Heber Springs’ Jaylea Hooten drives for a lay-up against Clarksville’s Macy Weathers. Hooten was fouled on the play. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
HEBER SPRINGS – Clarksville hit a pair of 3-pointers late in the first quarter and didn’t look back in downing Heber Springs, 47-30, in 4-4A senior girls play.
A Jaylea Hooten free throw for Heber Springs made it a one-point game at 5-4 in favor of Clarksville with 2:11 left in the opening quarter, but Clarksville’s Macy Weathers hit 3-pointers with 1:08 left and at the first-quarter buzzer to make it an 11-4 contest.
Heber Springs (10-13 overall, 0-9 in 4-4A) cut the deficit to under 10 points twice in the second quarter. An Emily Fuller 3-pointer at the 5:59 mark made it 14-7 and a Hooten three-point play with 1:01 left in the half cut the Clarksville (8-13, 5-4) lead to 9 at 21-12. But the visiting Panthers, again hit a pair of 3-pointers to close out the quarter with a 27-12 halftime lead.
Fuller paced Heber Springs with 8 points while Clarksville’s Kenleigh Rieder led all scorers with 14 points. The visiting Panthers led 38-19 at the end of three quarters.
Heber Springs travels to Pottsville Tuesday for its regular-season finale.
HASKELL – With Heber Springs’ leading scorer Jaylea Hooten held to four points, a trio of Panthers stepped up finishing in double figures in helping lead Heber Springs to a 49-43 nonconference victory over Benton Harmony Grove.
Addison Hudspeth paced Heber Springs with 16 points as the Panthers were tied at 9-all at the end of the first quarter and led 24-13 at the break.
Savannah Stout finished with 12 and Hope Turney added 11 to round out the trio that scored in double figures.
The Cardinals got back into the contest in the third quarter outscoring Heber Springs 18-8, thanks in part to four 3-pointers in the quarter by senior Kallyn Sussamon.
Sussamon scored a game-high 20 points, including nailing six of the seven 3-pointers made by Harmony Grove on the night.
Heber Springs dropped 11 3-pointers led by Stout with four, Turner and Hudspeth with three and Emily Fuller with one.
The Panthers outscored the Cardinals, 17-12, in the final quarter.
Heber Springs’ Lindsay Southerland dribbles past South Side Bee Branch’s Jewel Walley in senior girls action the Family Activities Center in Conway. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
CONWAY – Heber Springs got 16 points from Addison Hudspeth as the Panthers downed South Side Bee Branch, 47-41, in a consolation contest of the St. Joseph Tournament at the Family Activities Center.
Heber Springs led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter and 23-17 at the break.
The game remained tight throughout the third quarter as a Molly Smith basket gave the Panthers a 29-21 advantage with 5:45 left in the third quarter, before Marli Huddleton field goal capped a 6-0 run that put the score a 29-27 with 2:22 remaining in the stanza.
Hudspeth would go on a 5-0 run with a 3-pointer, one of three on the afternoon, and a short jumper with 59 seconds left pushed the Heber Springs advantage back to seven at 34-27.
Mollie Leonard hit a pair of free throws for the Hornets and Jewel Walley drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 34-31 heading into the final quarter.
Junior Jaylea Hooten would take over in the fourth quarter scoring seven points, including the only two field goals for Heber Springs in the quarter, to fuel a 7-2 run that saw the Panthers increase their advantage to 41-33 with 4:48 left.
South Side Bee Branch (7-9) would make it a six-point contest with less than a minute to go but Heber Springs would salt the game away from the free-throw line. The Panthers finished the quarter 9-of-15 from the line and 11-of-20 on the afternoon.
“The game was a little closer than I wanted it to be,” Heber Springs coach Spencer Gay said, “but I was proud of the effort and was really proud of the girls fixing some ball-handling problems we’ve had.”
Heber Springs came into the tournament with an undefeated record but suffered their first loss of the season in the pool-play opener to Mayflower.
“That game was tough,” Gay said. “I don’t want to harp on that because winning two out of three (in the tournament) was pretty big time for us. I was proud of that.”
The first-year Panther coach would later add that the loss could benefit Heber Springs when they get into conference play.
“They played us a style that we are going to see later down the road,” Gay said. “I saw a (ball-handling) problem. Our kids saw a problem and they’ve worked every day since to fix it. It’s not going to happen overnight, but a month from now, but you are going to see a different team.”
The win improved Heber Springs to 7-1 on the season.
“I am ecstatic where we are,” Gay said. “I think it says a lot about the kids.”
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (47): Hope Turney 1, Jaylea Hooten 15, Addison Hudspeth 16, Sophie Stone 4, Molly Smith 8, Emily Fuller 3.
SOUTH SIDE BEE BRANCH SCORING (41): Brinkley Smith 2, Marli Huddleston 3, Mollie Leonard 8, Jewel Walley 13, Emily Walley 14, Maggie Bradford 2.
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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.
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