PEARCY -- Sheridan's Diamond Morris made it rough on West Memphis on Thursday afternoon.
Morris, a 5-9 sophomore forward, poured in 24 points and grabbed six rebounds as the Lady Yellowjackets outlasted the Lady Blue Devils 50-42 in the Class 6A state tournament quarterfinals at Lake Hamilton's Wolf Arena.
Morris scored 10 of her points in the fourth quarter as Sheridan withstood a West Memphis flurry to start the final eight minutes.
"She's tough," Sheridan 6-1 senior Madison Raney said of Morris. "She really gets her head into it. She can lift us up."
Sheridan (22-6) advances to Saturday's noon semifinal game against El Dorado.
The Yellowjackets held a 33-30 lead heading into the final quarter, but West Memphis (17-15) slapped on a press that led to four consecutive Lady Devil points.
"They threw their press on us, and we had three turnovers in a row," Sheridan Coach Jamison Ingram said. "We just freaked out and had to call a timeout. We've seen that all year. We calmed down and weathered the storm."
The Lady Yellowjackets did that by hitting free throws and controlling the boards against the bigger Lady Devils. Sheridan was 27 of 32 from the free-throw line, including 10 of 11 in the fourth quarter. Sheridan also finished with a 34-22 advantage on the boards.
"They're the first team we've played this year that's been bigger than me," Raney said. "It was a team effort. We had to come together."
West Memphis featured 6-1 freshman Tiara Bradley (8 points, 6 rebounds) and 5-9 senior Ty Bullins (7 points, 9 rebounds).
"All we talked about was blocking them out," Ingram said. "I think we did a fantastic job because we've scouted them and thought they were one of the best offensive rebounding teams we've ever seen. But we got a body on them, and we were where we needed to be. I was very pleased with our effort."
Sophomore Savannah Howard collected 10 rebounds for Sheridan. Raney was 9 of 9 from the free-throw line in the second half, whiel Morris was 6 of 7 on free throws in the second half.
"She has no idea how good she is," Ingram said of Morris. "That's our struggle with her. But we got the ball to her and she attacked. I'm not surprised. She's done that in several games."
West Memphis freshman Aryah Hazley led her team with 12 points, but the Lady Blue Devils were only 3 of 14 from three-point range and 16 of 47 from the floor.
MOUNTAIN HOME 47, BENTON 30
Senior guard Vinessa Daniel scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the Lady Bombers (19-12) smothered the Lady Panthers (16-14) in a first-round game.
Mountain Home scored the game's first 12 points, and the Lady Bombers held a 25-10 advantage at the half, getting a buzzer-beating 10-footer from Daniel.
Mountain Home hit 6 of 11 three-point shots, including four from junior guard Hannah Pfeifer (12 points).
Senior guard Lenzie Newman scored 16 points for Benton, which was held to 11-of-39 shooting, including 6 of 18 from three-point range. Mountain Home was 13 of 23 from the floor and 15 of 26 from the free-throw line.
EL DORADO 39, JONESBORO 28
Senior MeKaylan Hicks scored 13 of her game-high 23 points in the second half to lead the Lady Wildcats (21-8) over the defending state champion Lady Hurricane (20-11).
El Dorado held a 16-15 lead at the half and never trailed during the final two quarters, outscoring Jonesboro 10-4 in the third quarter.
Freshman Destiny Salary led Jonesboro with eight points.
Sports on 03/03/2017