we have shot from 75 to 82 percent from the line."
Sports on 02/12/2014