Texarkana failed to keep its composure in the second half as Lakeside maintained its momentum to stretch a 31-16 third-quarter lead to a 47-25 win at Lakeside Athletic Complex Friday.
"We were impatient a little bit in the first half on offense," said Lakeside head coach Chris Brock. "Even though we were ahead, I thought we could have had a bigger lead at the half if we had just been a little bit more patient and gotten a little bit better shots. Their team speed is really, really good, and so we have to screen, take the correct angles and get the ball where we want to get the ball. When we did that in the second half, we got a lot of layups. ... They're sticking to our game plan really good, and they're trying as hard as they can try."
Senior Adachi Igbokidi got things going early for Lakeside with a 3-point play as Texarkana senior Zniah Nelson and sophomore Keniyah Bryant each put up a bucket for a single-point lead. With 4:21 on the clock, Igbokidi sank a shot from the free throw line with sophomore Riley Orr connecting with Igbokidi moments later on an under-the-bucket pass as junior Ronni Formby found classmate Sarah Porter on the inside for an 8-4 edge.
Missed buckets plagued the Lady Razorbacks, but the visitors managed to pull within 3 moving into the second period. Lakeside extended its lead with a 3-pointer from Porter and back-to-back steals by sophomore Allie Pollock opened up opportunities for a pair of field goals as Lakeside pushed out to an 18-9 lead.
Leading Texarkana by 7 at intermission, the Lady Rams hit a 6-1 stretch before Nelson hit a bucket to slow the bleeding with a 26-14 deficit. Igbokidi found Porter for an inside shot to kick off a 9-2 run as Igbokidi sank a pair of free throws at the top of the final period.
The Lady Rams continued to keep their opponents out of the paint as Igbokidi added an assist and a bucket, the Lady Razorbacks hopeless to catch up. With Lakeside finishing off their drive on a 9-0 spurt behind sophomore Kennedy Brock, Formby and senior Erika Bittinger, Nelson sealed the final with a trey.
"We did a good job of getting the ball to the right spots," Brock added. "We really want to get the ball to certain areas, certain spots, certain people. We did that really well in the second half. I thought we hit our cutters right off the screen like we want to hit our cutters. We hit them in a good spot where they could score. I like that we got the free throw line more, but I wish we could make a little bit better percentage, but I like that we got to the free throw line quite a bit."
Brock also praised Igbokidi's perfomance within the arc.
"She's been big for us all year," he said. "A joy to coach. She's done that every game. She's a big presence inside for us and doing a great job."
Igbokidi led Lakeside with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists. Porter put up 10 points, two rebounds and two blocks, and junior Mady Davenport finished with 9 points, three boards and two steals.
Bittinger came away with 4 points, four boards, three assists and a steal, Formby had 4 points, two assists, one block, one board and a steal, and Brock had 3 points and a steal. Pollock and classmate Riley Orr rounded out the scoring with 2 points apiece -- Pollock adding three rebounds, two assists, two block and a block and Orr tacking on a rebound, an assist and a steal.
Nelson paced Texarkana with 9 points, a rebound, a block and a steal. Senior Staijah Taylor added 5 points, three assists and a rebound.
Lakeside travels to Pine Bluff Tuesday with junior varsity girls starting at 5 p.m.