Lady Wolves grind out win over Magnolia
PEARCY — Seeking to avenge an eight-point loss at Magnolia, the Lake Hamilton Lady Wolves, led by the three-point shooting of Hannah Walker and Sara Bershers, took a 38-25 win at Wolf Arena Friday night.
“I thought it was an ugly, grind-it-out win, and that’s what I’ve talked to the girls about,” said Lake Hamilton head coach Blake Condley. “When you get down the stretch and teams are prepared for you and teams are getting ready for conference and state tournament, you’re going to have to grind games out. We talked about the other night at Lakeside was one of those games, but we came out on the wrong end of it. Tonight, we were able to hit some shots down the stretch to try to get us the lead and get Magnolia out of what they wanted to do. I’m just really proud of the girls, proud of how we’re growing, and we’re learning and getting better.”
Walker was three-foreight beyond the arc, accounting for nine of her 13
points, while Bershers nailed two treys for six of her 10 points. Bershers led the Lady Wolves with seven rebounds and two blocked shots and Walker had five rebounds.
“Hannah wants to have the ball in her hands,” Condley said. “She wants it. That’s one of the things I love about her. Sara’s was pretty balanced. I think she scored some early and then got some for us late. I’m just proud of the overall team effort and how the girls share the ball and try to get it to whoever’s open and whoever we need that night.”
Magnolia’s Kisi Young led her team with 15 points and four steals.
The two teams battled in the first half with Lake Hamilton taking a 7-6 lead in the first before the two teams tied it up twice in the second, but the Lady Wolves were on top 15-13 at the break. The Lady Wolves didn’t score until 3:47 remained in the third, but were able to stretch their lead to 25-18 before outscoring Magnolia 13-7 in the fourth to secure the win.
Free throws and rebounding were key for the Lady Wolves as they went 9-for-10 at the line and out-rebounded the Lady Panthers 21-12.
“The big thing is 9-for10 at the free throw line,” Condley explained. “We talked about free throws will win games and rebounding will win games. Early we weren’t rebounding real well. We were giving up some offensive rebounds for them. I’m just proud of the girls. We’re not going to shoot great every night, especially against a team that’s going to guard you pretty well and closes out on the shooters, and we find the way to win.”
The Lady Wolves (14-7, 8-4 in 5A/6A-6) will travel to El Dorado Tuesday in an attempt to avenge a four-point loss suffered at home last month. The Lady Panthers (9-8, 7-5) will host Texarkana Tuesday.
Boys
Jordan Harper hit seven three-pointers Friday night to lead to Lake Hamilton Wolves to a 48-42 victory over the visiting Magnolia Panthers at Wolf Arena.
Harper finished with 22 points on the night and grabbed two rebounds, Mondo Watkins added 14 points and Juan Jackson had six rebounds and took two charges.
Trey Davis led Magnolia with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Magnolia’s Tyler Brown hit a trey to start the game as the Panthers took a 10-5 lead in the first. The Wolves were able to bounce back in the second to take a 19-16 lead before Davis nailed a trey to tie it up at the buzzer.
After the break, the Wolves took advantage of an 11-0 run to take a 37-30 lead before stretching their lead to as much as eight in the fourth to seal the win.
Lake Hamilton head coach Scotty Pennington admitted that he had to change his team’s game plan due to Magnolia’s head coach, Dyun Long, anticipating the original plan.
“Once we got the lead against the 1-3-1, we were going to pull out and run our offense so we could run the clock and spread them out and try to attack the basket,” Pennington said. “Dyun knew that. We have a little back history. Dyun was actually my coach in high school; he was an assistant for a year. He helped my dad, so he knows a lot of things we do and I know a lot of things he does. I don’t think he wanted to spread out and guard that, so he spread out to man and honestly it helped us because we were able to get Jordan free for some looks with some set plays, and he buried those shots and that was huge. Once we got the lead, I thought Mondo Watkins, sophomore point guard, just took over the game. He took care of the ball. He didn’t turn it over, and he stepped to the free throw line and finished them off at the line. That was a big run in the third quarter, and Mondo sealed the deal in the fourth.”
Although the Wolves were able to pick up the win behind the three-point shooting of Harper and Watkins’ free throw shooting, the team did struggle with rebounding as the Panthers out-rebounded them 17-12.
“Sometimes the hardest teams to block out are quicker teams,” Pennington explained. “They don’t have to be big, but they’re quick and they get off the floor fast and they’re hard to get a body on. That’s kind of what Magnolia has.”
The Wolves (16-7, 7-5) look to avenge a 26-point loss as they travel to El Dorado, who took advantage of the Wolves’ loss of Larenz Nero a week prior to the Wildcats’ visit last month. The Panthers (9-7, 6-6) will host Texarkana, who beat them by 10 last week.