Lady Rabbits get third in regional, face Pottsville in state tourney

Lonoke's Keiunna Walker attempts a shot against CAC on Jan. 27. Lonoke beat the Lady Mustangs 40-29 in the third-place game of the region tournament on Saturday. (Photo by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

CAVE CITY — The Lonoke Lady Jackrabbits are headed back to the state basketball tournament for the first time since 2014.

Lonoke beat Highland 54-44 in the first round of the Class 4A East Region Tournament on Thursday at Cave City High School to qualify for this week’s Class 4A state tournament. Lonoke then lost to Pocahontas 47-40 in the semifinals of the regional before beating Central Arkansas Christian 40-29 in the third-place game Saturday.

Lonoke is now 22-10 on the season. The Lady Jackrabbits will play Pottsville in the first round of the state tournament this Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Nashville High School. The winner will play Star City on Thursday at 4 p.m.

Pottsville is the third seed from from the North region. The Lady Apaches are 18-11 on the season, according to Max Preps. They beat Gravette 67-51 in the first round; lost to Berryvillle 38-35 in the semifinals then beat West Fork 40-38 in the third-place game.

In the win over Highland, Lonoke led 15-6 after one quarter and 27-18 at halftime. The Lady Rebels got back into the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Jackrabbits 11-8. Lonoke outscored Highland 21-15 in the fourth quarter to get the victory.

Keiunna Walker led Lonoke with 31 points. Mickenzie Williams added 13. Kaley Woodruff had six. Mia Brown scored four. Gracie Hyde added two. 

In the loss to Pocahontas, Lonoke trailed 10-7 after one quarter and 24-18 at halftime. 

Walker led Lonoke with 28 points. Kennedy White had four. Hyde scored three. Scoring two each were Woodruff, Williams and Maddie Pool.

Against CAC in the third-place game, Lonoke led 17-4 after one quarter and 20-9 at halftime. CAC was playing without All-American Christyn Williams, who sustained a shoulder injury in her team’s loss to EStem in the semifinals. 

Walker led Lonoke with 15 points. Brown and eight. Mickenzie Williams had six. Hyde and Woodruff scored four points each. White added two while Hannah Moseley hit a free throw. 

Lady Bison bounce back for 27th win

Carlisle's Kiara Miller makes a move to the basket against Marmaduke on Friday. (Photo by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

CARLISLE — The Carlisle Lady Bison bounced back from their first loss in 15 games by beating Brinkley 50-44 in overtime in the third-place game of the Class 2A North Region Tournament at Bison Arena on Saturday. 

Carlisle lost to Marmaduke 62-44 in the semifinals on Friday night.

The Lady Bison will play Camden Harmony Grove in the first round of the Class 2A state tournament Wednesday at Quitman High School. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.

In Saturday’s win, Carlisle led 32-37 after Ashby Terry hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1:25 left in the fourth quarter. 

Brinkley chipped away and hit a three-pointer with five seconds left to send the game into overtime with the score tied at 40-40.

Brinkley took a 42-40 lead in overtime. Carlisle’s Kylie Warren tied it at 42-42 then Kayla Golleher hit a three-pointer to give the Lady Bison a 45-42 lead. 

Warren hit a jumper to give her team a 47-42 lead with 1:09 left. 

Brinkley finally scored again to cut the deficit to 47-44 with 41 seconds left. That would be as close as the Lady Tigers would get as Carlisle scored the game’s final three points. 

Warren led Carlisle with 20 points. DeShaye Ricks had 11. Kiara Miller added eight. Golleher scored seven. Terry had three. Heather Bowlan scored one. 

Kennedy Reinhart led Brinkley with 14 points. 

Carlisle is now 27-4 on the season. The 27 wins is the third most in school history and is the most since the Lady Bison went 34-2 in winning the 2007 Class 2A state title. The 2008 team, which repeated as state champions, finished 26-7.

In Friday’s loss to Marmaduke, Carlisle never led but played it close in the first half, trailing 14-11 after one quarter and 22-19 at halftime.

The Lady Greyhounds outscored Carlisle 14-6 in the third quarter. Carlisle tried to foul Marmaduke in the fourth quarter in an attempt to get back into the game but the Lady Greyhounds made 21 of 25 free throw attempts in the final eight minutes as they pulled away. 

Miller led Carlisle with 18 points. Warren had 10. Bowlan scored eight. Blakely Ellis and Golleher had three points each. Ricks scored two. 

Clay Acord contributed to this story.

