GIRLS BASKETBALL Fort Smith Northside rolls to Great 8 title

ROGERS -- Even Ozark (Mo.) coach David Brewer was thinking his team might be in some trouble when Fort Smith Northside sisters Sara and Tracey Bershers each hit 3-pointers to end the first quarter of the First National Bank of NWA Great 8 Classic championship game on Saturday.

That proved to be true as Northside scored both inside and out and cruised to the title with a 63-36 win over the Lady Tigers in girls basketball action at King Arena.

Fort Smith Northside 63, Ozark, Mo. 36

Ozark^6^8^11^11^—^63

Northside^23^13^17^10^—^36

Ozark (2-1): Hitt 11, Braden 11, Scheer 6, Hanks 3, Mayes 2, Norton 2, Barber 1.

Fort Smith Northside (4-0): S. Brashers 13, Coleman 13, T. Brashers 12, Wolfenbarger 11, Douglas 6, Shelley 4, West 2, Willery 2.

At A Glance

First National Bank of NWA

Great 8 Classic

at King Arena, Rogers

Saturday’s Scores

Seventh place: Webb City, Mo. 54, Fort Smith Southside 23

Fifth place: Camdenton, Mo. 72, Siloam Springs 69

Third place: Rogers High 54, Rogers Heritage 50

Championship: Fort Smith Northside 63, Ozark, Mo. 36

The Bershers sisters, who stand 6-foot and 6-1, respectively, helped the Lady Bears grab an early lead by scoring in the paint, but both Tracey and Sara canned 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to end the first quarter and the Lady Bears (4-0) already led 23-6.

"Honestly, when the sisters hit those threes I thought we were in a little bit of trouble," Brewer said. "They faced a zone last night and they shot it a lot better tonight. They are long and athletic and they make it difficult to finish around the basket.

"Let's be honest, they're really good and they're going to make things difficult for teams all year."

The Lady Bears, who were ranked nationally in two preseason polls, definitely made it difficult for Ozark (2-1), rolling to a 36-14 halftime lead and had no problems in the second half.

Northside coach Rickey Smith said his team played much better than than in the Lady Bears' semifinal game on Friday.

"We shot the ball a lot better tonight," Smith said. "We've been very successful the first three ballgames. We shot it really, really well and everything came pretty easy to us. Then last night, it didn't. We struggled. We couldn't shoot it, so we kinda panicked and got frustrated.

"But tonight we kinda changed our attack, started going inside out a little more. Shot the ball a whole better. Good win, proud of the team. When we shoot it well, we're pretty good."

Sara and Tracey Bershers led the Lady Bears with 13 and 12 points, respectively. The combined for 17 in that first quarter when Northside took control. Jersey Wolfenbarger was also in double figures with 11, while Jazzlyn Coleman added 10.

Anna Hitt and Madi Braden led Ozark (2-1) with 11 points each.

Rogers High 54, Rogers Heritage 50

The Lady Mounties rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to edge the Lady War Eagles to claim third place.

Guard London Hatch hit four free throws in the final 2 minutes, 34 seconds to help Rogers (4-1) hold on for the win.

Pam Seiler hit a 3-pointer to pull Heritage within 52-50 with less than a minute left, but Hatch hit both ends of a one-and-one with 22 seconds left to push the lead to four. Rogers forced a jump ball with less than 10 seconds left and got the ball on the alternate possession.

Amber Covington led Rogers with 13 points off the bench, including 10 in the second half. Hatch added eight points and eight assists. Ally Figenskau and Camiran Brockhoff also had eight points each.

Seiler led all scorers with 15 points on five 3-pointers. Sydney Kinnamon added 11 for Heritage (1-3). Maddie Lynge was also in double figures with 10. Those three players combined for hit 10 3-pointers for the Lady War Eagles, who led 33-22 after Kinnamon's 3-pointer early in the third quarter.

Camdenton, Mo., finished the game with an 11-0 run to edge Siloam Springs 72-69 for fifth place. Natalie Basham poured in a game-high 34 points. Emery Brown led Siloam Springs (2-3) with 21 points, while Jael Harried added 17. The Lady Panthers led by as many as 10 in the fourth quarter and 69-61 with three minutes left, but never scored again.

Sports on 12/02/2018

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