Hot Springs junior Markiah Meadows hit a 3-point shot moments into the fourth quarter to set the tone for a comeback bid as the Lady Trojans avenged their Jan. 18 road loss with a 36-30 win at Trojan Fieldhouse Tuesday night.
Meadows' shot put Hot Springs ahead by two, 24-22, but after the two teams traded buckets throughout the first four minutes of the period, the Lady Trojans rallied together to pull ahead, 34-30, after sophomore Jaylia Reed was fouled on a made bucket with a minute remaining.
Hot Springs (12-10, 8-4 5A-South) held onto the ball as time ticked off the clock, and senior Jaidan Thomas made one more shot to defeat Benton (14-11, 7-5).
"I'm excited. We had a lot of girls step up tonight," said Hot Springs girls' head coach Josh Smith. "The opportunity presented itself and gave them some minutes they hadn't played this year. Chasity Trotter stepped up and did a good job on defense and running the offense. She set some screens that really opened us up in the first half so I'm proud of her.
"Markiah (Meadows) stepped in and played big. They went to a zone against us then she stepped up and hit a three when we needed it. Alivia Erby did what she does on defense and grabbed a huge offensive rebound put back. Jaylia (Reed) fought through foul trouble. Jaidan had a heck of a game in the post and Jurnee (Hicks) does what she does every night and that's being a leader on the floor for us. I'm sure I forgot somebody, but I'm just proud of them as a team. I feel like you ask for a team win and this is what that is."
Reed put the Lady Trojans on the board early as she hit a pair of field goals from inside the lane. Benton answered with consecutive buckets from the field to tie the score, 4-4, with four minutes remaining.
A trey by Reed and a pair of buckets in the paint by Hicks and Thomas helped push the Lady Trojans to an 11-8 lead going into the second frame.
Both teams struggled to get their offenses going in the second quarter, putting up six points each as the Lady Trojans held on for a 17-14 lead going into the half.
A bucket by Hannah Brewer pushed the Lady Panthers ahead of Hot Springs, 20-19, at the three-minute mark in the third. Meadows sank another bucket in the final minutes of the period, but another Benton bucket gave the visitors the lead going into the final frame, 22-21.
"We didn't play very well at Benton's place and they beat us by double figures. For them to come in and that's confidence for them when they step in knowing that they held us to 23 points at their place," said Smith. "They're a great defensive team and it showed tonight. It was a defensive battle I thought on both ends all night and we were very fortunate to come up on the right side of it."
Reed and Thomas led the Lady Trojans with 10 points apiece. Reed pulled down six rebounds with a pair of steals to three boards from Thomas. Meadows added nine, and Hicks pulled down six rebounds of her own.
"We need to continue the 'next game' mentality," Smith said. "We're at eight right now, there's two left and they're huge games for seeding purposes and just to get in. I still think it's up in the air on all of it so we need to keep a 'next game' mentality."
The Lady Trojans travel to Sheridan Friday before facing cross-town rival Lakeside Tuesday for senior night. The Lady Yellowjackets have a one-game lead over Hot Springs, which currently sits third in the conference.
With Lake Hamilton (17-6, 10-2) leading the conference with two games left before the state tournament, the seedings are not set with just four games separating the top six teams. Only the top four teams in the conference will advance to the 5A state tournament at Lake Hamilton starting Feb. 26.
"Sheridan handed it to us in the fourth quarter here at home," Smith said of the 53-39 loss on Jan. 22. "It was a one-point game going into the fourth quarter, then they ended up beating us by 15. We've got a huge task ahead of us on Friday, so we've got to go to work tomorrow and see what we can figure out against them."
Sports on 02/14/2019