CONWAY – Jaylea Hooten and Molly Smith each scored in double figures as Heber Springs held off the host, Conway St. Joseph, 45-44, at the Family Activities Center in a tournament contest.
Hooten finished with a team-high 15 points while Smith added 10 as the Panthers trailed 8-4 at the end of the first quarter, but battled back to take a 20-19 advantage into the break.
Heber Springs would lead 38-29 at the end of the third quarter before the Bulldogs would keep close the rest of the way.
Conway St. Joseph’s Kaitlyn Kordsmeier led all scorers with 17 points, including four 3-pointers.
Hooten was a perfect seven-for-seven from the free-throw line for the Panthers as Heber Springs finished 13 of 18 on the night.
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (45): Hope Turney 3, Jaylea Hooten 15, Addison Hudspeth 9, Sophie Stone 8, Molly Smith 10.
CONWAY ST. JOSEPH SCORING (44): Kaitlyn Kordsmeier 17, Chloe Skinner 3, Ashlynn Vote 8, Presli Webb 4, Olivia Williams 9, Lydia Humphrey 3.
HEBER SPRINGS – Molly Smith finished with 16 points as Heber Springs defeated Southside Batesville, 44-30, in senior girls junior varsity play at the Panther Den.
Heber Springs led 24-15 at the half.
Madison Edington paced the Southerners with 10 points.
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (44): Molly Smith 16, Kylie Carr 8, Sophie Stone 8, Emily Fuller 6, Lindsay Southerland 2, Ava Little 2.
SOUTHSIDE BATESVILLE (30): Madison Edington 10, Rose Branscum 8, Carrigan Cossey 6, Avery Simpson 4, Milam 2.
CONWAY – Mayflower knocked down nine 3-pointers and had three players finish in double figures in scoring as they defeated Heber Springs, 61-25, in the St. Joseph tournament at the Family Activities Center.
Hailey Francis finished with 17 points, Kiara Williamson added 12 and Karley Brown with 10 as the Eagles led 22-6 at the end of the first quarter and 42-13 at the break.
Heber Springs was paced by Jaylea Hooten’s 10 points.
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (25): Hope Turney 2, Jaylea Hooten 10, Addison Hudspeth 1, Sophie Stone 5, Emily Fuller 2.
MAYFLOWER SCORING (61): Hailey Francis 17, Karley Brown 10, London Webb 2, Riley Whittington 9, Olivia Patterson 3, Kiara Williamson 12, Ella York 8.
SHIRLEY – Heber Springs raced out to a 25-4 first-quarter advantage and didn’t look back in downing Shirley, 60-20, in nonconference action.
Eleven players scored for the Panthers, paced by Emily Fuller’s 9 points, as Heber Springs led 46-6 at the half and 55-6 at the end of the third quarter.
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (60): Hope Turney 7, Madison Clemons 6, Jaylea Hooten 6, Addison Hudspeth 5, Sophie Stone 5, Savannah Stout 3, Lindsay Southerland 8, Molly Smith 6, Olivia Norton 3, Emily Fuller 9, Ava Little 2.
Heber Springs’ Savannah Stout brings the ball up the court against Guy-Perkins Monday night at the Panther Den. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
HEBER SPRINGS – Jaylea Hooten finished with a game-high 22 points as Heber Springs downed Guy-Perkins, 55-43, Monday night at the Panther Den.
While Hooten garnered the attention of Thunderbirds and the scoring honors, it was a sophomore for the Lady Panthers that probably saved the night as Savannah Stout knocked down five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points.
“She’s probably the reason we won in all honesty,” Heber Springs coach Spencer Gay said. “It’s nice we have different weapons. It was Addison (Hudspeth) that stepped up for us at Bald Knob and tonight it was Savannah.
“I was really proud of Savannah for that.”
It was a slow start for the Lady Panthers after a Jo’Mia Ealy basket gave Guy-Perkins an 8-1 lead with 2:46 left in the opening quarter.
“I knew we were going to be in a little bit of trouble, because their style (of play) is not one we like,” Gay said. “I just had to find a way to get the girls settled in, and it was not even me. The girls just settled themselves pretty well.”
A Hooten 3-pointer at the 2:32 mark of the first quarter provided the first field goal for Heber Springs.
