Last weekend, the Northside Lady Bears capped an improbable comeback with a triple-overtime win in the 6A semifinals.

The Lady Bears found a way to top that in Friday’s 6A state championship game.

Jersey Wolfenbarger’s 15-foot jumper hit nothing but net as time expired as Northside — which trailed 34-29 with 57 seconds left — ended the game on a 7-0 run to stun Bentonville, 36-34, at Bank OZK Arena.

“I’m proud of our kids; they had the mental fortitude to stay in there and I’ll give them credit, in the huddles, they were a lot more positive than I was,” Northside coach Rickey Smith said. “It was just one of those nights that you dream about, so just thankful for these kids.

“Every little possession just bounced our way late. ... They just stepped up big, they’re winners; we could have lost that game so easily, but they just found a way to get it done.”

Northside (28-1) also won its seventh state championship since 1999, all under Smith. The Lady Bears’ previous state title was in 2013.

“I lost my father a few years ago, and we raised greyhound dogs as a kid growing up and every dog that we had that was good, he named it ‘Seven,’ so I’ve been chasing it for a long time, I really have and I wish they could be here to see it,” Smith said. “I’m just proud for my kids, they work so hard and we’ve got a lot of rings, I just wanted these kids to get one.”

The Lady Bears, who rallied from a 11-point second-half deficit to eventually beat Fayetteville in triple overtime in last Saturday’s semifinals, were down for much of Friday’s game, including seven early in the fourth quarter.

Northside was down by five, 34-29, with 57 seconds left after Bentonville’s Natalie Smith hit two free throws.

Wolfenbarger, who nearly single-handedly kept Northside in the game, did so again seconds later when she hit a 3-pointer, cutting the Lady Bear deficit to two. Northside then forced a turnover on an inbounds pass attempt, and tied the score with 25 seconds left as junior Jazz Coleman received a pass down low for the finish.

Once again, Bentonville turned the ball over as Lady Bear sophomore Tracey Bershers forced a travel near the basket with 10 seconds left, giving Northside one last chance. The Lady Bears then called time out.

“We have a sideline press attack, where we try to score,” Smith said. “Our biggest thing was we didn’t want to throw the ball away.

“I felt like we had the momentum, and I said the game was ours now. If we either take the last shot or get overtime, I said we’re winning this one, because I felt like we could get it.”

In the triple-overtime semifinal win against Fayetteville, Northside had a chance to win it both at the end of regulation and at the end of the first overtime.

But Wolfenbarger made sure there wasn’t another overtime game in the cards.


She took the inbounds pass from teammate Sara Bershers and sprinted past half-court with seconds ticking away. Wolfenbarger then barely got inside the 3-point line before releasing a shot with her right hand.

The ball landed through the net as time ran out, and Wolfenbarger was immediately engulfed by her teammates.

“I was just thinking, ’Hey, this is the last final seconds, my team needs points and I’ve got to go score,” Wolfenbarger said. “I love my teammates, they’re my family now and I wanted them to experience something as special as this so they can remember it forever.

?(When the shot went through) I was just trying to find a teammate to hug. ... It was really special because for them to pick me up when I’ve been down or always had my back, this was my chance to give it back to them.”

It wasn’t the first time Wolfenbarger rescued her teammates.

With Northside trailing 15-5 in the second quarter and struggling to get shots, Wolfenbarger scored eight straight points to close out the first half to get the Lady Bears within striking distance. She hit a 3, made two foul shots, then grabbed an offensive rebound and got a 16-footer to fall while being fouled in the closing seconds.

Wolfenbarger then finished off the three-point play with a free throw with 3.5 seconds remaining, as Northside went into the locker room trailing by two, 15-13.


“At that point, we came into the locker room with some confidence and a little momentum,” Smith said. “We were down 15-5 and we don’t know what to run offensively. ... But when you’ve got one like (Wolfenbarger), she’s special and she can (come through).”

Northside finally pulled even midway through the third quarter, 19-all, on a jumper from Bershers. But Bentonville reeled off seven straight points, and nine of the next 11, to build a 28-21 lead going into the fourth.

Wolfenbarger got Northside within two, 29-27, on a jumper with more than four minutes left. Bentonville answered with a basket on the other end; then went up five on two occasions.

As it turned out, the Lady Bears had one more improbable comeback left in them.

“I thought (Friday) was more improbable, because at least last Saturday we were scoring,” Smith said.

Wolfenbarger, named the game’s MVP, led all scorers with 21 points. She made two 3's and went 7-of-7 from the free-throw line, as Northside made all 11 of its free-throw attempts.

Avery Hughes had 18 points to lead Bentonville (26-4), also making three 3's.
