Ladies basketball teams from class 1A all the way through 7A came into Central Arkansas to compete in the 6th Annual RAPA Roundball Rally on Tuesday night, kicking off the action with four opening round games at Hall High School.
Class 1A Calico Rock, 4A Lonoke, 5A Little Rock Christian, 6A Little Rock Hall and a host of 7A schools from Central Arkansas got their seasons started, and all of them will play again on Thursday night as winner bracket and loser bracket play continues.
LR Hall 52 - LR Christian 69
Jae Tucker of Little Rock Christian stands at the free throw line during the Lady Warriors 69-52 win in the tournaments opener.
The Lady Warriors of Hall made a game of it early, before the other group of Lady Warriors from Little Rock Christian won going away in the tournament's opening game 69-52.
Rachel Lee had the hot hand early for Little Rock Christian, knocking down a pair of three-pointers and two more deuces in the first half to help put her team up eight at half with a 34-26 margin. For Hall, Tyler Scaife scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half to keep her team in the game, but they were just overmatched against a pretty talented Lady Warriors team.
Talented forward Sarah Johnson finally got things going in the second half after sitting most of the first with a pair of early fouls. She scored four buckets a 12-2 run by Little Rick Christian as they jumped out to a 58-37 lead with just under five minutes to go and cruised to a victory going away.
Kristen Parker paced Little Rock Christian with a balanced scoring effort of 16 points, with eight coming in each half. Lee finished the game with 14 points, going 8-11 from the free throw line and Mary Elizabeth Sixby added 11 in the win.
For Hall, Latrice Walton scored a team-high nine points in the loss.
Hall will play Thursday night at 5:00 and Little Rock Christian will play in a winner's bracket game at 7:00.
Calico Rock 49 - LR Central 62
The trio of Taylor Cox, Brooke McCurley and Emily Johnson just got worn down by the constant pressure of Little Rock Central.
Tiny Calico Rock took on one of the state's largest schools in Central and this game was much closer than the final score of 62-49 indicated.
"I don't care what classification this team is in, they can play," Lady Tigers coach Michael Green said following the game. "This is our first game of the year and I'm just glad to get out of here with a win."
The Lady Pirates were hot early, jumping out to a 9-2 lead on a pair of hoops from one of class 1A's more talented forwards Emily Johnson. Heather Cox and point guard Brooke McCurley also had hoops in the opening minutes.
After that spurt, the Lady Tigers kicked it into gear, using full court pressure and constantly pounding the boards in the first half. Down 12-5, Central went on a 7-0 run to tie the game with Brittany Leonard taking a steal the length of the floor for a layup and Durcilla Caster and Sarah Flood also had quick baskets to tie the game.
From then on it was all Central, as they closed the half with a 14-2 run to take a 15 point lead into the locker room.
Coach Green was pleased with the team's effort against a very talented team from class 1A.
"They played hard just like we've practiced," he said. "I am very pleased with this team's effort on both sides of the court."
"The intensity was outstanding."
For the Lady Tigers, Lesley Craft scored a game-high 20 points in the win, while Jamie Ruffin added 10 points and Brittany Leonard nine.
Johnson led the way for the Lady Pirates with a team-high 17 points and Brittany Fountain had 11.
Calico Rock will take on Hall at 4:00 Thursday in the loser's bracket game and Central will play Little Rock Christian at 7:00 later that night.
Cabot 35 - Lonoke 58
The 4A state runner-up Lady Jackrabbits were too much for for the Lady Panthers of Cabot as they picked up right where they left off a season ago to get a 58-35 win over a team three classifications above them.
Lonoke's Asiah Scribner goes to the line in the Lady Jackrabbits 58-35 win.
The game was never close as Lonoke jumped out to an early 13-point lead led by a two of class 4A's best players in forward Cara Neighbors and post player Asiah Scribner. Each scored 12 points in the first half as the Lady Jackrabbits took a 38-21 lead into half time.
With the outcome already sealed, both of Lonoke's stars sat out most of the second half with Scribner finishing with a game-high 15 points and Neighbors 14.
There were not a whole lot of bright spots for the Lady Panthers, but this Lonoke team would put it on a bunch of team's from the state's largest classification. They are that good. Melissa Wolff scored six of her 10 points in the second half and Brooke Taylor scored a team-high 11 points in the loss.
Up next for these two, the Lady Panthers will play at 5:30 in the loser's bracket game and Lonoke will play in the winner's bracket nightcap at 8:30.
NLR 65 - LR Parkview 27
A total of ten players scored for the Lady Charging Wildcats as they won in dominating fashion in the late game Tuesday night.
North Little Rock coach Daryl Fimple was intense for the full 32 minutes despite his team posting a dominating victory.
The game was never close as North Little Rock took a 32-13 lead at halftime before cruising to a 38 point win to start their season.
The Lady Patriots did a solid job on talented post player Casse Vaughn, holding her to just two points in the first half and six for the game. It was Markisha Hawkins and Kayla Brown they could not stop early as each scored 10 points in the opening 16 minutes.
For North Little Rock Brown finished with a game-high 15 points and Hawkins added 12. Sandy Jackson contributed nine points and Vaughn and Robnecia Taylor six each in their season opening victory over Parkview.
For the Lady Patriots, the lone bright spot was post player Erin Peoples, who led the team with 11 points in the loss.
Up next for both teams, Parkview takes on Cabot at 5:30 Thursday and the Lady Charging Wildcats play Lonoke in what should be a dandy at 8:30 that same night.
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