“Once they scored their first bucket,” Gay said, “we can breath and the rest kind of took care of itself.”
The “rest” was a 9-0 run over the next 1:05 to take a 10-8 advantage, before the two teams ended the quarter at 13-all.
The game would remain a back-and-forth affair throughout most of the second quarter before a Hooten free throw would spark an 8-0 run to close out the first half with Heber Springs on top 28-20.
Hooten, who finished the night 9-of-12 from the free-throw line, had 16 points in the first half.
“Every time she touches the ball, you have to know where she is at,” Gay said of Hooten. “I am just impressed with our kids ability to say, ‘You know what, we’ve got your back Jaylea’.”
The Lady Panthers would push their advantage to 10 points after a Stout 3-pointer with 5:46 left in the third quarter.
Field goals by Julissia Young and Mia James would pull the Thunderbirds to within six at 33-27 with 2:35 to go in the third, but the Lady Panthers would go on a 17-0 run over the next seven minutes of game play to take a commanding 50-27 advantage. Stout would fuel the run with three 3-pointers over that stretch.
James paced Guy-Perkins with 13 points as Heber Springs improved to 4-0 with the win.
“Guy scared the crap out of me because of their style,” Gay said. “I was proud of the girls. It was a good win.”
BALD KNOB – Addison Hudspeth finished with 18 points, including three 3-pointers, to help lead Heber Springs to a 46-33 victory over Bald Knob in senior girls nonconference action.
Jaylea Hooten added 15 points in the win, including hitting 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. As a team, the Panthers shot 11-of-17 from the line on the night.
Hope Turney finished with a pair of 3-points as Heber Springs hit six of them on the night.
The Panthers led 17-11 at the half and 32-22 after the end of three quarters of play.
For Bald Knob, Reigiana Ward tied for game-scoring honors with 18 points, including 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs hit 11-of-14 from the charity strip on the night.
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (46): Hope Turney 6, Jaylea Hooten 15, Addison Hudspeth 18, Sophie Stone 1, Savannah Stout 5.
Heber Springs junior Jaylea Hooten battles for position early in the first quarter against Newport Monday night at the Panther Den. Hooten finished with 35 points in the win. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
HEBER SPRINGS – Raigan Head won the scoring battle, but Jaylee Hooten’s team won the game as Heber Springs downed Newport, 59-44, Monday night in senior girls action at the Panther Den.
The two juniors combined to score 71 of the game’s 103 points with Head leading the way with 36 points followed by Hooten with 35.
It would be near the end of the third quarter before another Greyhound scored a point besides Head, a transfer from Tuckerman.
“I had some kids try to guard her so I could hide Jaylea,” first-year Heber Springs coach Spencer Gay said. “I didn’t want Jaylea to pick-up some silly fouls. When I had to put some smaller kids on her, she kind of took over.
“I am used to collapsing, and not letting one kid beat us, but I haven’t had a chance to instill that in these girls. So we’ve got some work to do, but man, she is hard to stop.”
While the duo was busy scoring points, it was Hooten who was getting more help from her teammates.
A Hope Turney field goal with 3:06 left in the first quarter help capped a 6-0 run to give Heber Springs an 8-2 advantage. The junior would later add a 3-pointer with five seconds left in the quarter to finish off another 12-3 run to give the Panthers a 20-7 lead after the first quarter.
Heber Springs seemed to be in control at that point, but cooled off in the second quarter, allowing Newport (0-1) to close the gap to 10 points at the half, 26-16.
“We started off hot, but we cooled off,” Gay said. “The shots weren’t falling, but we still took any shot we could get instead of waiting for the right shot.”
Baskets by sophomores Savannah Stout and Addison Hudspeth pushed the Panthers advantage back to 14 at 30-16 with 6:58 to play in the third quarter, but the Greyhounds were able to get within 10 late in the quarter at 36-26.
Heber Springs would go on 6-0 run to start the fourth, but the Panthers couldn’t stop Head as she scored seven straight to make it a 46-35 contest with 5:53 left.
A 3-pointer by Olivia Norton and a Hooten field goal with 5:04 to play expanded the Heber Springs advantage and Newport would not get any closer.
