ARKADELPHIA -- Nashville allowed only 6 first-half points en route to a 56-15 rout over Arkadelphia Friday night at Badger Gymnasium.
After turning a 12-3 first-quarter lead 47-8 advantage going into the final frame, the Lady Scrappers (12-4, 3-1 4A-7) continued to dominate and hold Arkadelphia (4-6, 1-2) to just 12 more points.
"There towards the end of the second quarter we just kind of got disappointed, kind of got down and had a lack of effort there," said Lady Badgers head coach Jonathan Klein. "I thought effort-wise we came back in the second half and played a little bit harder and played a little bit better. But, you know, we're short-handed tonight, and who we had did everything that they could do for the most part, but I think we'll learn from it and we'll get better."
Nashville jumped out to an early 6-0 lead behind Kyleigh Scoggins' back-to-back steals and buckets. Junior Trinity McKenzie responded with the first of three 3-pointers on the night halfway through the period, but Nashville doubled its score to take a 12-3 lead into the second.
McKenzie hit another trey just three minutes into the quarter, but it was the Lady Badgers' last points of the half as Nashville put up 19 unanswered points to take a 25-point lead into intermission.
Arkadelphia senior Latanya Price grabbed a rebound, passing it in to sophomore Aliyah Ware, in hopes of spurring a comeback, but the bucket was the only time the ball cleared the hoop for the Lady Badgers in the third. The Lady Scrappers went on a 16-0 run to push out to a 47-8 lead going into the final eight minutes.
Nashville continued to roll early in the fourth quarter as K.K. Perkins hit a 3-pointer and a transition layup, but McKenzie hit her final trey of the night with 2:30 off the clock. Sophomore Taylor Woodson put up 5 straight points before Perkins iced the game with a steal and basket.
"This is our second time coming off quarantine," Klein said after the game. "We were quarantined the last two games, and this is our second time doing that. We still have five players out; we're missing five out of 12 players right now. So, I mean, it's hit us hard, not just now, but throughout the whole season. We've been battling it all year."
Scoggins led Nashville with 14 points, five steals, two rebounds and one assist. Lauren Carver had 8 points, four rebounds, two steals and an assist, Sidney Townsend had 7 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists, Perkins had 7 points, three rebounds and one steal, Olivia Dean had 7 points with a steal, and Honesty Taylor had 5 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Macy Morris and Ellen Spigner each tallied 3 points with Morris adding six rebounds and two blocks, and Heavyn Collins finished with 2 points, two rebounds and an assist.
McKenzie led Arkadelphia with 9 points and two rebounds while Woodson added 4 points with seven rebounds and Ware added 2 points with two rebounds.
The Lady Badgers play Fountain Lake on the road on Tuesday while Nashville hosts Hope on Tuesday.