Lady Bison hold off Lady Rabbits to win Goldfish Classic

Carlisle's Kylie Warren shoots the go-ahead jumper over Lonoke's Keiunna Walker with 26 seconds left in the finals of the Goldfish Classic on Friday night. (Photos by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

LONOKE — In a classic matchup between two heavyweight contenders, the Carlisle Lady Bison landed the final shot against the Lonoke Lady Jackrabbits.

Carlisle’s Kylie Warren hit a 10-foot off-balance jumper with 26 seconds left then held off two Lonoke three-point attempts to win the Goldfish Classic 55-52 on Friday night at the Gina Cox Center. 

Warren’s basket gave Carlisle (12-3) a 53-52 lead following a three-point by Lonoke’s Keiunna Walker with 40 seconds left. 

Lonoke (12-4) called a timeout after Warren’s basket. However, the Lady Jackrabbits missed a corner three-pointer with 10 seconds left. That led to Carlisle’s Blakely Ellis hitting a short jumper with 4 seconds left. 

Lonoke called another timeout with 31. seconds left. Walker missed a half-court three-pointer as time expired, giving the Lady Bison the victory. 

Carlisle’s victory avenged a 63-48 loss to Lonoke on Dec. 16 at Bison Arena.

The score was tied 6-6 after one quarter. Lonoke led 9-6 after a three-pointer by Mia Brown with 5:40 left in the first half. Carlisle then went on an 11-2 run to lead 19-11 with 1:02 left. Carlisle’s Blakely Ellis hit two three-pointers during the run.

Lonoke’s Arius McClain hit a short jumper with 13 seconds left to make the score 19-13 at halftime.

Walker, who picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter, did not score in the first half. 

Lonoke cut the deficit to 27-26 following Walker’s three-pointer with 1:24 left in the third quarter. Carlisle scored the final six points of the third to lead 33-26. DeShaye Ricks scored four while Kiara Miller added two. 

Carlisle continued its run in the fourth quarter, scoring the first four points to lead 37-26 with 6:16 left. 

Lonoke got back into the game with the three-ball. 

The Lady Jackrabbits cut the deficit to 43-42 with 3:47 left in the game, following a Brown three-pointer. It was the fourth of the fourth quarter. 

Carlisle's Heather Bowlan hit 1 of 2 free throws with 3:36 left. Carlisle then forced a jump ball on the Lonoke end of the floor. However, as the officials blew the whistle, players from each team got up mad. A Lonoke player left the bench and a technical foul was called.

Warren then hit two free throws to make the score 46-42 with 3:15 left. 

Lonoke led 47-46 following two Walker free throws with 2:52 left. Carlisle reclaimed the lead at 49-47 before Walker scored again to tie the game at 49-49 with 1:42 left.

Warren hit a running jumper in the lane to give her team a 51-49 lead with 1:23 left. 

Warren led Carlisle with 22 points. Bowlan had 9. Ricks and Ellis scored eight points each. Miller had seven. Shelby Hancock added a free throw.

Walker led all scorers with 27 points. Brown had nine on three three-pointers. McClain had seven. Kennedy White scored six. Michenzie Williams added three.

Lonoke's Maddie Pool and Hannah Moseley battle for a loose ball with Carlisle's Kiara Miller. 

Lady Rabbits pull away from Lady Bison; Lonoke boys rally to beat Carlisle

Lonoke's Keiunna Walker shoots for two while being guarded by Carlisle's Kiara Miller. (Photos by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

CARLISLE — Lonoke High School won 3 of 4 games from Carlisle High School on Saturday night at Bison Arena. 

Carlisle won the junior girls game 36-19; Lonoke won the junior boys game 39-21, the senior girls game 63-48 and the senior boys game 52-37.

Lady Rabbits rally to beat Lady Bison in heavyweight match

The battle between two of the best players in the state didn’t disappoint as Lonoke rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to beat Carlisle 63-48 on Saturday.

Lonoke senior Keiunna Walker is ranked 31st in the Girls Fab 40 rankings of high school players in Arkansas by www.arkansasbasketballrankings.com. Carlisle senior Kylie Warren is ranked 36th.

Walker scored 43 while Warren had 24 in a matchup two of the best teams in their respective classifications in the state.

Walker scored 18 of her 43 points in the final eight minutes as the Lady Jackrabbits outscored the Lady Bison 27-10.

Carlisle led 27-22 at halftime. Lonoke scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 29-27 lead. Carlisle led 38-36 after three quarters. Warren scored the final four points of the quarter. 

Carlisle’s last lead was 40-38 following a jumper by Heather Bowlan. Lonoke took a 41-40 lead on a three-pointer by Arius McClain with 6:55 left. 

Lonoke pushed its lead to 48-43 with 4:49 left following a layup by Walker. Warren scored on a drive to the basket with 4:20 left to make the score 48-45. Carlisle cut it to 49-47 on a layup by Warren with 3:41 left. McClain responded with a three-pointer to make the score 52-47.

Carlisle’s last points came on a free throw by Kiara Miller with 3:04 left. Lonoke scored the game’s final 11 points to secure the victory. 

McClain added 12 points for Lonoke. Hannah Moseley scored six. Kennedy White had two. 

Blakely Ellis added 10 for Carlisle. Bowlan and Miller had five points each. Shelby Hancock had two. 

Lonoke's Tyriqe Jackson shoots over two Carlisle defenders.

Jackrabbits pull away from Bison

The Carlisle Bison gave the Lonoke Jackrabbits all they wanted but eventually fell 52-37.

Carlisle led 13-12 after one quarter when Will Carter hit an off-balance three-pointer at the buzzer.

Each team scored six points in the second quarter as Carlisle led 19-18 at halftime. 

Lonoke outscored Carlisle 15-9 in the third quarter and 19-9 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory. 

Tyriqe Jackson led Lonoke with 25 points. Nick Tate had nine. Jayden Johnson finished with seven. Braidon Bryant scored six. Timothy Hunter had three. Chase Bryant added two. 

Braiden Jenkins led Carlisle with 12 points. Jamarious Harper, Caleb Jones and Kamryn Taylor had six points each. Carter scored four. Baylor Craig added three.