Carley Sexton's late 3-pointer lifts Greenwood to semifinals of Class 5A state tournament
By Kyle Sutherland I Photos by Ted McClenning
SHERIDAN-After leading all scorers with 18 points in a first-round victory over Parkview, Greenwood sophomore Carley Sexton was scoreless Thursday night against West Memphis until the very end when she hit the biggest shot of her career.
With 14 seconds remaining, senior Abby Summitt inbounded the ball to junior Mady Cartwright, who was the star of the night with 29 points. The ball was nearly stolen away but she was able to get it back to Summitt who drove it to the top of the key and kicked it over to Sexton on the right corner who sunk the triple with 7 seconds left to give the Lady Bulldogs a 47-46 win and advance to the semifinals of the Class 5A state tournament Thursday at Yellowjacket Arena.
“It was just going back to the basics, using the right form, extending all the way and holding my follow through,” Sexton told the Arkansas Sports Network moments after the electrifying moment.
West Memphis got out to a 4-0 lead thanks to two quick buckets from Clemisha Prackett forcing Greenwood Coach Clay Reeves to take a timeout just 51 seconds into the game.
Summitt was the first to score for Greenwood totaling five points in the first quarter and Cartwright added seven, which was just the start of her huge night, giving the Lady Bulldogs a 14-9 lead heading into the second quarter.
Cartwright had all seven of the points scored by Greenwood in the second quarter while matching buckets with West Memphis sophomore Aniya Price, who had six points in the quarter helping the Lady Blue Devils go into the locker room at halftime up 22-21.
Sophomore Anna Trusty put Greenwood back in the lead after a bucket with 5:43 remaining in the third, which was her most productive quarter points wise, scoring four and helped the Lady Bulldogs take a 31-28 lead into the final quarter.
Trusty got the inaugural score for the second quarter in a row, this time from long range to quickly extend Greenwood’s lead 34-28. West Memphis responded with a 9-2 run highlighted by Janiyah Tucker’s back-to-back three pointers and just like that it was 36-35 Greenwood. Another bucket by Prackett gave West Memphis a one-point lead before trading baskets resulting in a 39-39 tie with 3:23 remaining in the game.
Down 42-41, with 49 seconds to go, freshman Alayiah Price snagged a rebound from a missed layup from Cartright taking it across the court, into the high post and kicked it over to her sister Aniya on the right wing swishing it through giving West Memphis a 44-42 lead.
Following a timeout with 31 seconds left and Cartwright sitting at a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line, you would imagine Reeves talked to his team about getting her to the charity stripe and they did just that after she got fouled under the basket and sunk both shots tying it up at 44.
“We knew this was going to be a hard game and they were going to be physical,” Cartwright said. ”We just needed to come out and get our shots. If I had the chance to go in I was going to drive because we knew they would foul. We were just trying to get up on the line as much as possible.”
Prackett was able to get a quick two to give the lead back to West Memphis, which forced Reeves to take another timeout. From there the rest is history.
“We knew what kind of game this was going to be,” Reeves told ASN. “I told them at this time of the year they are usually ugly and tough, but you just have to come out with a win. Our girls competed hard and they never gave up. All year we have gone with whoever has the hot hand and whoever is making it happen. The rebounding, the defense, the total effort by all of our players was just a great job.”
Along with Cartwright’s 29, Trusty was Greenwood’s second-leading scorer with 9.
Tucker led West Memphis (16-7) with 16 points while Prackett had 13, and Aniya Price added 11.
Greenwood (25-4) will play the winner of Jacksonville/Marion on Friday at 12:00 in the semifinals.
Little Rock Christian 62 Siloam Springs 42
The opening Day 3 game of the state tournament started with a back and forth beginning as Siloam Springs (17-10) got off to a 7-5 lead, but Little Rock Christian (23-4) was able to counter taking an 8-7 advantage with 4:46 left in the first quarter. Tied at 10 a piece, LRC went on an 11-2 run at the end the quarter and though the Lady Panthers fought hard, the lead was never relinquished.
After some miscues from the Lady Warriors, Siloam Springs was able to cut the lead to 38-37 late in the third quarter but the Lady Panthers did not get another bucket until around midway through the 4th finding themselves down 53-41 before LRC added a few more baskets.
Ashton Elley led all scorers with 27 points, Mia Smith had 15, and Kate Denton added 10.
Brooke Ross, Reina Tiefel, and Mimo Jacklik all had 12 for the Lady Panthers.
Little Rock Christian will face Paragould in the second round today at 4:00.
Vilonia 46, Benton 37
The first quarter of this one ended with Benton (19-9) up 10-9 before Madeleine Tipton sank a shot from deep to put Vilonia (22-5) up 12-10. They kept the lead, although very close a few times, for the remainder of the game.
The second quarter belonged to freshman Sidni Middleton who had 12 of her 27 points in that timeframe which was crucial in the Lady Eagles going into halftime with a 26-15 lead.
Tipton was the game’s second-leading scorer with 14.
Junior Alyssa Houston led Benton with 18 points, including a lay-up as the buzzer sounded to end the game. Madison Mcintire added 8 for the Lady Panthers.
Vilonia will square off against defending champion Jonesboro tonight at 7.
