LADY BEARS BEAT BRYANT; MOVE INTO 6A SEMIFINALS

No pun intended, the Northside Lady Bears knew they were walking into a hornet’s nest in their opener at the 6A State Tournament. Indeed, the Bryant Lady Hornets — the host team at state — made things difficult for the state’s No. 1 ranked team at times throughout the first half. But the Lady Bears began to assert their dominance after halftime. Northside began the second half with a 15-3 run and they worked the basket inside for a bunch of shots. The Lady Bears eventually wore down the Lady Hornets and came out with a 66-44 win in Friday’s 6A quarterfinals at Hornet Arena. “First of all, give Bryant credit, they came out ready to play,” Northside coach Rickey Smith said. “They were fired up, they shot the ball well and hit some deep 3's; with their speed and quickness when they shoot like that from deep, they’re hard to guard. “We missed some shots early, played a little tight; first game of the state tournament, having the bye, having (a week) off and they’re at home in their second game, so that’s part of it.” Bryant did take a 25-24 lead with more than a minute to play in the second quarter. But Lady Bear junior Tracey Bershers scored four straight points to end the opening half as Northside went back in front, 28-25. Then, the Lady Bears built on that lead to start the second half. Not by shooting any 3-pointers; in fact, they didn’t make a single 3 after halftime. Nor was it off of layups in transition. Rather, it was by patiently working the ball inside. Of the 13 shots the Lady Bears converted after halftime, 11 of those were by finding an open teammate down low. “We have some great inside players. ... We got the ball inside and it worked for us,” Bershers said. “We all got inside a little bit and shared the ball.” With Northside up 30-27, Bershers executed a give-and-go pass near the basket to teammate Haitiana Releford for the finish, starting an 8-0 run. In that span, the Lady Bears made their first five shot attempts to begin the second half. The inside game continued to pay dividends for Northside. Bershers found Releford for another basket inside; then Bershers got a pass near the goal from Jersey Wolfenbarger and finished the shot while being fouled. Bershers went to the foul line and finished off the three-point play for a 43-28 lead, capping the 15-3 run to start the second half. Shortly thereafter, the Lady Bears reeled off eight straight points, all on inside baskets. Senior Quineisha Tillery’s basket to start the fourth quarter extended the advantage to 21 points, 51-30. “The first half, we struggled a little bit; we had too many turnovers,” Bershers said. “But in the second half, our guards and everybody handled the ball better. “We got our teammates the ball who were open and we just (performed better) on defense.” Northside eventually led by as many as 24 points, 62-38, on a free throw by Jalyn Ford with less than two minutes remaining. “I was proud of our kids in the third period for sure; they came out and executed offensively,” Smith said. “I thought defensively, we played a lot better (in the second half). We rebounded much better; they beat us to every loose ball in the first half and that’s something we did a much better job of in the second half, beating them to loose basketballs.” Wolfenbarger, the junior point guard, led the Lady Bears with 20 points, 12 coming in the second half, while adding 12 rebounds and five assists. Earlier in the day, she was selected as the Gatorade Arkansas Girls Player of the Year. Bershers added 18 points, 11 coming in the first half, while recording five assists. Also in double figures for Northside was Releford with 10 points. “I’m proud of that win,” Smith said. “They’re a good ballclub; they scored 71 points on Rogers two nights ago and they’ve beaten some teams in our conference, so to beat them on their home floor, I’m very, very proud of it.” With the win, their 21st consecutive, the Lady Bears (26-3) advance into Saturday’s semifinals, set for 6 p.m. in Bryant. They will play Fayetteville, a winner against Cabot in a quarterfinal on Friday night, which will be a rematch of last season’s epic triple-overtime game in the 6A semifinals, won by Northside en route to its eventual state championship.

LADY BEARS BEAT BRYANT; MOVE INTO 6A SEMIFINALS

BUCK RINGGOLD

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 3/7/2020

PHOTO CREDIT: Fort Smith Northside High School Athletics