FORT SMITH — Bria Caldwell had a career night Friday to keep Fort Smith Northside undefeated in the 7A-West Conference.
Caldwell scored 31 points to lead Northside to a 66-52 victory over rival Fort Smith Southside at the Stubblefield Center at Arkansas-Fort Smith. Caldwell made 7 field goals and 16 of 18 free throws for Northside (20-1, 7-0), which has won at least 20 games for 14 consecutive seasons.
“[Caldwell] is an awesome player, but we did a horrible job of her,” said Southside Coach Sherry White, whose team began the night in second place. “She’s a scorer, and we need somebody on my team to start doing that.”
Southside (12-8, 5-2) controlled much of the first half behind Calli White, who finished with 12 points, but Caldwell led a second-quarter surge that took Northsidefrom a 23-16 deficit to a 35-29 lead at halftime. The Lady Bears then stretched their margin in the second half before settling for a 66-52 victory.
“I’m very, very proud of our kids because the only person we’ve got back from last year is our filmer,” Northside Coach Rickey Smith said. “Southside came out shooting the ball extremely well, but we didn’t panic. We kept pounding the boards really hard, kept penetrating, and our press bothered them.”
Both teams played at a rapid pace but Southside began to wilt under the defensive pressure applied by Northside. The Lady Rebels, who shot so well at the outset, hurried shots and committed turnovers while being outscored 21-12 in the second quarter.
“We got into that old Southside rut of being a little intimidated and not playing smart,” White said. “We started taking shots that I haven’t seen, probably since they were in elementary school.”
Caldwell, a junior guard, had 15 points in the first half, including a three-pointer that tied the game 27-27. Northside then finished on a high note when Kilah Cummings stole a pass and fed Jill Myers for a basket just before the buzzer.
Southside held much of the early lead behind White, who scored six consecutivepoints and finished with 10 in the first half. Brianna Jackson started Northside’s comeback with consecutive baskets, and Olivia Hanson put the Lady Bears ahead 24-23 with two free throws with 3:21 left before the half.
Northside outscored Southside 13-9 in the third quarter while staying in first place halfway through the conference season.
“I’m as proud of this group as any I’ve ever coached,” Smith said. “No one even knew their names, but when they slip that Northside [jersey] on, they expect to win.”
BOYS
FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 48, FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 40
DuShaun Rice scored 18 points to lead Southside (18-3, 7-0) past Northside (10-11, 4-3).
Rice made 9 of 11 free throws, including 6 of 6 in the fourth quarter. Jonathan Hawley added 11 points for the Rebels, who remained in first placewith the victory.
Josh Berard and sophomore Jace Richardson finished with 11 points each for Northside. Richardson had seven points in the fourth quarter to help Northside cut the Southside lead to 41-37, but Rice and Hawley combined for four consecutive free throws to help the Rebels pull away.
Sports, Pages 26 on 01/28/2012