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.