CABOT -- Two more standout performances from freshman Hayleigh Wyrick and Ginny Higginbotham recover from the first conference sweep of the season with a sweep of their own on Thursday.
Wyrick led all scorers with 18 points and Higginbotham scored 10 points in a 49-25 road defeat of Cabot South. The junior Lady Wolves (12-6, 6-4 Central Arkansas Junior High Conference) previously defeated South, 54-29, at Wolf Arena in Pearcy on Nov. 26.
The CAJHC tournament is scheduled to begin on Feb. 11 in Cabot.
"Hayleigh and Ginny have done a tremendous job this year just simply leading this team," said Lake Hamilton junior high girls' coach Maribeth Richards. "I call Ginny my floor general because she is always talking and communicating what I've said and what she sees going on.
"They're both great communicators off the court, though. I think that's really helped us this year with our chemistry on the team. They're a dynamic duo, and I don't know that one would be as successful without the other. They compliment each other really well in that what Ginny is really strong at, Hayleigh is really strong in other areas."
Conway White became the first CAJHC team to defeat Lake Hamilton twice this season with a 61-49 victory on Monday in Pearcy. The junior Lady Wolves also fell, 40-32, in Conway on Nov. 15.
"I was really proud of how we bounced back after our loss against Conway White," Richards said. "That was a tough game, and we came out with a lot of energy tonight knowing we needed to get this win."
Wyrick and Higginbotham combined to score 42 of the team's 49 points on Monday.
"I thought our girls battled really hard the entire game," Richards said. "We had some adversity to overcome having one of our starters still on the mend from being sick all weekend, and it hit another one during the game.
"I thought our effort was there for sure, but we didn't execute offensively like we needed to and we got outrebounded all night long. We'd fumble it around rather than being strong and ripping it down tonight. There were several possessions that we would box out like we needed to, but we didn't release to get the ball, so we'd give up rebounds there, too."
Chloe Cardy led all scorers with 22 points for Conway White.
"Give credit to Conway White, though," Richards said. "Man, they have some offensive weapons. We struggled to cover them all.
"We would do a good job stopping one or two, then another girl would step up and knock down a huge shot. They also shot the ball extremely well tonight."
Lake Hamilton is off until Thursday to host Benton at Wolf Arena. The junior Lady Wolves won the first contest on the road, 47-19, on Nov. 29.
Boys
Lake Hamilton's junior high boys' basketball also earned a road victory on Thursday after losing to Conway White at home on Monday.
Gavin Robbins scored 15 points on Thursday and Cade Robinson scored 12 to lead the junior Wolves (15-3, 8-3) to a 46-42 win at Wolf Arena against Cabot South. Chase Jessup added eight points, Zac Pennington scored five and Ethan Watson finished with four.
A 52-37 loss on Monday to Conway White was a third in a row for Lake Hamilton. The junior Wolves began the season 14-0 through the spring semester before consecutive road defeats at North Little Rock, 65-39, and Bryant, 58-53, to start the spring semester before the home loss on Monday.
Lake Hamilton will not see any of the three teams again in the regular season. The junior Wolves previously won, 45-43, against Bryant at Wolf Arena on Nov. 12.
Robbins and Jessup each had 10 points against Conway White. Pennington scored seven points and Robinson added six.
Next up for Lake Hamilton is a home game against Benton on Thursday. The junior Wolves won, 40-29, at Benton on Nov. 29.
Sports on 01/19/2019