MOUNT VERNON-ENOLA 65, KIRBY 53
MORRILTON -- Gracie Raby scored 8 of her 14 points in the final quarter to carry Mount Vernon-Enola to a 65-53 victory over Kirby in the Class 1A semifinals at Devil Dog Arena in Morrilton on Saturday.
Mount Vernon-Enola will play either Norfork or Wonderview in the Class 1A girls state title game this week in Hot Springs.
Fouls beset the Lady Warhawks in the opening half, allowing Kirby to make 12 of 14 free throws en route to a 14-11 edge after the first eight minutes.
"That was a little bad for us," Mount Vernon-Enola Coach Adam Carlton said. "We usually try to get the ball inside to Kyndal [Hardy] more but ran into some foul trouble.
"We came out a little bit high on them, and we were slapping a little bit. But we had some role players come off the bench to contribute, and some of those hadn't played in quite a while."
The Lady Warhawks (34-8) got going in the second quarter, hitting four consecutive three-pointers, two each from Alaina Ellis and Taylor Keathley.
But Kirby (30-6) kept hitting free throws, making 8 of 9, to carry a 32-30 lead into halftime.
The Lady Warhawks finally got a lead in the third quarter but kept exchanging it with the Lady Trojans until the final minute of the quarter when Alyse Ellis made a three-pointer with 1:12 remaining, giving Mount Vernon-Enola a 45-42 lead.
Kirby cut that to one on two free throws by McKenzie Jones, but Raby hit two free throws of her own with 4.1 seconds remaining for a 47-44 edge at the end of the quarter. That's when she began to control the game.
"It's always my hope when we get to that part of the game," Carlton said of Raby. "She's so good, and she built a lot of confidence this year. It's a compliment to her to go after it.
"The last month or so, she has just put us on her back and took over."
And it wasn't just scoring for Raby. She controlled the movement of the ball down the floor and kept Kirby defenders chasing her. And the foul situation was not as dire for the Lady Warhawks in the second half.
"When you get down to this point, you just have to go out and play," Carlton said. "You can't worry about the officiating. The officials aren't going to take a foul off the board just because you complain about it. You can't change what the officials do. You just have to be ready to play."
Raby scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter for Mount Vernon-Enola, giving the Lady Warhawks a 55-48 advantage with 3:27 remaining.
Kirby narrowed it to 55-50 when Jones hit two free throws with 3:21 left, but that is when Kirby was forced to start fouling. From the 1:53 mark, the Lady Warhawks converted 10 of 12 free throws.
Alaina Ellis led the Lady Warhawks with 16 points while Raby added 14 and Kenzie Woodruff had 11. Jones had a game-high 21 points for Kirby, scoring 17 from the free-throw line. Gracie Smith had 14, and Joce Mount added 11.
WONDERVIEW 64, NORFORK 44
Wonderview (36-3), up by eight points as the final quarter started, came alive in the fourth quarter and ousted Norfork (42-2) for a berth in next week's Class 1A state championship game in Hot Springs.
The two teams were tied 9-9 after one quarter, but Wonderview led 27-18 at the half.
After trading baskets in the third quarter, Wonderview took control in the fourth quarter. The Lady Daredevils hit 14 of 17 free throws in the fourth and 21 of 25 for the game. The free throws accounted for more than half of their 25 points in the final eight minutes.
Wonderview, which had seven three-pointers in the game, was led by Faith Byers with 15 points. Brooke Zimmerman and Bailey Wright each had 13.
Ivy McGowan had 14 to lead Norfork. Macy Dillard finished with 13 and Marleigh Dodson had 12.
CLASS 3A AT MONTICELLO
CHARLESTON 46, LAMAR 40
Junior Allie Green hit four three-pointers and finished with 15 points as the Charleston Lady Tigers held off the Lamar Lady Warriors 46-40 in the Class 3A state tournament semifinals at Drew Central High School.
Charleston (22-8) jumped out to a 10-1 lead after one quarter on its way to earning its third consecutive victory. The Lady Tigers had also posted a 42-38 victory over Lamar on Feb. 23 during the 3A Region 1 tournament.
Senior Hattie Newhart added eight points, all of which came in the second half. Charleston won despite hitting only 13 of 25 free-throw attempts.
Sophomore Aspen Williams was good for a team-high 12 points for Lamar, which was 14 of 22 from the free throw line. Senior Taylor English added nine points and sophomore Lakyn Sanders chipped in seven.
Sports on 03/04/2018