By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Getting fired up for the fifth-place game of the Benton-Harmony Grove invitational basketball tournament was a concern for Carlisle Lady Bison coach Jonathan Buffalo, but the team responded well in a 52-34 defeat of Glen Rose in the final round on Saturday.
The Lady Bison (2-3) scored nearly half of their points from the outside with eight, three-point baskets, as Carlisle broke free from a 7-7 tie at the end of the first quarter to dominate the final thee periods.
“Both teams played hard,” Buffalo said. “The girls gave great effort and shot the ball well from the outside. Fourth quarter, they came out with a man-to-man defense, and that gave us some good looks inside. We were able to control the game to the end.”
Kelli Petrus led the Lady Bison with 20 points while Ashley Keathley added 10 points. Callie Hillman rounded out high scorers for Carlisle with seven points.
“Defensively, I thought we did a good job of mixing our man to man with our zone defense. We held them to one field goal in the fourth quarter. We also blocked out well. We tried to get them motivated, and for a fifth-place game on a Saturday afternoon, I thought they responded well.” Buffalo said the strong defense that held the Lady Beavers to 34 points was the result of a complete team effort.
Glen Rose matched the defensive intensity of Carlisle through one period as the teams battled to a 7-7 tie at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Bison got going offensively in the second quarter and built a 21-14 lead at the half.
Carlisle extended its lead slightly at the end of the third quarter, leading 36-25 before outscoring the Lady Beavers 16-9 in the final frame. The Lady Bison held Glen Rose to one field goal in the final eight minutes.
The Bison basketball teams were supposed to begin 2A-6 Conference play this week, but the football Bison dumped those plans when they routed East Poinsett County in the semifinal round of the Class 2A football playoffs last Friday. The victory put the Bison in the state championship game against Strong on Saturday, and pushed back basketball conference play for the Carlisle teams until next Tuesday when they host local rival Hazen.
