By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Cabot girls’ basketball team suffered a terrible shooting night on Friday, resulting in a 32-20 loss to Springdale Har-Ber in the Pulaski Academy Thanksgiving Classic.
The Lady Wildcats controlled the pace the entire game, but Cabot still led 14-13 at the end of the first half. Har-Ber won the first quarter 8-6, before Cabot answered with its best period of the game.
The Lady Panthers couldn’t even get half of that total in the second half, scoring just three points in each of the last two quarters. Har-Ber’s lead was just 20-17 at the end of the third period, but a 12-3 run in the fourth allowed the Lady Wildcats to pull away.
Cabot made just 8 of 45 shot attempts for an 18-percent effort from the floor, and free-throw shooting was even worse.
The Lady Panthers were just 1 of 9 from the foul line for 11 percent. Cabot made 3 of 18 3-point attempts and 5 of 27 from 2-point range.
Only four Cabot players scored, with senior forward Anna Sullivan leading the way with 11 points. Leighton Taylor scored five while CoCo Calhoon and Haley Sobczak scored two points apiece for the Lady Panthers.
Karrington Whaley led Har-Ber (4-0) with 14 points while Jacie Higgins scored 10. Rachel Odiina and Khanni Shannon scored four points each to round out the scoring in the game.
The Lady Panthers dropped to 2-3 on the season with the loss. They host Springdale High School at 6 p.m. Friday in the opening game of a boys’ and girls’ doubleheader.
The annual Cabot Pre-Holiday Classic begins on Monday with Nemo Vista girls and Benton boys taking on Vilonia. The Cabot teams begin tournament play on Tuesday with the girls facing Little Rock McClellan and the boys facing Catholic High.
