PEARCY -- Viola junior Sami McCandlis and freshman sister A.J. combined for 36 points as the Lady Longhorns held off West Side Greers Ferry 60-56 in a battle of the top seeds from Regions 2 and 3 in the Class 1A state semifinal at Lake Hamilton Wolf Arena.
The Lady Eagles (32-10) took a 21-19 lead into the second half, but Viola (39-2) knotted the score 17 seconds into the third. Sophomore Ashtyn Knapp drained a 3-pointer 13 seconds later, maintaining the small lead until until a 3-point play by Sami McCandlis made it 26-25 with 1:32 off the clock.
The lead bounced back and forth throughout the quarter until Viola hit a 6-point run, including a 4-point play by senior guard Keyaira Moore with 4:11 left in the third. West Side pulled within 3, but the Lady Longhorns kept the spread around 5, taking a 42-27 lead into the fourth.
Junior Kamryn Sutterfield hit a bucket 22 seconds into the fourth, but back-to-back buckets for the Lady Longhorns pushed their lead out to 7 with just 56 seconds elapsed. The two teams traded buckets with the Lady Eagles pulling within 51-48 at the 3:06 mark.
Viola hit a 4-0 spurt that West Side countered with one of its own, but the Lady Longhorns took care of business at the line in the stretch, making 5 of 6 to take a 60-54 lead. West Side senior Madison Bailey stole an inbounds pass from the younger McCandlis, making a quick layup on an unguarded basket out of a timeout to set the final.
Both teams came out with a stout defense with neither making a bucket until 1:29 off the clock. Neither team took a significant lead as the first quarter came to close with a 9-all tie.
The lead bounced back and forth throughout the period with Viola taking a 19-16 lead with 1:41 to go, but West Side senior Madison Bailey hit a 3-pointer 30 seconds later to knot the score, and with 4.2 seconds left in the half, Sutterfield drew a foul on a putback attempt, making both for a 3-point lead into intermission.
Sami McCandlis put up a team-high 21 points with five rebounds and three steals, and A.J. McCandlis added 15 points with four steals and a rebound. Senior Braidlyn Fierce put up 12 points with seven rebounds and a steal, junior Lindsey Browning had 8 points with five rebounds and a steal, and senior Keyaira Moore rounded out the scoring with 4 points, four rebounds, a steal and an assist.
Sutterfield led the Lady Eagles with 21 points, four rebounds, a block, a steal and an assist, senior Alex Southerland added 11 points, six rebounds, a steal and a block and sophomore Ashtyn Knapp put up 10 points with two assists and a rebound. Sophomore Sarah Carlton and senior Madison Bailey had 6 points each with Bailey padding the stat sheet with three rebounds, three assists and two steals, and junior Haley Gentry rounded out the scoring with 2 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Viola will face Kirby in the final at noon Thursday at Bank OZK Arena.
Sports on 03/09/2020