PEARCY -- Vilonia survived a barrage of shots before downing Little Rock Hall 67-42 in the opening round of the Class 5A girls state tournament Wednesday afternoon.
Sophomore McKenzie Floyd hit 3 three-pointers in the third quarter and finished with a team-high 17 points as the 5A-West champions turned a six-point game into a rout.
"We didn't shoot it very well in the first half, so I got the girls out here early before the second half to give them some time to shoot," Vilonia Coach Alvin Riley said. "We needed to get some shots down. We're a pretty good shooting team but we didn't look like it in the first half."
Vilonia (25-2) hit only 2 of 8 shots in the first quarter, but finished the game 22 of 41 from the floor.
Hall (8-17) struggled from the floor for most of the contest. The Lady Warriors missed their first seven shots, went 1 of 15 in the first quarter and shot 16 of 54 overall. Hall stayed close early by hitting the boards, collecting five offensive rebounds in the first quarter.
And Tyianna Robinson's 29 points and seven rebounds did not hurt the Lady Warriors' cause.
The junior guard hit a driving 5-footer to open the second half to cut Vilonia's lead to 26-20, but Vilonia scored the next points and eventually opened up a 52-29 advantage by the start of the fourth quarter.
"Hall is a big, strong team," Riley said. "They hit the boards hard. If you have an off-shooting night, it can lead to some trouble."
Vilonia, however, had too many weapons. Junior post player Paige Kelley scored 10 of her 16 points in the second half and also picked up nine rebounds. Sophomore Laney Mears hit 3 three-pointers and finished with 14 points. Sophomore Lauren Patterson scored nine points.
"We've got several girls who can shoot the ball," Riley said. "You just hope they're all not off on the same night."
Kataria Dismuke and Jada Johnson each added seven rebounds for Hall.
LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN 70, SYLVAN HILLS 28
Little Rock Christian (26-2) gave up 14 points to Sylvan Hills (15-11) in the first quarter and only 14 more for the remainder of the game.
Sophomore Wynter Rogers scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Lady Warriors. Senior Amber Brown matched Rogers' scoring effort with 14 points. Senior Reagan Bradley and freshman Ashton Elley each added 11 points.
Senior Andrea Dolphin hit 3 three-pointers in the first quarter to spark Sylvan Hills. She finished with 12 points.
Sylvan Hills committed 25 turnovers and was outrebounded 28-19.
Little Rock Christian was 28 of 49 from the floor; Sylvan Hills hit 10 of 35 field-goal attempts. The Lady Warriors led 16-14 after one, 31-18 at the half and 55-20 after three quarters.
GREENWOOD 59, WATSON CHAPEL 27
Sophomore Kinley Fisher hit five of the Lady Bulldogs' 11 three-pointers to lift Greenwood to a first-round victory.
Fisher finished with 19 points and senior Kyiah Julian added 16 points, which included 4 three-pointers. Greenwood led 16-3 after the first quarter and 40-21 at the half. Watson Chapel was held scoreless in the third quarter.
Watson Chapel (16-12) was led by Taylor Whitted's 11 points.
Sports on 02/28/2019