Lady Tigers Get Raided, 65-62

BY NORM BETZ –

The Acorn Lady Tigers and the Lady Raiders of Sparkman were pretty evenly matched and the game really came down to who would have the last possession. Ultimately, Acorn fell to Sparkman, 65-62. Acorn senior Jessica Looney led all scorers with 28 points. Sparkman’s Alexis Pigg led the Lady Raiders with 20 points.

“We played hard,” said Lady Tigers head coach Mike Jackson. “Sometimes it’s just hard to stop a girl with her size.”

The Lady Tigers trailed Sparkman 17-14 at the end of the first. Looney led the way with six points including one from three-point land. Senior Misty Oglesby tossed in a bucket and hit two-of-two from the line, while senior Adrianna Howard and sophomore Morgan Fagan each finished with two points.

Acorn was outscored in the second quarter, 12-11 and trailed Sparkman, 29-25 at the half. Junior Teagan Vann led the Lady Tigers with six points, hitting a pair from the field and a pair from the line. Looney drilled a three-pointer and Oglesby added a pair from the charity stripe.

The Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Raiders 19-15 in the third quarter to knot the score at 44-all when the horn sounded. Looney put up seven points in the third, a trey, a bucket, and two-of-two from the stripe. Oglesby added a three-ball of her own and added a bucket, while Howard added two from the field. Senior Tara Warrington closed out the third quarter scoring with three points.

“We matched each other basket for basket and three-pointer for three-pointer the entire second half,” explained Jackson. “Ultimately it really came down to the last possession of the game.”

The Lady Raiders opened the fourth hitting a three-pointer, to which Looney matched :14 later. Howard added a lay-up and Oglesby locked the score at 51-51 on a 14-foot baseline jumper with 5:20 to play. Sparkman added a bucket and Vann matched the points hitting a pair from the line. Looney put the Lady Tigers up 55-53 with a 14-foot jumper, but the Lady Raiders answered with a three-pointer and a bucket. Once again Acorn was ready as Looney hit one from beyond the arc to tie the score at 58-all with 3:16 to play. Sparkman added a bucket and Looney answered again with driving lay-up with 2:35 remaining in the game. The Lady Raiders only made one-of-two from the line and Looney gave the Lady Tigers a 62-61 lead after sinking a pair from the line with :15.4 left in the contest. An inbound steal by the Lady Raiders ultimately sealed the deal for Sparkman as they went on to win the contest, 65-62.

“We can’t win them all,” said Jackson. “We knew what they were going to try and do, so we put our tallest girl out there, but she got the ball and we fouled.”

Jessica Looney led all scorers with 28 points, Misty Oglesby finished with 13 points, Teagan Vann and Adrianna Howard each added eight points, Tara Warrington added three points, and Morgan Fagan rounded out the scoring with two points. The Lady Tigers shot 74% (14-of-19) from the line, while the Lady Raiders shot a dismal 43% (6-of-14).

The loss sent the Lady Tigers to the consolation third place game against the Caddo Hills Lady Indians.

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Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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