Lady Wildcats Push Fouke Early

The Rison Lady Wildcats were in position at halftime to possibly pull off an upset over the Fouke Lady Panthers and end their 15-game win streak in the opening round of the Class 3A Region 4 Tournament at Centerpoint High School last Wednesday.'But Fouke used a dominating third quarter to take over the game before cruising to a 70-51 win to end the Lady Wildcats’ season.Rison went into the tournament as the no. 4 seed from the 8-3A conference while Fouke was the no. 1 seed from the 7-3A.The Lady Panthers came out red hot form beyond the arc to open the game, hitting three 3-pointers in the first quarter before adding four more in the second.Still, the Lady ‘Cats hung tough, trailing by 14-13 after the end of the first period, and down by just four at the half, 36-32. Tee Miller scored 10 of her game-high 21 points in the second quarter  to keep Rison within striking distance while Chamira Crain and NaKayla Washington both hit 3’s to somewhat offset Fouke’s success from long range.The third quarter, however, decided the game. Fouke’s Allison Caudle drilled two of her four treys during the third while 6-1 junior Kinley Smith scored eight of her 17 points as the Lady Panthers won the period 22-4 to take a commanding 58-36 lead into the final frame.Smith’s 17 led a balanced scoring night for Fouke as four Lady Panthers finished in doub le figures.In addition to Miller’s 21, Carlese Johnson had 13 for the Lady Wildcats.Rison finished the season 14-13 under first-year head coach Lisa Jester. Fouke lost in the semifinals to Dumas, but finished third overall in the tournament after knocking off Centerpoint in the third-place game on Saturday. ...