PEARCY -- One Lake Hamilton junior high team handed a Lakeside opponent its first loss of the season and another received its second defeat when the teams squared off on Monday at Wolf Arena.
A two-point second quarter doomed the junior Rams Monday in a battle of unbeatens. They received their first loss of the season and Lake Hamilton remained undefeated with a 45-30 victory.
The junior Wolves led, 8-7, after the first six minutes. They scored 14 points in the second quarter to take a 21-10 lead into the halftime break. The margin was 28-18 to start the fourth quarter.
"The Wolves then finished strong with a 17-point fourth quarter as they were able to take advantage of Lakeside as the Rams extended their defensive pressure," said Lake Hamilton junior high coach Bobby Tedder.
Chase Jessup and Gavin Robbins tied for the game lead with 13 points apiece. Zac Pennington scored seven points, while Cade Robinson and Ethan Watson each scored six points.
"We were outplayed for most of the game," said Lakeside junior high Cody Lambert. W"e were hit with some adversity in the second quarter and we never responded.
Jordan Mills led the junior Rams with nine points.
"I thought Jordan Mills played tough tonight," Lambert said. "He was the one player that consistently was trying to compete.
"Lake Hamilton is probably the best team we will play all year. They have all of the tools to be a great team. I wish we would've competed harder to have made it a more enjoyable game. Hopefully, we learn from our mistakes and correct them moving forward."
The junior Wolves will play their final game before the holiday break on Thursday at home against Cabot North before hosting the Kameron Hale Invitational during the break. Lake Hamilton will continue play in the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference after the break.
Lake Hamilton and Lakeside are not scheduled to meet again this season.
Girls
Ronnie Formby gave Lakeside a two-point lead to open the girls' game on Monday. It was the only lead for Lakeside (7-2) in a 57-33 loss.
Lake Hamilton (7-3) scored the final 10 points of the quarter. Both teams went through a scoring drought in the second quarter until Mady Davenport hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the score 18-8 going into halftime.
"Our first half defense was fantastic," said Lake Hamilton junior high coach Maribeth Richards. "We've really stressed communicating on the defensive end, and we put in a few new things in practice this week that forced the girls to talk.
"I was really proud of their effort on that end of the floor. It was also really nice to just see them have fun out there tonight. There were several moments on the court tonight that I can remember seeing the girls laugh and smile while they were playing the game. It seems like their hard work in practice is starting to allow them to relax, have fun and play the game."
Lake Hamilton pulled away in the third quarter with 23 points in the frame behind 14 points from Ginny Higginbotham and seven points from Hayleigh Wyrick. The junior Lady Wolves were able to stretch the lead out by outscoring the visitors, 16-13, in the fourth quarter.
"I was just disappointed in our competitiveness from the start," said Lakeside coach Gary Don Smith. "We really struggled with their defense and Lake Hamilton really shot the ball well.
"We started playing better in the second quarter and our kids played hard, but Lake Hamilton is a really good team."
Higginbotham finished with 28 points, five rebounds and four assists. She was 6-for-8 on 3-pointers in the game and made 3 of 3 in the third quarter, including a step-back shot at the buzzer.
"Ginny played with a lot of confidence tonight," Richards said. "Coach (Katie) Williams and I have been on her in games and in practice about looking for her shot. The past two years, she has been a great distributor and sees the floor so well for a junior high kid. Her knowledge of the game for a ninth-grade basketball player is unreal.
"This year, I really want to see her grow into the scorer that my assistant and I both know that she can be. Tonight was a great step in that direction."
Wyrick followed suit with 17 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
Formby hit fur free throws in the third quarter and Sarah Porter scored all four of her points in the frame, but the junior Lady Rams were unable to keep pace. Formby finished with a team-high 10 points. Davenport finished with eight points and Kennedy Brock added six.
* Brock scored 14 points in the eighth-grade girls' game to help Lakeside take a 39-28 game. The visitors led throughout the first half with an 11-8 edge at the end of the first quarter and a 19-11 edge at halftime.
Lake Hamilton cut the lead to two points at 30-28 by the end of the third quarter. Lakeside (5-0) held the junior Lady Wolves scoreless in the final frame to take the win.
Riley Orr scored eight points. Emylee Bittinger and Brooklyn Bourland scored seven points apiece.
Sports on 12/12/2018