North Little Rock, Har-Ber advance in 6A girls basketball state tournament

By Jeff Halpern I Photos by Tommy Land

NORTH LITTLE ROCK — After blowing out Cabot 67-31 on Friday, the North Little Rock Charging Lady Wildcats did not show any signs of complacency in Thursday night’s rematch, a 68-37 rout in the Class 6A state quarterfinals Thursday night at Gryphon Arena.

“We played extremely well, and I thought our kids showed a great deal of maturity,” said North Little Rock Coach Daryl Fimple.

North Little Rock (24-4) will meet Springdale Har-Ber at noon Saturday in the semifinals.

“They are a conference champion and they’re playing for the same thing we are,” said Fimple. “Our goal is to win a state championship, and we like the sett,ing we’re in.”

Cabot (16-13), which trailed 8-2 at the 5:20 mark of the first quarter when it called a 30-second timeout, pulled to 10-8 on a three-pointer by Jaycie Cook and after a basket by North Little Rock’s Amauri Willians, Jenna Cook made another three-pointer to get the Lady Panthers to 10-8.

However, North Little Rock took over, outscoring the Lady Panthers 14-6 to close out the first quarter with a 24-14 lead as six different players scored during that stretch.

North Little Rock opened the second quarter with a 6-2 run to make it 30-16 and Cabot never threatened after that. The Charging Lady Wildcats led 41-26 at halftime and 61-33 after three quarters. A basket by to open the fourth quarter put the Arkansas Activities Association’s mercy rule into effect.

Ja’Miya Brown came off the bench to lead North Little Rock with 13 points, making 3-of-5 three-pointers. Williams had 12 points. Destine Duckworth had 11 points and five rebounds. Edwards had 11 points, making 2 three-pointers and Kyriana Jones and 10 points.

Jaycie Cook led Cabot with 13 points and three rebounds.

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 63, BRYANT 56

Springdale Har-Ber;s Pacious McDaniel and Caylan Koons combined for 40 points in a quarterfinal victory over Bryant (16-10). 

McDaniel led the Lady Wildcats with 25 points, making 3 three-pointers in the victory. She had 15 in the second half, including five in the fourth quarter as the Lady Wildcats were able to pull away. Koons had 15 points in the first half with 12 coming in the first half.

The duo was able to overcome Bryant’s Parris Atkins, who led all scorers with 30 points. Atkins had 18 in the first half while making 3 three-pointers and three free throws.

Har-Ber (22-4) led 18-13 after the first quarter, 34-30 at halftime and 52-47 after three quarters.

Har-Ber will play either North Little Rock or Cabot at noon Saturday in the semifinals.