SEARCY -- Southside Batesville extended its winning streak to 14 games Thursday, defeating eStem 44-31 in the 2-4A Tournament semifinals at Riverview Activity Center.
The Southerners (25-4), who received 14 points apiece from junior center Tom Miholjcic and junior guard Will Sitkowski, have not lost since a 37-34 setback to Tuckerman on Jan. 2.
Southside Batesville's defensive effort allowed it to move on to Saturday's district championship game against Baptist Prep, holding eStem (21-11) to 11-of-32 shooting Thursday. The Mets' two leading scorers, Jaren Richards and Peyton Sewell, had six points apiece,
"We wanted to control the pace of the game against them and never let them get going," Southside Batesville Coach Brad McGhee said. "They play with motion and a lot of energy. Our style, we don't have to do that. So we wanted to make it slow paced and ugly."
The Southerners led 20-10 at halftime and 27-19 at the end of the third quarter. Miholjcic's basket extended Southside Batesville's lead to 31-19 with less than five minutes remaining.
Southside Batesville shot 50 percent (12 of 24) from the floor and went 18 of 28 at the free-throw line. However, McGhee wasn't pleased with his team's free-throw performance.
"Throughout the season, we've been pretty good from the line," McGhee said. "But we're lucky to hang on and win when you're shooting a percentage like that."
eStem will play Riverview in Saturday's consolation game at 4:30 p.m.
GIRLS
CAC 60, eSTEM 51
Senior shooting guard Christyn Williams, a University of Connecticut signee, scored 22 points to lead Central Arknasas Christian (29-1) past eStem (17-7).
The Lady Mustangs will play Riverview in Saturday's district championship game at 6 p.m.
Jenna Davis, a senior forward, and Bethany Dillard, a freshman shooting guard, each had 17 points for CAC.
eStem went on a 7-0 run to cut CAC's lead to 47-43 with 3:38 left. But the Lady Mustangs extended their lead to 52-43 with 2:53 remaining as Dillard hit a three-pointer and made a layup.
CAC led 11-6 after one quarter, 28-17 at halftime and 41-30 at the end of the third quarter.
Makayla Miller led the Lady Mets with 22 points.
RIVERVIEW 72, LONOKE 66, OT
Junior guard Abbie Jiles' layup with 1:51 remaining in overtime helped Riverview (22-7) defeat Lonoke (22-8).
The game was tied at 62-62 entering overtime after Jiles missed a layup at the end of regulation. Lonoke led 66-62 with 3:23 left, but Riverview scored the game's final 10 points to advance to Saturday's district championship game against Central Arkansas Christian.
Jiles finished with 27 points. Senior guard Ebonee Whitney led the Lady Pirates with 28 points. Junior forward Alexis Broadway added 10 points.
Senior guard Keiunna Walker scored a game-high 44 points for the Lady Jackrabbits, who will play eStem in the consolation game Saturday.
Sports on 02/16/2018