Hooten scored 20 of her 35 points in the second half and was a perfect eight-of-eight from the free-throw line over that period — she was 13-of-15 from the line on the night.
“Jaylea sees everything as a blur,” Gay said. “She is so fast.”
It had a been a week since the Panthers opened their season with a win over Mount St. Mary.
“I did see some things we improved on,” Gay said, “but some things are still bothering me. Our transition offense is still an enigma. It still difficult to figure out for us. We just try to get going so fast.”
Heber Springs will get a chance to improve on that Thursday night when they travel to Bald Knob (1-1) for the first road game of the season.
“They have an athlete and a good shooter,” Gay said. “So they have two kids that I am going to have to worry about. We saw them this summer. We are going to see the 2-3 zone and they are going to press us, so we are going to have to be ready.”
West Side Greers Ferry’s Shawna Carlton goes up for the basketball during Friday night action against Izard County Consolidated. MICHELLE McCARTY PHOTO/Michelle’s Photos
By LARRY “SCOOP” McCARTY
GREERS FERRY — The West Side Lady Eagles, playing without one starter, overcame a slow start before seizing control in a 52-15 win against Izard County Consolidated at Brady-Hipp Arena on Friday.
West Side (2-0 in 2-1A Conference, 4-3 overall) won its second conference game and hope to maintain the momentum. Shawna Carlton scored 13 points for the Lady Eagles, while Alyssa Smith had 10 points. Katie Orf led the Lady Cougars with six points.
“It was homecoming and they came out fired up and ready to play,” West Side coach Megan Berry said. “We were nervous in the beginning with Ashtyn Knapp (ankle injury) out because of an injury. Once we got going, the girls played well.”
Smith made two free throws and a three-point play by Carlton gave the Lady Eagles a 5-3 lead early during the first quarter. Orf made a 3-pointer for Izard County before West Side went on a 12-2 scoring run and took a 17-5 lead going into the second quarter.
The Lady Eagles held Izard County scoreless for the remainder of the first half. West Side scored 19 points and led 36-5 at halftime.
A 12-5 third-quarter run helped the Lady Eagles to a 48-10 lead going into the final eight minutes.
West Side is playing at the Clinton tournament this week.
Izard County 5 0 5 5–15 West Side 17 19 12 4–52 Izard County Consolidated scorers: Katie Orf 6, Ava Lewis 4, Paislee Hightower 3, Tess Savell 2. West Side scorers: Shawna Carlton 13, Alyssa Smith 10, Kortnee Finch 6, McKenna Bittle 6, Sarah Carlton 5, Sam Carder 5, Sidney Seveins 4, Katie Davis 3.
Heber Springs’ Madison Clemons drives past Mount St. Mary’s Alexia Coca in senior girls action at the Panther Den on Tuesday. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
HEBER SPRINGS – Heber Springs outscored Mount St. Mary 14-3 in the second quarter and was never threatened in the second half in claiming a 53-42 season-opening win on Tuesday.
With the game tied at 8-all at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Panthers were sparked in the second by 3-pointers by Hope Turner and Liv Norton as Heber Springs would take a 22-11 advantage into the break.
Class 6A Mount St. Mary (0-1) would get within eight points with less than four minutes to play, but the Lady Panthers would put the game away at the free-throw line as Heber Springs was eight-of-nine as a team in the final stanza aided by Madison Clemons’ five-for-five effort.
Jaylea Hooten led the Lady Panthers with 15 points while the Belles’ Millie Allgood led all scorers with 20 points before fouling out late in the contest. She was six-of-seven from the line on the night as Mount St. Mary was 9-of-16 as team.
Heber Springs (1-0) returns to action on Monday when they host Newport at 5 p.m. beginning with the seventh-grade girls.
Mount St. Mary Academy (0-1) 8 3 7 24 - 42
Heber Springs (1-0) 8 14 9 22 - 53
MSM (42): Anna Kate Suffridge 3, Kate Raborn 7, Emery Horras 11, Elizabeth Kehner 1, Millie Allgood 20.
Heber Springs (53): Hope Turney 3, Kylie Carr 2, Madison Clemons 9, Jaylea Hooten 15, Sophie Stone 6, Savannah Stout 7, Molly Smith 2, Liv Norton 6, Emmie Fuller 3.
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