PRESCOTT, Ark.-The Fouke Lady Panthers had to overcome more than the Drew Central Lady Pirates in the Region 3A-4 basketball tournament Thursday night at Prescott's Arena.
Fouke battled the flu bug all week, with five girls getting sick and two not even able to make the trip to the regional. The resilient Panthers responded and posted a 44-35 victory over the Pirates, earning Fouke a spot in next week's Class 3A state tournament at Osceola.
"Despite all the obstacles and sickness, our girls pulled together and found a way to win," said Fouke head coach Mo Williams. "They did what they had to do and that's all a coach can ask of his team. They've got a lot of heart."
Fouke (25-6) will face Helena Central in the regional semifinals at 7 tonight at Prescott. Ashdown will face Centerpoint in other girls semifinal at 4 p.m.
The Panthers had to fight off a feisy Drew Central squad (16-13).
Fouke took a lead into the final quarter and the Pirates closed to within 40-35 before Laykin Smallwood was intentionally fouled and made a pair of free throws with 23.6 seconds to play.
The Panthers added two more charity tosses with 2.3 seconds showing, with Mallory Oliver making both and making the final count 44-35.
"We knew Drew Central would be prepared and they were," Williams said. "Our girls played hard, and we made a couple of mistakes, but hopefully we'll get those correct by tomorrow."
The Panthers were led by Taylor Hardin with 18 points, including 9-of-10 free throws, and Smallwood addded 11. The Pirates were paced by Harlayah Ridgell with 15 points and Arbee Forte added 14 before fouling out with under a minute remaining.
The Panthers were solid at the free throw line, making 17 of 19 attempts. The Pirates made 6 of 11.
Fouke, the District 7-3A runner-up to Ashdown (losing in the final in overtime), will have a tall order today against Helena Central.
"Helena had two 6-foot-2 girls and they're going to tough to defend," Williams said. "We hope we can make some improvements over our play tonight, and I think we'll be all right."
Fouke led 10-3 at the first break, thanks to Smallwood's five points in the quarter. The Pirates, however, went on an 11-0 run to start the second period and grabbed a 14-10 lead.
The Panthers didn't score until the 2:23 mark of the second quarter when Morgan Dodson scored a bucket and free throw for a standard 3-point play, pulling Fouke within 14-12.
The Panthers when went on hot streak of their own, scoring nine straight to grab a 19-14 advantage. Hardin ignited the rally with six points to finish with a team-leading nine at halftime.
Drew Central scored the last two buckets of the second quarter to close the gap to one, 19-18, at intermission.
Prescott's boys clashed with Central Helena in Thursday's late game.
In earlier Thursday action, McGehee's boys defeated Centerpoint, 61-40, and Centerpoint's girls pulled out a 60-55 victory over Dumas in overtime.
Today's semifinal schedule matches Ashdown's girls vs. Central Helena at 7, and Prescott-Central Helena boys winner vs. defending state runner-up Drew Central at 8:30.
Saturday's schedule start with the girls third-place game at noon, boys third place at 1:30, and the girls championship at 6 and the boys championship at 7:30.
The top four teams from the boys and girls divisions advance to the state tournament.
Drew Central 3 15 8 9-35
Fouke 10 9 12 13-44
DC (35):Ridgell 15, Connard 2, Young 4, Forte 14. TEAM TOTALS 14 6-11 13 35.
FOUKE (44): McMurry 5, Dodson 5, Oliver 5, Hardin 18, Smallwood 11. TEAM TOTALS 12 17-19 16 44.
3-point goals: DC-Ridgell; FOUKE-McMurry, Hardin, Smallwood.