Lady Bison qualify for state tourney, beat Sloan-Hendrix

Carlisle's Ashby Terry is fouled while making a shot in the first half against Sloan-Hendrix in the first round of the Class 2A North Region Tournament at Bison Arena on Wednesday night. (Photo by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

CARLISLE — It wasn’t pretty but the Carlisle Lady Bison are headed back to the state tournament for the first time in four seasons.

Despite missing 18 free throws, Carlisle beat Sloan-Hendrix 53-35 in the first round of the Class 2A North Region Tournament on Wednesday night at Bison Arena. With the win, Carlisle improves to 26-3 on the season and guarantees it will play at least three more games this season, including at least one game in next week’s Class 2A state tournament at Quitman High School.

Carlisle will play the winner of Marmaduke and McCrory on Friday night at 7 p.m. in the semifinals at Bison Arena. Those two teams play their first-round game on Thursday.

In Wednesday’s win, the Lady Bison got off to a slow start but led 10-6 after one quarter and 25-12 at halftime.

Sloan-Hendrix made a run in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to eight points at 29-21 and 31-23. Carlisle used a 12-0 run in the second half to go up 46-25 with 6:41 left in the game.

The Lady Greyhounds made a run, cutting the deficit to 14 points but never got any closer.

Carlisle coach Jonathan Buffalo was proud of his team for winning its biggest game of the season.

“We made the plays we had to make to get the win,” he said. “Our goals are still in front of us.”

Kayla Golleher led Carlisle with 15 points. DeShaye Ricks had 10. Heather Bowlan added eight. Ashby Terry and Kiara Miller scored seven points each. Blakely Ellis scored four while Ashley Harbison had two. 

Lady Rabbits get second in tourney; qualify for regional

The Lonoke Lady Jackrabbits are the 4A-2 district tournament runners-up after falling to CAC in the finals Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Courtney Swiney)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

STUTTGART — The Lonoke Lady Jackrabbits had a strong showing in the 4A-2 district tournament last week and will be playing in the regional tournament this week.

Lonoke beat Southside Batesville and Heber Springs to advance to the district title game where it lost to Central Arkansas Christian 55-47.

Lonoke (20-9) will play Highland in the first round of the Class 4A East Region tournament Thursday at 7 p.m. at Cave City High School.

In the district tournament, Lonoke beat Southside 45-35 in the first round. That win got the Lady Jackrabbits qualified for the regional. 

Lonoke beat Heber Springs 50-46 in the semifinals. 

Lonoke led 28-21 at halftime. The Lady Panthers were able to get back into the game by outscoring Lonoke 13-6 in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Jackrabbits made 11 of 20 free throws to hang on for the win. 

Keiunna Walker led Lonoke with 33 points. Mickenzie Williams had seven. Mia Brown scored four. Kennedy White and Maddie Pool had three points each. Kaley Woodruff added two. 

In the title game against top-ranked CAC, Lonoke led 30-28 at halftime. the score was tied 39-39 heading into the fourth quarter. 

CAC outscored the Lady Jackrabbits 16-8. CAC made all six of its free throw attempts in the final eight minutes. 

Walker led Lonoke with 27 points. Woodruff had seven. Gracie Hyde scored six. Pool and White had three points each. Williams added a free throw.

CAC’s All-American junior Christyn Williams led all scorers with 33 points. 

Lonoke coach Heath Swiney was proud of the way his team played last week. 

“Any time you can get to the postseason, you’ve had a good year,” Swiney said. “That first one was big. Some of the conferences get first-round byes but ours doesn’t. With that first game, the coaches are tight; the kids are tight. I thought we played more loose in the tournament the more games we played. I think that will help us next week.

“I thought our kids played real well in the district tournament. Our kids just came up a little short in the finals.”

Swiney said his team earned their shot at the postseason. 

“We just happened to get beat by CAC,” he said. 

For Lonoke to have a chance to play in the Class 4A state tournament, it must beat Highland on Thursday in the regional. According to Max Preps, the Lady Rebels are 11-14 on the season. 

“I went and watched them play and they’ve got a guard and post player,” he said. “They are real similar to Heber Springs. Their post player is really skilled and their guard is really quick and can get to the basket. We’re going to watch some film on them.”

Swiney added that Highland is a “pretty good shooting team.”

“They play in northeast Arkansas and northeast Arkansas loves their basketball,” he said. “We’re going to have to go up there and be ready to play.”

The Lonoke Jackrabbits earned a spot in the regional tournament with a 71-69 overtime win  over Riverview in the first round of the district tournament. They will be the fourth seed at Cave City and will play host Cave City in the first round on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.

