Morrilton pulls away from Heber Springs in senior girls action

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Heber Springs’ Hope Turney goes up for a shot during second-half action against Morrilton Tuesday night at the Panther Den. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

HEBER SPRINGS – Heber Springs was held to five points in the first and four quarters and fell to Morrilton, 46-24, in 4-4A senior girls action.

The Panthers were held scoreless in the first quarter but was able to hold the Devil Dogs to six points in the same time frame.

The two teams battled in the second quarter with 10 points each as Heber Springs got points from four players (Molly Smith, Jaylea Hooten, Hope Turney and Sophie Stone).

Hooten would make the front end of a one-and-one before adding a three-point play to pull the Panthers to within a basket at 16-14 with 4:37 left in the third quarter.

Morrilton would answer with a 7-0 run over the next 1:26 on a pair of baskets by Cheyanne Kemp and a 3-pointer by Grace Brown.

A Hooten field goal and a Madison Clemons 3-pointer would keep Heber Springs close to start the fourth quarter trailing, 29-19.

Morrilton would outscore the Panthers, 17-5, in the fourth quarter to take control.

Morrilton, which has won 12 out of its last 13, improves to 12-3 overall and 2-0 in the 4-4A.

Heber Springs fell to 10-6 overall and 0-2 in conference. The Panthers will travel to Dardanelle (2-9, 1-2) looking for their first conference win. The Sand Lizards have lost four straight.

HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (24): Hope Turney 1, Madison Clemons 3, Jaylea Hooten 12, Sophie Stone 6, Molly Smith 2

MORRILTON SCORING (46): Knyah Clemons 2, Cheyanne Kemp 17, Grace Brown 13, Jennifer Hartman 2, Kamryn Reel 8, Johnna Brockman 2, Jeniah Johnson 2.

Pyrrhic victory for Lady Panthers in home finale

Heber Springs’ Claudia Newberry goes up for a shot against at Clarksville defender in action that Panther Den. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

February 14, 2020

By LARRY “SCOOP” McCARTY

The Heber Springs Lady Panthers walked off the court feeling like they lost, despite a 36-30 win against Clarksville in the regular season basketball finale Friday.

Heber Springs (8-4 in 4-4A, 16-8 overall) and Clarksville (8-4 in conference, 12-14 overall) finished in a tie for second place.

Clarksville earned the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament on a tiebreaker.

Jillian Herring made a free throw, giving Heber Springs a 36-28 lead and the points to earn the No. 2 seed with six seconds left in the game, but Clarksville’s Autumn Miller drove the length of the floor and scored with point sixths of a second left.

“We were trying to get back on defense to defend the final shot,” Heber Springs coach Jamey Riddle said. “She (Miller) got loose and we didn’t get in front of her.”

Heber Springs will play the Ozark-Dardanelle winner at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the quarterfinals at Dardanelle. Wednesday’s winner will a regional tournament berth.

“The girls felt that way, but they need to not do that,” said Riddle about falling short of the No. 2 seed. “A win is a win anytime. I’m proud how they fought and beat a good team. We are looking forward to the tournament.”

Herring led the Lady Panthers with 17 points. Claudia Newberry had 11 points. Miller scored 12 points for Clarksville.

“Our shots were not falling in the first half,” Riddle said. “We started to make shots in the second half. Jillian got good shots by driving to the basket. We rebounded and held them to 30 points, which is playing good defense.”

Each team led once by three points during the first quarter. Newberry scored eight points, but Clarksville stayed close and pulled to within 10-9 by the end of the opening quarter.

Ellie Riddle scored to start the second quarter, but Clarksville reclaimed the lead with five consecutive points.

Herring’s 3-pointer gave Heber Springs a 15-14 lead. Clarksville converted a three-point play and led 17-15 at halftime.

Clarksville led 19-15 early in the third quarter. The Lady responded with an 11-1 scoring run and built a 26-20 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Heber Springs maintained a five-to-seven lead throughout the fourth quarter.

“It is not the end of the season and we are still playing basketball,” Riddle said. “We beat both teams (Ozark and Dardanelle) during the regular season. It’s difficult sometimes to be a team for the third time. Regardless which team we play, we will come out and play hard.”

FEBRUARY 14 BOXSCORE 
Clarksville    9 8  5  8 - 30
Heber Springs 10 5 11 10 - 36
CLARKSVILLE SCORING (30): Autumn Miller 12, Emmaline Rieder 8, Morgan Douglas 5, Rebekah Guess 3, Parker Banning 2.
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (36): Jillian Herring 17, Claudia Newberry 11, Ashley Spanel 3, Ellie Riddle 3, Mary Shearer 2. 

