FORT SMITH -- Senior forward Tiya Douglas wanted to make her final home game Friday night at Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse a special one.
Douglas was able to do that by scoring a game-high 22 points to help lead Fort Smith Northside to a 68-29 victory against Cabot to clinch the 6A-Central Conference championship.
"I just really wanted to end on a good note and show out for everybody that came out," Douglas said. "I think we played well as a team. They found me in the right spots to make shots."
Douglas helped set the tone early scoring six first-quarter points then caught fire in the third quarter, finishing with 14 points in the frame. She has six shots fall from the field with two 3s among them.
"I don't think I missed in the third quarter," Douglas said with a laugh. "I didn't expect to make half of my shots. But they kept going in. I got some great looks with passes. They were the reason for the buckets."
The Lady Bears were able to jump out to a 15-1 lead after the initial quarter with seniors scoring all but four points to get the offense going early.
"I'm very proud of this senior class winning the conference championship and playing well tonight," Northside coach Rickey Smith said. "To win a conference, it is not easy. To be 24-1 and playing the schedule we play, it's tough."
Northside (24-1, 12-1 6A-Central) pushed its advantage out to 36-12 heading into halftime with strong quarters from Tracey Bershers, who scored eight, and Jersey Wolfenbarger, who added seven.
After making six of 16 shots to open the first quarter, Northside was able to make eight of 12 shots in the second quarter to take control of the game. Cabot (14-10, 5-8) missed all six shots in the first quarter but bounced back to make five of eight in the second.
"We didn't shoot it well early," Smith said. "But we broke loose there and started hitting some shots. It's a special group of seniors. To do what they have done is special."
Northside extended its lead out to 58-24 heading into the final quarter behind the strong scoring quarter from Douglas to put the game well out of reach.
The nationally-ranked Lady Bears were able to bounce back from a 70-64 overtime loss on the road to North Little Rock last week. That loss was the first of the season and snapped a 23-game winning streak for Northside.
"Tuesday night could not come fast enough because it was a long weekend," Smith said. "It's a learning experience. Life is full of bumps in the road. We came back in and felt sorry for ourselves and put it behind ourselves."
Cabot was led by Izzy Arnold scoring a team-high eight points for the Lady Panthers.
Cabot^1^11^12^5^--^29
Northside^15^21^22^10^--^68
Cabot (14-10, 5-8): Arnold 8, Theobald 6, Jimerson 5, Ogilvie 4, Belin 4, Nichols 2.
Northside (24-1, 12-1): Douglas 22, T. Bershers 10, Wolfenbarger 9, S. Bershers 7, West 6, Tillery 5, Coleman 4, Flemming 3, Stewart 2.
Boys
Cabot 63, Fort Smith Northside 60
Cabot coach Chris Meseke was hoping his team could finish strong in the final week of 6A-Central Conference play before next week's state tournament.
The Panthers were able to pick up the first game of the week Tuesday holding on for the victory after battling back from being down 30-19 early in the second quarter.
"Winning breeds confidence," Meseke said. "This is a big week for us rolling into the state tournament. You want all the momentum you can get entering that. This no doubt will help us."
Fort Smith Northside (16-11, 7-6) got a final shot to attempt to tie the game, but it didn't fall as Cabot (18-8, 6-7) was able to play the role of spoiler on senior night at Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse.
"This is a great win and effort from our guys to come in here and steal this win," Meseke said. "We gutted it out. This team is a young team with starting five juniors. We have a season under our belt, but this is the first time they have played here. This was a big win against a big program."
Northside junior Jaylin Williams, who finished with a game-high 19 points, got the opportunity for the Grizzlies but couldn't connect to send the game into overtime. Jermualle Norwood added 12 points for Northside making four first-half 3s.
Jacob Hudson finished with a team-high 18 points for a balanced Cabot offense. Seth Vance added 14 points, including making four 3s, while Kairo Rudolph had 11 for the Panthers.
Cabot jumped out to a 14-9 lead early in the first quarter, but Northside was able to take a 18-17 lead into the second quarter.
The Grizzlies were able to push their lead out quickly after that. Northside using its press took advantage of turnovers to fuel a 12-0 run to take a 30-19 lead.
Cabot was able to battle back after that closing the first half out on an 11-2 run to cut the Northside lead to 40-36 heading into the break. The Panthers had 10 second-quarter turnovers but did make seven of nine shots in the quarter.
The Panthers closed out the third quarter strong, using a 10-2 run to take a 53-47 edge into the final quarter.
Cabot was about to extend its lead out to 60-52 in the fourth quarter before Northside was able to cut the advantage to 61-58 with a tip-in from Javion Releford with 19 seconds left. But the Grizzlies couldn't get any closer after that.
"I told them at halftime let's just reset," Meseke said. "There isn't anything new we'll see in the second half. We were able to cut down the turnovers in the second half. The game pace slowed down, which favors us because they are deeper than us."
Cabot^17^19^17^10^--^63
Northside^18^22^7^13^--^60
Cabot (18-8, 6-7): Hudson 18, Vance 14, Rudolph 11, Vaught 8, Muse 6, Rainey 6.
Northside (16-11, 7-6): Williams 19, Norwood 12, Gordon 8, Releford 7, McKinley 5, Henderson 3, Travis 2, Perry 2, Thorne 2.
Sports on 02/20/2019