RISON - Rison was able to shake off some early nerves during the first half of their Class 2A State Tournament game against Marmaduke to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Greyhounds were able to bounce back and pull out a 57-43 victory over the Lady Wildcats last Wednesday, March 1, at Rector High School.
The loss ended the season for the Lady Wildcats, who finished with a 20-13 overall record.
Rison, the no. 2 seed from the South Region, was making its first state tournament appearance since 2015. Lady Wildcat Coach Seth Taylor said he felt they were a little “shell shocked” at first playing on the big stage. On top of that, they were having to contend with a pro-Lady Greyhound crowd considering that Marmaduke is only about 8 miles from the state tournament site at Rector,.
“It was like a home game for them,” Taylor said of the atmosphere.
Marmaduke, the no. 3 seed from the North Region, took the early lead and maintained that cushion throughout the first half, leading 27-21 at the break. Taylor said the Lady Greyhounds extended their lead to double digits in the third quarter before Lady ‘Cats came roaring back, drawing even at 31-31 in the fourth quarter.
But Taylor said Marmaduke answered with a big 3-pointer and the Lady ‘Hounds were able to pull away from there to post the 14-point win.
Taylor said one of the Lady Wildcats’ top scorers, Destiny Lea, was sidelined with foul trouble for much of the game and finished with just four points. However, he said Lea came on in the second half with some key defensive plays to help spark the Rison rally.
Layne Potter led the Lady ‘Cats in scoring with 11 followed by Shermyah Bracey with nine.
Taylor said their game plan going in was to try to slow down Marmaduke’s Makenzie Hampton. He said she had 18 in the first half, but finished as the game’s leading scorer with 28.
The Lady ‘Hounds fell to Hector, 83-53, in the second round.