FEBRUARY 11 BOXSCORE
at Morrilton
Heber Springs  22  8   9   6 - 45
Morrilton      11 10  13  16 - 50
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (45): Libby Stutts 18, Claudia Newberry 16, Jillian Herring 6, Ellie Riddle 5 
MORRILTON SCORING (50): Cheyanne Kemp 17, Kennedy Reel 14, Ali Jo Dunlap 10, Grace Brown 4, A'mya Everette 3

Morrilton stops Heber Springs senior girls

January 21, 2020

By LARRY “SCOOP” McCARTY

Morrilton seized the momentum midway through the second quarter, dominated the second half and pulled away from the Heber Springs Lady Panthers 52-32 in a 4-4A Conference basketball game at the Panther Den Tuesday.

The Lady Panthers (3-3 in conference and 12-7 overall) finished the first half of the season in a third-place tie with Dover and Pottsville.

Libby Stutts led Heber Springs with 14 points. A’mya Everette and Grace Brown each scored 12 points for Morrilton, followed by Cheyanne Kemp with 10 points.

The Lady Devil Dogs outscored Heber Springs 28-13 during the second half.

“Part of it may have been Morrilton’s defense, but we had a bad shooting game,” Heber Springs coach Jamey Riddle said. “We were getting wide-open shots and didn’t make a lot of them. We didn’t have good shot selection at times”

Heber Springs broke a 9-9 tie late in the first quarter on Jillian Herring’s field goal. Stutts made a 3-pointer, which was matched by the Lady Devil Dogs. Herring hit a 3-pointer as Morrilton scored in the final seconds.
The Lady Panthers led 17-14 lead going into the second quarter.

Morrilton regained the lead on a 6-2 run and never trailed again. The Lady Devil Dogs led 24-19 at halftime.

Morrilton outscored the Lady Panthers 15-9 and took a 39-28 lead into the fourth quarter.

“I felt we would come out for the start of the second half and play better,” Riddle said.”I wish we have played with more intensity.”

Heber Springs will begin the second half of the conference schedule by hosting Dover Friday. The Lady Panthers won in the first meeting of the two teams in Dover.

“We need to put this game behind us and move forward,” Riddle said. “We can’t feel sorry about ourselves. We need to focus on what we need to do, not what our next opponent will do.”  

The junior girls’ game will start at 4 p.m., followed by the junior boys, senior girls and senior boys games.

HEBER SPRINGS BOXSCORE
Morrilton     14 10 15 13 - 52
Heber Springs 17  2  9  4 - 32
MORRILTON SCORING (52): A'mya Everette 12, Grace Brown 12, Cheyanne Kemp 10, Jhyla Calvin 8, Kennedy Reel 5, Kaylee Mitchell 3, Mary Kate Tipton 2.
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (32): Libby Stutts 14, Jillian Herring 9, Ellie Riddle 4, Claudia Newberry 3, Brandy Meredith 2.  
4A-4 STANDINGS
                 Conference Season
Clarksville          6-0     10-9
Morrilton            5-1     12-5
Heber Springs        3-3     12-7
Pottsvile            3-3      9-7
Dover                3-3     12-7  
Ozark                1-5     13-6 
Dardanelle           0-6      2-18
HEBER SPRINGS SENIOR GIRLS 
2019-2020 SCHEDULE/RESULTS
RECORD: 12-7
4A-4 RECORD: 3-3
November 12 - Heber Springs 55, Nemo Vista 31
November 19 - Heber Springs 70, South Side Bee Branch 45
November 21 - Heber Springs 67, Riverview 27
November 26 - Heber Springs 56, Clinton 54 (OT)
December 3 - Conway St. Joseph 47, Heber Springs 44 #
December 5 - Heber Springs 53, South Side Bee Branch 34 #
December 7 - Heber Springs 44, Wonderview 43 #
December 10 - Heber Springs 59, Dover 56 ^
December 13 - Marshall 70, Heber Springs 52
December 16 - Heber Springs 51, White County Central 31
December 20 - Heber Springs 55, Ozark 42 ^
December 26 - Heber Springs 70, DeWitt 34 *
December 27 - Pea Ridge 49, Heber Springs 44 *
December 28 - Mayflower 58, Heber Springs 37 *
January 7 - Pottsville 49, Heber Springs 45 ^
January 9 - Heber Springs 70, Newport 51
January 14 - Heber Springs 47, Dardanelle 29 ^
January 17 - Clarksville 48, Heber Springs 41 ^
January 21 - Morrilton 52, Heber Springs 32 ^
January 24 - Dover ^
January 28 - at Pottsville ^
January 31 - at Ozark ^
February 4 - at Dardanelle ^
February 11 - at Morrilton ^
February 14 - Clarksville (Senior Night) ^
February 17 - 4A-4 District at Dardanelle

(# - Denotes Conway St. Joseph Tournament)
(^ - Denotes 4A-4 conference contest)
(* - Denotes Steve Landers' Cowboy Chevrolet Holiday Tournament at Heber Springs)