CARTHAGE, Mo. — Webb City and Carthage had their chances late, but both ultimately fell short against squads from Arkansas in their respective opening-round games of the 2023 Lady Tigers Invitational on Thursday night inside the CHS Gymnasium.
Webb City suffered a 55-47 setback to Bentonville, while tourney host Carthage fell 41-33 to Fort Smith Southside.
In Thursday’s other first round action, El Dorado Springs defeated Sunrise Christian 59-56 in overtime and Rolla handled Olathe East 55-35.
BENTONVILLE 55, WEBB CITY 47
Featuring several newcomers in key roles, Webb City only trailed by four with 1:30 to play, but the Cardinals were unable to overcome the deficit.
Webb City coach Lance Robbins said he was pleased with his team’s performance.
“It was our first game of the season, and I thought we looked a little nervous at the start of the game,” Robbins said. “Bentonville is always a solid, well-coached basketball team. We knew they’d had three or four games under their belt, so we just wanted to see where we were at. It was fun to play against somebody. I thought our girls did a great job. We have a lot of new faces out there. I thought everybody stepped up and played to their strengths. We saw a lot of positive things that we can build on.”
Bentonville closed the first quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 15-7 advantage.
In the second period, Webb City received a trey from senior Malorie Stanley and a bucket from junior Kirra Long to stay within striking distance. But Cambrie Phillips and Anna Lee Kulka both drilled 3-pointers for the Tigers, who held a 27-16 advantage at the break.
The Cardinals began the second half on a spirited and game-changing 11-0 surge, as senior guard Mia Robbins swished back-to-back 3-pointers and freshman forward Addie Burns contributed five points to tie the game at 27-all.
Overall, Webb City outscored Bentonville 23-13 in the third period, as Stanley’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the left wing trimmed her team’s deficit to one, 40-39, entering the final frame.
“At halftime, we talked about just coming out more relaxed,” Coach Robbins said. “I thought we did that in the third quarter. We played with more confidence, we saw some shots go down and we used that energy to fuel us for the rest of the half.”
The Cardinals hung tough until the end but couldn’t get over the hump late in the contest.
Clinging to a one-point cushion, the Tigers finished the game on a 12-5 surge.
Mia Robbins led Webb City with 14 points, 12 coming on four 3-pointers. Stanley also reached double figures with 11 points. She hit a pair of treys.
“Our seniors did a good job,” Coach Robbins said. “They weren’t called on to score as much the last couple of years, but we need them to score more for us this year. They both did a good job of that.”
Burns contributed nine points for the Cardinals and Long had five.
“Kirra did a good job tonight of distributing the ball,” Coach Robbins noted.
In addition to Burns, three other freshmen contributed nicely for Webb City, as Adalyn Maxwell and Whitlee Keith scored three points apiece and classmate Abby Sargent had two.
Lee Kulka scored a game-high 26 points for the Tigers and Sadie Steele added 19.
The Cardinals will meet Sunrise Christian in the consolation semifinals at 4 p.m. on Friday.
SOUTHSIDE 41, CARTHAGE 33
The host Tigers had their chances late, as they only trailed by six with four minutes to play.
Simply put, Carthage was unable to rally late in the game.
“Southside was playing its third or fourth game, so they’ve got the first game jitters out of the way, and they’ve got their roles defined a little bit more,” Carthage coach Scott Moore said. “For us, we know we have some things to fix. We’ll play again tomorrow, and hopefully, we’ll get past the first game issues we saw tonight.”
For the first time in five years, Carthage took the court with a new floor general, as four-year starting point guard Kianna Yates graduated last May.
With that, the Tigers have returning players in new and expanded roles this season.
“The returners we have are being asked to do more because of graduation,” Moore said. “Maggie’s got to get used to being the full-time varsity point guard. She’s doing well and she’s going to get even better. Lauren is being asked to score more than she has in the past. She’ll do that. Lexa is being asked to score more this year. That adds up to everybody shifting roles. This was our first game, so all of that is still being ironed out.”
Carthage trailed 13-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The Tigers tied the game at 15-all on junior guard Maggie Boyd’s 3-pointer, but the hosts were down one at the break, 17-16.
Boyd’s second trey of the third period trimmed Southside’s lead to three, as the hosts trailed 25-22.
But the Mavericks concluded the third quarter on a 5-1 run for a 30-23 lead.
Southside extended its lead to nine early in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers kept coming.
Junior Jaidyn Brunnert scored in the lane, the visitors responded on the other before CHS junior classmate Ashlyn Brust knocked down a 3-pointer, trimming her team’s deficit to six.
The Mavericks reeled off five straight points to push their lead to 11 and the Tigers had a couple of empty possessions that sealed their fate.
Moore noted there were plenty of positives for his squad.
“Our girls played really hard,” Moore said. “There’s no question about that. Sometimes we need to play a little smarter. And we’re a much-better shooting team than we saw tonight. A lot of shots just didn’t fall. There’s not going to be many games where Lauren Choate doesn’t hit a 3. Again, it was our first live speed action of the season. We’ll get better.”
Brust scored 11 points to lead the Tigers, while classmate Boyd added 10 points and hit three 3-pointers.
Junior guard Lauren Choate scored seven points, while fellow juniors Brunnert and Lexa Youngblood contributed four and one point, respectively.
Six-foot senior post player Sophia Neihouse scored a game-high 18 points for the Mavericks.
Carthage will meet Olathe East at 5:30 on Friday in the consolation semifinals.
EL DORADO SPRINGS 59, SUNRISE CHRISTIAN 56
Alexis Collins hit a go-ahead runner in the lane with 10.5 seconds left to lift El Dorado Springs to a 59-56 overtime victory over Sunrise Christian Academy in the tourney opener.
After Collins’ hoop, Sunrise Christian missed a last-second field goal attempt and fouled.
Eldo’s Neely Schaaf made 1 of 2 free throws with a second left for the final margin.
The game was deadlocked at 48 at the end of regulation.
McKinli Mays scored 26 points to lead the Bulldogs, while Schaaf added 13.
Sandra Hracka scored 22 points for Sunrise Christian.
El Dorado Springs takes on Bentonville at 7 on Friday night in the semifinals.
ROLLA 55, OLATHE EAST 35
Up five after the opening frame, Rolla used a 23-12 second quarter to take control of Thursday’s nightcap.
Willow Gideon scored 18 points to lead Rolla, while Mariah Watkins added 13.
Corrine Cole scored 16 points for Olathe East.
Southside and Rolla meet at 8:30 in the second semifinal.
