Kortnee Finch Archives

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.

By LARRY “SCOOP” McCARTY

GREERS FERRY – Tightening up the perimeter defense during the second half helped the West Side Lady Eagles to a 58-44 win against Morrilton Sacred Heart in the Class 1A state tournament quarterfinals at the Brady-Hipp Arena Saturday.

The Lady Eagles (25-8) will advance for the second straight season to the state tournament semifinals, this time against Norfork at 4 p.m. Monday. West Side lost in last year’s semifinals to Viola.

“We knew they were a good team with players who could shoot well,” Lady Eagle coach Megan Berry said. “We changed to a man defense during the second half and did a better job of defending and took charges when we had an opportunity.”

Free-throw shooting accuracy also aided the Lady Eagles, who made 23-of-27 attempts. Ashtyn Knapp made 12-of-15 free throws, while Kamryn Sutterfield connected on 5-of-6 attempts. Haley Gentry hit 6-of-6 free throws.

“We missed a couple, but we shot a good percentage,” Berry said. “Our free-throw shooting was good and important.”

Knapp led the Lady Eagles with 18 points. Sutterfield contributed 16 points and Gentry scored 15 points. Rylee Oliver had 12 points for Sacred Heart and Myisa Ibarra chipped in 11 points.

“We ran our offense better during the fourth quarter,” Berry said. “We put together a scoring run and gained momentum. We turned the ball over a few times late in the game against the full-court press, but we came back and got stops on defense.”

The lead changed six times during the first quarter, ending with Sutterfield’s 3-pointer, as West Side led 12-11 going into the second quarter. The Lady Eagles increased the lead to seven points before Sacred Heart reduced it to 28-22 by halftime.

Sacred Heart struck quickly by scoring two field goals at the start of the third quarter. Gentry answered with a 3-pointer and the Lady Eagles withstood the challenge. West Side led 35-27 going into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Eagles built a 14-point lead, but Sacred Heart showed no quit and pulled within 10 points. West Side never lost its double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.

Berry said the experience from playing in last year’s semifinal will benefit her team on Monday against Norfork.

“Most of the players have been in this position before,” she said. “Lack of experience will not be the problem. We need to come out and play well.”

Sacred Heart 11 11 15 7 –44
West Side 12 16 17 13–58
Sacred Heart scorers — Rylee Oliver 12, Myisa Ibarra 11, Halen Hoelzeman 6, Lizzy Beck 6, Emma Dold 5, Karlee Cooper 2, Anna Jones 2.
West Side scorers — Ashtyn Knapp 18, Kamryn Sutterfield 16, Haley Gentry 15, Sarah Carlton 6, Kortnee Finch 3.