Morgan Wallace helped turn Pulaski Academy's fortunes around Thursday afternoon thanks in part to two second-half reverse layups.
Wallace, a 5-9 senior guard, banked in the pair of tricky shots from underneath in the final minute of the third quarter helping the Lady Bruins overtake Beebe 50-36 in the 5A-Central Conference Tournament semifinals at Maumelle High School.
"That shot comes up more often than you think, but it's very unlikely that I'll make it," said Morgan, who finished with a game-high 21 points to go along with five rebounds. "When I made two of them I was thinking, 'whoa, this is weird.' I don't really practice that shot a lot."
Beebe (19-10) hit its first four field-goal attempts and led 12-7 after one quarter. The Lady Badgers fell behind late in the second quarter, but sophomore guard Marianna Richey made a 10-footer at the buzzer to send the two teams into halftime tied at 24-24.
"At halftime, I felt like [Beebe] hadn't missed," said Pulaski Academy Coach Rick Treadway, whose team won its seventh consecutive game and improved to 28-2. "I don't what their percentage was but they came out and executed and made shots. But I still felt like we could get to them. I think in the third quarter we got to their legs a little bit."
Beebe sputtered in the second half, committing 13 turnovers while attempting only 10 field-goal attempts. Pulaski Academy outscored the Lady Badgers 26-12 in the final two quarters.
"We started to make some mental errors that we normally wouldn't make," Beebe Coach Greg Richey said. "But their defense does that to you. They make you think a little bit more differently than you normally have to."
Pulaski Academy scored 11 of the first 13 points of the second half to take control. Near the end of third quarter, Wallace made her two reverse layups, including one to end the quarter.
"She is super-skilled," Treadway said of Wallace. "She doesn't have just one gear. She's got a couple of them. This is her senior year. That's what seniors are supposed to do."
Sophomore Mattie Hatcher added 14 points. Senior Katie Swanson grabbed four steals. Senior Brooke Wiggins tied Wallace for team-high rebounding honors with five.
Junior Libbie Hill led the Lady Badgers with 13 points and 5 rebounds, while Richey finished with 10 points.
Beebe made 13 of 27 (48.1 percent) from the floor and was 8 of 8 from the free-throw line. Beebe was guilty of 20 turnovers, while the Lady Bruins committed 10.
Pulaski Academy was 18 of 42 (42.9 percent) from the floor and 10 of 18 (55.6 percent) from the line.
LITTLE ROCK PARKVIEW 48,
SYLVAN HILLS 33
Morgan Brady hit 3 three-pointers in the first quarter and finished with 14 points as the Lady Patriots (24-3) rolled to a semifinal victory over the Lady Bears.
Parkview will play Pulaski Academy in tonight's championship game. Beebe and Sylvan Hills will play in the third-place game, which will tip off at 4:15 p.m.
Parkview broke out to a 19-6 lead after one quarter and never looked back. Junior Kania Lasker added 11 points for the Lady Patriots, which led 28-12 at the half and 40-19 after three quarters.
Junior Jayla Bell led Sylvan Hills with 13 points.
Sports on 02/24/2017