North Little Rock forces West out of tourney

CENTERTON -- Kelsie Mahone not only scored the first postseason points in Bentonville West's short basketball history, but her 3-pointer from the right corner gave her team a 3-2 lead. The Lady Wolverines' advantage, however, lasted just 23 seconds. North Little Rock then scored the next 13 points and went on to eliminate the host team with a 69-40 first-round victory Wednesday during the Class 6A State Tournament in Wolverine Arena. "Our girls are playing really good right now," North Little Rock coach Darryl Fimple said. "We knew they had two good offensive players, and we ran bodies at them the entire night. "We shot the basketball really well. We took good shots and moved the ball around, and we were able to get our post girls involved early. Overall, for a state tournament game, it was good -- really, really good." North Little Rock (18-9) used a one-two scoring punch of 6-foot-4 freshman Amauri Williams and 5-10 senior Kennady Tucker, combined with sticky pressure defense, to take over the game early. Both players scored seven points in the first quarter, with Williams hitting the three-point play to put the Lady Charging Wildcats in front for good and Thomas scoring the last five points of the first quarter for a 22-7 cushion. Williams finished with 16 points and Tucker 13 as four players finished in double figures for North Little Rock, which advances to today's 7 p.m. quarterfinal game against Fayetteville. Jordyn Neal had 19 to lead the Lady'Cats, while Tiona Mackey chipped in 11. "We're just figuring out that is one of our advantages is having her," Fimple said of Williams. "Early on, she would disappear because we wouldn't throw it to her. We've been doing a much better job over the last month of making sure she stays involved. "That makes her a better defensive player because she gets involved on that end. With her ability to be able to rebound, we can get out in transition better. We can extend the press a little bit and gamble a little bit. She's an advantage, and she's just 14 years old." Anna Kash had 10 of West's first 17 points and finished with 15 to lead the Lady Wolverines, who finish the season 10-18, while Shania Wilson added 10.

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NORTH LITTLE ROCK FORCES WEST OUT OF TOURNEY

HENRY APPLE

Arkansas Online | 3/1/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Ben Goff