KIRBY 61, MAMMOTH SPRING 55
MORRILTON -- Trailing 45-38 entering the fourth quarter, the Lady Trojans (30-5) got the offense and defense rolling for a victory over the Lady Bears (29-11) to advance to today's Class 1A semifinals against Mount Vernon-Enola at noon in Devil Dog Arena.
Kirby took advantage of some good shooting from the free-throw line, hitting 14 of 17 in the final quarter. Most of those came from Joce Mount, who connected on 8 of 9 in the final eight minutes.
Kirby took an early lead, but by halftime Mammoth Spring had carved out a 32-29 lead and bumped that up to 45-38 after three quarters.
In the final quarter, Kirby tied the game 45-45 with 4:28 remaining. The Lady Bears then scored four consecutive points before Kirby scored eight of its own. With 37 seconds left, the Lady Trojans led 58-53.
McKenzie Jones and Gracen Smith each had 16 for Kirby while Mount scored 13. Whitlee Layne had a game-high 23 points for Mammoth Spring and Lauren Mitchell had 10.
NORFORK 70, ALPENA 52
The Lady Panthers (42-1) scored 18 points in each of the first three quarters to sail past the Lady Leopards (18-12) and into a berth in today's semifinals.
Alpena trailed 18-10 after one quarter and 36-23 at the half. After three quarters, Norfork had increased the lead to 54-34. With 1:19 remaining, the Norfork lead was 70-50 before a final field goal with 38 seconds left by Alpena set the final margin.
Marleigh Dodson led Norfork with 19 points while Ivy McGowan had 17 and Macy Dillard added 16. Abby Dean led Alpena with 14 points and Kayleigh Armer added 13.
WONDERVIEW 44, BAY 39
The Lady Daredevils (36-3) earned a berth in the Class 1A semifinals against Norfork tonight after holding off the Lady Yellow Jackets (31-7).
Wonderview opened the fourth quarter with a 30-27 lead and increased that to 37-32 with two minutes left after two free throws by Faith Byers. A foul on Bay's Abby Frisby put Byers back at the free-throw line, where she made both ends of a one-and-one with 36.4 seconds remaining and a 39-32 lead.
Sarah Blackman hit a field goal, but Mallory Hartley fouled Bailey Wright. She made both free throws, but Frisby made two free throws for Bay, making it 41-36. A free throw by Byers followed, making it 42-36 with 13.7 seconds left. Hartley hit a three-pointer with 6.9 seconds left, then Brooke Zimmerman sealed it for Wonderview with two free throws with 4.9 seconds left.
Byers had 16 for Wonderview, followed by Shelley Reynolds with 15 and Zimmerman with 12.
Hartley led Bay with 20. Blackman added 16.
Sports on 03/03/2018