BALD KNOB -- The last state tournament has finally arrived for Jessieville seniors Kellie Lampo and Faith Bratton, and they made sure it wasn't a short stay.
Lampo and Bratton, whose last two seasons have ended in the semifinals, combined for 54 points and 25 rebounds, leading the second-seeded Lady Lions to a 62-48 victory over No. 3 seed Genoa Central in the first round of the Class 3A tournament Wednesday.
"Both were good offensively, but we have to do better tomorrow night," said Jessieville coach Matt Carter, winning his sixth consecutive state opener. "... Faith and Kellie, they were solid. They've been that way all year long, and we'll need another one out of them tomorrow night."
Jessieville (26-5) advances to face Region 3 top seed Hoxie at 7 tonight in the tournament's first quarterfinal. The day after battling Ouachita Baptist signee Eden Crow, Harding signee Lampo faces another college prospect in Hoxie center Sydney Gillham.
"She's a little bit different player than the one we saw tonight," said Carter of Gillham. "The one tomorrow night can go out on the perimeter a little bit while this one wasn't able to do that as much. We'll have to prepare, and it will be a different type of game. But we're ready for it."
Lampo and Bratton scored all 13 of Jessieville's first-quarter points and all but three of its first-half 32. Their effort in the first eight minutes wasn't enough, though, as Genoa (22-10) drilled three of five three-pointers for a 15-13 lead by the end of the period.
The Lady Dragons led by four times in the second half after a 7-0 run in the first quarter, the final four-point lead at 27-23 with 3:23 left before the Lady Lions ended the first half on a 9-2 run.
Bratton scored four in final 20 seconds of the half, including a buzzer-beating runner that made it 32-29 at halftime.
"I think we were all pretty excited," Bratton said. "I know I was excited, for sure."
Bratton said Carter's halftime speech was still heated after the Lady Lions yielded 29 first-half points. They responded by opening the second half on an 11-2 run, taking a 43-31 lead with 2:47 left in the third.
"When he has confidence in us and he builds it and he gets fired up, then he gets us fired up," Bratton said. "Then you want to come out and win the game as much as anyone."
The Lady Dragons fought through Jessieville's renewed defensive intensity to pull within 48-39. They were just 4 of 12 in the third quarter, allowing the Lady Lions to get a better grasp of the win.
"I thought our defense was a lot better in the second half," Carter said. "We gave up 29 points in the first half, and that's way too many. We only gave up 19 in the second half, and that's the way to go. We have to do better offensively, but it's a nice win. I'll take that."
Genoa point guard Victoria Hill nailed a three-pointer to pull within 48-42 to open the final period, but the Lady Lions made sure she didn't score again. Jessieville limited the Lady Dragons to six points over the final 7:33, forcing seven fourth-quarter turnovers with five steals.
"We made some adjustments. We tried to take No. 11 (Hill) out of the game as much as possible in the second half," Carter said. "Jaidyn Fortenberry did a good job on her, then we had Mary (Carter) and Lexi (Bassett) combine on her. Their big girl was a load, and she's a nice player. So we switched the defense to stop No. 11 to make somebody else handle the ball. That created those turnovers."
The long stretches between scores helped Jessieville put the game away with a 7-0 run, taking its largest lead at 61-46 with 39 seconds left.
Crow had all six of Genoa's final points, finishing with a team-high 18 and game-high three blocks (two against Lampo). She and Lampo brought out the best in each other, the latter finishing with a game-high 32 points and 17 rebounds.
"I think it's just fun competition," Lampo said. "It just gives you something to prove because in 3A, you don't see that a lot. Our team battled hard against it. We went out there and we executed."
Bratton finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. She and Lampo helped Jessieville dominate the rebounding battle 43-23, 19-5 on the offensive glass.
"He always stresses rebounding, every day in practice," Lampo said. "It's a big key for us in the game."
Hill finished with 16 points for the Lady Dragons, Carly Wood adding 11 before fouling out with with 2:53 to play. The Lady Lions were 17 of 23 on free throws to only 3 of 4 for Genoa.
Genoa Central;15 14 10 9 -- 48
Jessieville;13 19 16 14 -- 62
Genoa Central: Crow 18, Hill 16, Wood 11, Hampton 3.
Jessieville: Lampo 32, Bratton 22, Wilson 7, Bassett 1.
Sports on 03/02/2017