Marion, Mountain Home and MacArthur advance in girls action
Marion, Mountain Home and MacArthur advance in girls action
Sports Editor Jonesboro MacArthur limited East to a single field goal after the first quarter in taking down a 33-11 yesterday in the opening round of the 7A/6A-East junior high district tournament at Lehr Arena.
MacArthur, the No. 4 seed from the district, will play the undefeated and topseeded West Memphis Wonder Lady Golden Lions on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. for the right to advance to the championship game on Friday at 5 p.m.
MacArthur overcame an early 5-2 deficit thanks to a 10-2 run that allowed them to claim a 12-7 lead after the first quarter.
From that point on, it was all MacArthur. East didn’t connect on a field goal in the second quarter, and MacArthur cruised into the locker room with a 20-7 lead.
The Lady Golden Hurricane were able to force five East turnovers in that frame, while outboarding the Lady Red Imps 7-4 in a quarter where MacArthur scored all eight points.
East made its final field goal of the evening with 2:04 left in the third quarter, which got the Lady Red Imps within 24-9. MacArthur would lead 28-9 after three. “We started off really slow tonight, but we know that if we want to win on Wednesday night, then we’d have to come out here and work,” said Jonesboro MacArthur head coach Dominique Battles.
East was just one of 19 from the field after the first quarter.
The Lady Golden Hurricane also enjoyed a distinct 24-14 advantage on the glass, 11 of which were on the offensive end, leading to 14 second-chance points.
“Some of that may have been bad shots,” Battles joked when asked about his team’s offensive rebounding luck. “But we have been working a lot on positioning and blocking out. We know that the tournament is going to be tough, but if we want to make it to Friday then small things like that will definitely matter.”
In other action yesterday evening:
(No. 7) Mountain Home 46, (No. 2) Jonesboro Annie Camp 41
In the tourney’s first real surprise, Mountain Home outscored Annie Camp thanks to 18 points from Huskey, 15 from Collins and four from Dinn.
Annie Camp got 12 points from Elaune Eaton, 10 from Destiny Salary and two from Taysia Johnson.
The Lady Bombers advance to a Wednesday semifinal game against Marion in a rematch of the 2015 7A/6A-East district title game.
(No. 4) Marion 37, (No. 5) West 25
Marion jumped out to a 20-point lead in the second half and cruised from there. The Lady Patriots will face off against Mountain Home on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Marion got a game-high 13 points from Keiana Delaney and 10 more from Joi Montgomery.
The Lady Blue Imps were led by Caylin Brewer's 12 points while Myia Sloan added 6.
By Chuck Livingston
