Lady Tigers No. 3 Seed in 1A State Tourney

BY NORM BETZ –

The Acorn Lady Tigers secured the No. 3 seed for the 1A State Tournament, coming out of the 1A Region 4 Tournament with a 52-48 victory over conference opponent, Caddo Hills. Senior Jessica Looney led all scorers in the contest with 20 points.

The Lady Tigers got off to a slow start and trailed early, 4-0, before tying the game and going on to lead, 10-8 at the end of the first quarter. Looney and senior Misty Oglesby split the points in the opening quarter. Looney had a pair of buckets and added one-of-two from the line, while Oglesby knocked down a 15-footer and then added a three-pointer.

The Lady Indians outscored the Lady Tigers, 12-8, in the first five minutes of the second quarter to grab their second lead of the game, 20-18. Looney hit a 12-foot jumper, junior Teagan Vann added a 10-foot rebound jumper, junior Ashley Long grabbed a rebound and took it coast-to-coast for a lay-up, while Oglesby converted the one and bonus. Acorn finished out the second making four-of-seven from the charity stripe, while Caddo Hills added a pair of buckets to make the halftime score, 24-22 favoring the Lady Indians. Looney hit two-of-three from the line, senior Tara Warrington and sophomore Morgan Fagan each hit one-of-two from the stripe to round out the opening half scoring.

The lead changed hands six different times in the third quarter with Caddo Hills holding on to a 41-35 lead as the horn sounded to end the third. The Lady Indians outscored the Lady Tigers 17-13 in the quarter. Looney drilled a three-pointer to start off the scoring, added one-of-two from the line and then converted a three-point play the old-fashioned way to lead the Lady Tigers in the third. Oglesby also made a lay-up and added a free throw for the three-point play, while senior Adrianna Howard added a 14-foot floater from the paint. Fagan rounded out the third quarter scoring for the Lady Tigers hitting one-of-two from the charity stripe.

Acorn started off the final quarter on a 7-1 mini run to lock the score at 42-all with 5:13 left to play. Looney connected on four-of-four from the line on the run before fouling out of the game. Howard drained one from beyond the arc to round out the mini run. The Lady Tigers grabbed a 48-45 lead with 1:42 to play and Acorn would not relinquish that lead for the remainder of the contest. The Lady Tigers ultimately went on to win the game, 52-48. Warrington put a rebound back up and in and later added one-of-two from the line in the final two minutes. Oglesby tossed in a lay-up, while Long and Howard each connected on one-of-two from the line, to round out the fourth quarter scoring.

Jessica Looney led all scorers with 20 points, Misty Oglesby finished with 12 points, Adrianna Howard finished with six points, Morgan Fagan added five points, Tara Warrington added four points, Ashley Long finished with three points, and Teagan Vann was good for two points for the Lady Tigers. Acorn shot 58% (19-of-33) from the charity stripe, while Caddo Hills connected on 57% (8-of-14).

With the victory, the Lady Tiger grabbed the No. 3 seed from region 4 and will play the No. 2 seed from region 3, Wonderview on Thursday, March 5^th at 1:00 p.m. The 1A State Tournament will be held at Nashville High School, but will be hosted by Kirby High School.

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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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