Hot Springs struggled against J.A. Fair's defense early on Friday, but the Lady Trojans found their rhythm in the second quarter and cruised to a 51-35 win over the visiting Lady War Eagles at Trojan Fieldhouse.
The Lady Trojans (5-6, 1-0 5A-South) led by just 10 points at halftime, 24-14, but they shut down the Lady War Eagles (1-10, 0-1) in the third quarter to take firm control of the game.
Senior center Bre Collins dominated the second half for the Lady Trojans, opening up the third quarter with a pair of buckets on passes inside by junior forward Markiah Meadows and junior guard Alivia Erby for a 28-14 lead just 1:03 into the period.
Sophomore forward Nariah Samuels scored on a putback with 6:38 to go to pull the Lady War Eagles within 28-16, but the Lady Trojans hit a 7-1 run to pull out to a 35-17 lead at the 4:07 mark. Sophomore guard Jaylia Reed found classmate KaLariya McDaniel in the paint to cap the run. The Lady War Eagles closed out the period on a 4-1 run for a 36-21 margin going into the final period.
Senior guard Kiah Beauford hit a shot in the paint with just 48 seconds off the clock in the fourth off an assist from Meadows to kick off a 6-2 run to pull to a 42-23 lead with 4:48 to go. Senior guard Keyonna Winston hit a 3-pointer off an assist from sophomore forward Nikiah Samuels just 20 seconds later to pull back within 42-26. Fair pulled within 45-32 by the 2:23 mark, but the Lady Trojans closed out the game on a 6-3 stretch to claim the win.
"We found a way to win a game that wasn't pretty," said Hot Springs head coach Josh Smith. "We did a good job in the third quarter to get the lead back under control where we wanted it. We relaxed in the fourth quarter.
"They did a good job fighting back, attacking us, making some shots that never let us push it out to where we wanted it. Give them credit for fighting. Overall, we tried to play a little fast tonight, try to get a bunch of shots. We tried to attack; we did. We went to the free throw line a bunch and didn't capitalize."
Fair allowed just eight points in the opening quarter, but the Lady War Eagles were only able to get a single bucket out of 10 shots for an early hole.
"We're a little bit inexperienced," said Fair head coach Shirley Goodnight. "I thought we played well defensively early in the game.
"I don't know if we're a little out of shape, but we got a little tired and lost focus. My girls played hard. I'm proud of them. I wouldn't trade them. I would like for us to play four full quarters. We had some lapses that cost us."
Senior guard Chasity Trotter opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer just 14 seconds in, but Winston responded with the Lady War Eagles' first trey of the game just under a minute later. Following another trey from Trotter, Fair put up five straight points to pull within 14-10 with 5:00 remaining. After a 1:30 dry spell, Fair got the next field goal to pull within 15-12.
Hot Springs closed out the half on a 9-2 run to take a 24-14 lead into the break.
"We're still finding things that we've got to improve on," Smith said. "Like I told them, 'We had it where we wanted it in the third, and we let them come back a little in the fourth' as a young team that has zero starters from last year out there on the floor."
The Lady Trojans are also battling through some injuries for key players.
"Jurnee (Hicks) played some tonight for the first time in five or six games," Smith said. "Jaidan (Thomas) is out again. We're trying to still figure out who we are, playing a different combination of people, and it's going to take us time. We've just got to figure it out.
"I told them now, every game matters. Last year, the year before, you had the conference tournament to fall back on. Now, every game matters. You've got to turn it on every night, and you've got to find a way to put people away and finish games and not let them come back a little bit like we did."
Fair beat Hot Springs on the boards, pulling down 30 rebounds to the Lady Trojans' 26, but Hot Springs won the turnover battle, 32-18.
"I thought they came up with the loose balls, the 50-50 balls," Smith said. "They were on the floor more than us. That's something that we talk about. We've got to come up with those. I tell Bre, 'You've got to go get me 10 (rebounds). You've got to get me 10 a night, and there's no reason you shouldn't get me 10.'
"We've got to find that side to turn some on. When she's in the game, she has to do those things for us. Jurnee's got to get there. Our guards have got to do a better job of getting in there. It's a team effort."
Collins led the team with 15 points with 13 coming in the second half. She also had six rebounds and a steal.
Reed had 10 points with eight rebounds, six assists and four steals. Beauford had three assists and two steals, while Hicks had five rebounds and two steals in 14 minutes of play.
Nariah Samuels led the Lady War Eagles with 11 points, three rebounds, a steal and an assist. Winston added nine points with six rebounds and two steals. Nikiah Samuels had five assists, three steals, two rebounds and a block, while Jalaya Avery had seven rebounds, two steals, two blocks and an assist.
Hot Springs will travel to Texarkana (8-7, 0-1) Tuesday.
Sports on 01/06/2019