PEARCY -- Little Rock Christian is enjoying basketball on the big stage.
Seniors Amber Brown and Reagan Bradley combined for 46 points and 18 rebounds as the Lady Warriors rolled to an 85-56 victory over Greenwood in Saturday's Class 5A girls state semifinals at Wolf Arena.
Trailing 6-3 three minutes into the contest, Little Rock Christian (28-2) scored the next 11 points and never trailed again.
"Coach [Ronald] Rogers just tells us to have fun every time we step onto the floor," said Bradley, who had 22 points and nine rebounds. "I think that just plays a big part in us going out feeling comfortable with each other and that we're playing for each other."
Little Rock Christian advances to the title game at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs. The time and day of the championship game will be determined today.
"We're playing well right now," said Rogers, whose team increased its winning streak to 11 games. "This is the best we've played all season. We've put a couple of freshmen in the lineup, and it's made a big difference for us. Defensively, shooting the three-ball, our ball-handling, it's all made a difference for us."
Little Rock Christian, which led 35-21 at the half, was 26 of 40 from the floor, 5 of 9 on three-point attempts and 28 of 33 from the free-throw line. The Lady Warriors also outrebounded Greenwood 36-18.
It also did not hurt the Lady Warriors that they had played and defeated Greenwood twice already this season.
"We had film on them, and it was real easy to just go back and watch that film," Bradley said. "All we had to do was watch their sets and pay attention to their defense."
"Greenwood's 1-3-1 defense bothered us, but when you've played someone twice [before], you can get kind of used to it," Rogers said. "There are no surprises anymore. I think we figured it out."
Greenwood (20-9) attempted a second-half comeback behind sophomore Kinley Fisher and senior Kylah Julian, who combined to score 26 points in the final two quarters. Julian finished with 18 points, and Fisher had 17.
Little Rock Christian had more than just Bradley and Brown. Sophomore Wynter Rogers collected 15 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Freshman Ashton Elley hit four three-pointers to finish with 12 points.
"Their play gave me a lot of relief," said Bradley, who scored 14 points in the first half but did not score in the third quarter. "Them getting shots, getting layups, it helped take the pressure off. I'm not the only scoring option out there."
JONESBORO 46, MOUNTAIN HOME 44
For the second time in two nights, Jonesboro rallied from a six-point deficit to start the fourth quarter to take home a victory.
Senior Kayla Mitchell scored 7 of her 11 points and made 2 steals in the fourth quarter to lead Jonesboro to its eighth consecutive victory. Jonesboro also trailed Vilonia by six points entering the fourth quarter of Friday's quarterfinal game.
Mountain Home (19-11) led 33-27 after Addison Yates' putback at the end of the third quarter, but Jonesboro scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to turn the game in its favor.
Mountain Home was guilty of six turnovers and attempted only five field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter.
Jonesboro senior Sonni Martin hit two free throws with 11.3 seconds remaining to give the Lady Hurricane a 46-42 lead. Mountain Home sophomore Emily Payne hit a 5-footer at the buzzer to cap the scoring.
Jonesboro was 6-of-9 shooting in the fourth quarter and 16 of 37 overall. Mountain Home was 15-of-30 shooting.
Junior Anna Grace Foreman led Mountain Home with 10 points and eight rebounds. Senior Payton Huskey hit 3 three-pointers to account for all nine of her points.
Sports on 03/03/2019