With center Yo'myris Morris protecting the paint and guards De'Myla Brown, Amber Hawkinson and Jordyn Neal active on the perimeter, the North Little Rock Lady Charging Wildcats found the recipe for defensive success against Conway Thursday afternoon.
North Little Rock (26-4) limited the Lady Wampus Cats (27-4) to just 36 percent shooting from the field, holding Conway to 17 points below its season average in a 66-49 win in the Class 7A state championship at Bank of the Ozarks Arena.
Avenging last year's championship loss to Fayetteville, the title was the Lady Charging Wildcats' second in the last three years and fourth overall.
"It goes back to these kids all buying in over the last couple weeks," North Little Rock coach Daryl Fimple said. "They have all been around this. They were all in the state finals last year, so their experience really helped us a lot this year."
Behind eight points from Brown, North Little Rock rode a 10-0 run to an early 12-3 lead in the first quarter. The Lady Wampus Cats bounced back with 3-pointers from Alyssa Netherlain and Reagan Roetzel, but the Lady Charging Wildcats maintained a 19-8 advantage at the end of the opening period.
"They are a senior-led team and I think they are the best team," Conway coach Ashley Nance said of North Little Rock.
Converting on just 3 of its first 10 shots from the field, Conway's shooting woes continued into the second quarter. The Lady Wampus Cats shot 4 of 16 from the field, but two 3-pointers from Netherlain and one from Myia Yelder kept Conway within 32-22 at the half.
Morris and An'nyah Pettus combined for 10 points in the second quarter for North Little Rock.
"With how well they were playing, I was pretty satisfied with it being a 10-point game at halftime," said Nance. "We were down 15 the last time we played North Little Rock, and we were able to come back and cut it to four. They did a really good job of coming back after we made a run."
After Conway opened the third quarter with a basket by Asiyha Smith and a trey from Yelder, the Lady Charging Wildcats ansewered right back with a 7-0 run to push the lead back to double-digits and take control for good.
North Little Rock led by as many as 16 points in the third period before settling with a 49-38 advantage entering the final frame.
"We went almost four minutes without scoring, but then Jordyn (Neal) made a good play and got the basketball to Yo'myris for a score and kind of got us going back in the right direction," Fimple said. "That was the key. Jordyn Neal the last two weeks has just been pushing the basketball and making great decisions with it."
The Lady Wampus Cats got a basket from Cardrina Nolen to pull within 49-40 early in the fourth period, but Hawkinson fired right back with a shot form behind the arc to spark a 7-0 North Little Rock run and Conway got no closer the rest of the way.
Hawkinson scored nine of her game-high 18 points in the final frame to keep the Lady Wampus Cats at bay. Brown earned most valuable player honors after stuffing the stat sheet with 17 points, six rebounds, three steals and one assist.
Morris recorded 15 points with six rebounds, three assists and two blocks in her final game for North Little Rock.
"I think it's the best feeling," she said. "This is something that teenagers dream of doing their entire lives. There's people that are older than us that haven't accomplished as much as we have."
Yelder paced Conway with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Smith finished with 14 points, six rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.
Sports on 03/09/2018