Searcy
Searcy
Lady Lions win in Lehr Arena
WM School District
For the better part of three quarters it looked like both teams were running in quick sand, and that finally caught up to the West Memphis girls in the end.
Previously winless in the 7A/6A-East Conference, Searcy outscored the Lady Devils 16-5 in the fourth quarter, including scoring the final 11 points of the game Tuesday night at Lehr Arena to take away a 44-39 upset over West Memphis.
'We just played lethargic
stunner
all night,' said West Memphis head coach Shelia Burns. 'We kept telling them they need to pick up some energy, but we just could never rise to the occasion.'
Searcy (6-14 overall, 1-8 in the conference) led for less than two minutes all game before overtaking the Lady Devils in the final three minutes of the game.
'Hats off to Searcy,' said Burns. 'They made the hustle plays at the end and we didn't. They also made the big shots. Our girls haven't had what you would call the eye of the tiger to put teams away in the fourth quarter.'
The Lady Devils (15-7, 5- LADY DEVILS
4) had every opportunity to close it out in the final stanza. The hosts led 34-24 with 7:30 left in the third quarter and then led 39-33 with 3:11 to play in the game after two free throws by LaShala Saine, who scored a season-high 17 points to lead the Lady Devils.
That's when Searcy outside ace Allie Brown, who hit four three-pointers on the night and led all scorers with 18 points, lit it up.
Brown's two free throws with 2:49 to lay in the game cut West Memphis' lead to 39-35 and that led to a layup and a three- pointer by Keke Broadway to give Searcy its first lead since a brief one-point lead early in the second quarter. Broadway later hit two free throws to stretch the Searcy lead to three.
West Memphis' final whack at tying the game came up short on three- point attempts from Anquanetta Chatt and Niyah Townsend.
Kayla Churchwell of Searcy then ended all hopes for a Lady Devils win when she drained two foul shots with 2.3 seconds to play.
Only four players scored
Photo by Billy Woods
Anqueanetta Chatt (10) runs the baseline against Searcy last night.
By Billy Woods