No. 3 Lady Bison rally from 15 down to beat No. 1 Earle, win district tourney

The Carlisle Lady Bison celebrate after beating defending state champion Earle to win the 2A-3 East district tournament Saturday night at McCrory (Photos by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

McCRORY — The heart of a champion can never be underestimated. And the Carlisle Lady Bison showed that they have the biggest heart in the 2A-3 East district.

The Lady Bison rallied from a 15-point third-quarter deficit to beat defending Class 2A state champion Earle 50-49 and win the district tournament championship Saturday at Jaguar Gymnasium.

Carlisle, ranked third in Class 2A by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, trailed 43-28 with 40 seconds left in the third quarter. Earle, the top-ranked team, opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run to lead 35-21. 

Carlisle never gave up as it was playing the second half without its leading scorer Kylie Warren, who injured her right ankle on the final play of the second quarter. 

Carlisle trailed 40-28 when Lady Bison coach Jonathan Buffalo was hit with a technical foul. After Earle pushed the lead to 43-28, Carlisle’s DeShaye Ricks converted a three-point play with 18.3 seconds left in the quarter to make the score 43-31.

Ricks converted another three-point play early in the fourth quarter to pull the Lady Bison to whine nine at 43-34. Earle’s RoShala Scott hit a jumper to give her team a 45-34 lead with 7:19 left.

From there, the Lady Bison scored eight consecutive points to pull to whiten three at 45-42. Ashby Terry started the run with two free throws. Heather Bowlan, Blakely Ellis and Ricks each scored two points to account for the run.

Earle pushed its lead to 47-42 with 4:37 left. From there, Carlisle made it a free-throw shooting contest. And it cost the Lady Bulldogs.

Earle missed its least five free throws, including three front ends of the one-and-one. 

Carlisle’s Kayla Golleher hit a three-pointer with 1:41 left to pull the Lady Bison to within two at 47-45. After Scott missed a free throw, Golleher gave Carlisle its first lead of the second half with her second trey of the fourth quarter at 48-47.

Earle reclaimed the lead at 49-49 with 52 seconds left. The Lady Bulldogs had a chance to push their lead to three but Elaijha Brown missed two free throws with 27 seconds left.

That set up Golleher, who made a basket with 17.6 seconds left. She was fouled on the play but missed the free throw, leaving the score at 50-49.

Scott had a chance to win the game for Earle but missed a short jumper with 11 seconds left. The Lady Bison rebounded the ball and got it up the floor where Ellis threw up a long three-pointer as time expired, sending the Lady Bison and their fans into a frenzy that hasn’t been seen since Carlisle won the Class 2A state title in 2008.

“This was a great show of the character that these young ladies have,” Buffalo said. “This group has never quit on me all year. It’s a testament to how their work ethic and attitudes they have on a daily basis.”

Buffalo said “it was the next man up” after Warren left the game.

“One of their teammates was down and somebody has got to step up,” he said. “We stepped up and made just enough plays. I got the technical foul and I thought it brought a little more energy. I thought the kids responded to it and played a little harder.

“It was a great win.”

DeShaye Ricks makes a move toward the basket late in the fourth quarter. 

Ricks led the Lady Bison with 15 points. Warren had 12 in the first half. Bowlan and Golleher had eight points each. Ellis scored four. Terry had three. Kiara Miller scored two.

Brown led Earle with 17 points. Scott had 15. Laderyca Childs had 11. 

The Lady Bison will be the top seed in the regional tournament, which starts Wednesday at Bison Arena.

Carlisle will play Sloan-Hendrix at 7 p.m. It will be the biggest game of the season. If they win, they will guarantee themselves three more games, including a spot in the Class 2A state tournament. The Lady Greyhounds enter the regional at 13-17 while the Lady Bison are 25-3, having won 14 consecutive games. 

“We’ve still got a big one on Wednesday at 7 o’clock,” Buffalo said. “All of our goals are still in front of us. The next game is the biggest game because it is a must-win basketball game.”

Kayla Golleher battles for a loose ball.

Lonoke's Hyde wins three state indoor titles, scores 36 points

Lonoke's Gracie Hyde shows off her medals after participating in the state indoor track meet Friday in Fayetteville. (Photo courtesy of Steve Hyde)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

FAYETTEVILLE — Lonoke distance runner Gracie Hyde had a banner night during the Class 1A-4A state indoor track meet.

Hyde, a junior, won three races and finished third in another at the Randal Tyson Track Center. As Lonoke’s only participant, she finished with 36 points, which was good enough for fourth place in the team standings. Pulaski Robinson won the team state title with 74 points. 

Hyde won the 800 meters with a time of 2 minutes, 31.40 seconds. She won the 1,600 with a time of 5:38.57. She also won the 3,200 with a time of 11:47.93. 

Hyde finished third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:02.59.