LADY BEARS KEEP ROLLING; GRIZZLIES BOUNCE BACK

Northside coach Rickey Smith knew his Lady Bears would be up to play against the likes of fellow 6A-Central contenders Conway and North Little Rock. He wondered how his team was going to fare against an up-and-coming contender like Cabot. It didn’t take very long for Smith to get his answer. The Lady Bears took a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter and then kept building the lead throughout as they maintained their grip on first place in the 6A-Central with a decisive 66-36 win against the Lady Panthers at Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse. “It was a great win; I’m very, very proud of our team, one of our more dominating performances for the year,” Smith said. “I’m a harsh critic, I always find something to complain about. But not a lot to complain about (Tuesday), really not. We’ve just got to continue to build off of it.” Northside (17-3, 6-0), which has now won 12 consecutive ballgames, used an early 14-2 run to seize control, going up 16-6 on Haitiana Releford’s steal and subsequent layup. Then, after Cabot (16-3, 4-2) closed to within eight points early in the second quarter, the Grizzlies reeled off an 8-0 run. Northside continued to extend its lead thanks in large part to the outside shooting of junior Tracey Bershers. She hit back-to-back 3's before halftime to make it a 19-point advantage, 35-16. Bershers then hit three more 3's in the third quarter, the latter giving Northside a 52-25 lead. The Lady Bears were able to build a 30-point margin with more than three minutes to go on a jumper from Ashya Harris, which necessitated a running clock to finish out the latest conference shindig. “Defensively, I thought we were very active. ... It was hard for them to get good looks at the basket and we did have a few breakdowns on the boards there early, but that was one of our better performances and very proud,” Smith said. “I thought we shared the basketball really, really well and that’s so exciting to watch and we’ve got several kids that can score. I thought Avery Shelly played well, thought Eriel (West) played well, I thought Releford was all over the glass and got a bunch of steals and then Tracey shooting it and Jersey (Wolfenbarger) inside-outside, pretty good combination.” And Bershers is also back healthy after missing several games due to a back injury right before conference play. In Tuesday’s win, she finished with 19 points and made five 3's. Over the Lady Bears’ last four games, Bershers has averaged exactly 19 points and has converted a total of 17 3-pointers in that span. “I struggled a little bit to get back, but I’ve been doing real well with my shot right now, and my teammates do a really good job of getting me the ball, so I’m really thankful for good teammates like that. ... The coaches have confidence in me and so do my teammates,” Bershers said. She added that the team has continued to find ways to become even more mentally tougher knowing they usually get the best shot from opponents, especially with Northside in the midst of defending its 6A state championship. “It really hasn’t fazed us,” Bershers said. “We’re Northside, so people come after us either way, so we’ve done a really good job of being just mentally prepared for all of that.” Wolfenbarger led all scorers in the game with 20 points, 12 coming in the second half. Northside 62, Cabot 45 BOYS — The Grizzlies were able to rebound from their only loss in 6A-Central play, last week’s first-place showdown at North Little Rock. “I feel like the first half (against Cabot), we didn’t play too good,” Northside coach Eric Burnett said. “But you’ve got to give Cabot credit; that’s a really good team. “We came out in the second half and played better defense, and then we got some offensive possessions going.” Covering What Medicare Won't Ad by Merrill See More Northside trailed for a good portion of the third quarter in Tuesday’s home win, but a 3-pointer from Noah Gordon put the Grizzlies ahead to stay, 36-34. “Noah had a very good offensive night, but what we were pleased about is how he played defense on (Cabot guard Seth Vance),” Burnett said. ”(Vance) is a really good basketball player and I thought Noah did a great job of guarding him, so I was happy to see him put two ends together.” The Grizzlies (15-5, 5-1) then pushed that lead up to eight points, 44-36, when Jacob Joe knocked down a 3 of his own with 6:04 remaining. And naturally, Jaylin Williams got into the act. Williams scored two consecutive baskets, the latter a one-hander down low, to make it a 12-point advantage, 48-36, with 3:42 to go. Moments later, after Joe missed a 3-point attempt, Williams was right there at the basket to slam the ball back home. Then Williams nailed a 3 of his own to give Northside a 55-39 lead with less than two minutes remaining. Garrett Keller later had a dunk of his own, taking a feed from Noah Gordon as the Grizzlies’ lead continued to grow. Williams scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the second half. He had yet another double-double with 16 rebounds, as well as blocking five shots. Northside also got 11 points from Braylin McKinley. McKinley and Keller combined for 13 rebounds and eight assists. “I was really, really excited about Braylin McKinley scoring some points and looking to score,” Burnett said. “That makes us a better team; especially when we’ve got Garrett going like he was the last two ballgames, that makes us better, so I was happy to see that and that’s encouraging for me as we go down the road and try to get better.” Both the Grizzlies and Lady Bears will now face crosstown rival Southside this Friday at UAFS.

LADY BEARS KEEP ROLLING; GRIZZLIES BOUNCE BACK

BUCK RINGGOLD

Times Record | 1/29/2020

PHOTO CREDIT: Jamie Mitchell