By JASON KING
Leader sports writer
Several area teams took part in the First Security Bank/White County Medical Center Christmas Classic in Beebe last week. All five teams representing White County came away with at least one win in the tourney, with the Riverview Lady Raiders and Harding Academy Lady Wildcats both winning two out of their three games.
The Carlisle girls upped their record to 14-1 on the season on their way to winning the tournament championship over the Greene County Tech Lady Hornets 44-31, while the Greene County Tech boys team won their finals appearance over CAC 50-35 Thursday night.
The host teams got off to a solid start in the tournament, with the Beebe boys beating Newport, while the Lady Badgers got past the Southside girls in overtime.
The girls team faced top-seeded Carlisle in the second round, falling to the Lady Bison 57-43. The Lady Badgers faced Harding Academy on Thursday to determine third overall in the tourney, as the Lady Wildcats took the win over Beebe 42-30. Ashley Watkins was the high scorer for the Lady Badgers in the game with 10 points.
The boys team fell in their semi-final game as well, as the CAC Mustangs rolled on to the tournament final with a 60-45 win over Beebe. The Badgers faced Drew Central in the third-place game on Thursday, with the Pirates taking the win 68-57. Charlie Spakes led Beebe in scoring with 12 points, while Eric Griffith also hit double-digits for Beebe with 10 points.
The Harding boys also went 1-2 in the tournament, with an opening-round loss to CAC. The Wildcats got their only win of the week in the opening consolation game against Batesville Southside, beating the Rebels 68-62. The win put Harding Academy into the consolation finals, with the Bison pulling out the win over the Wildcats 65-60. Alex Beene led the Wildcats with 18 points, while brother Nick Beene scored 13 points.
The Harding girls fared the best of all the local entries, coming within one point of the tournament finals. After a convincing first-round win over the Drew girls, the Lady Wildcats dropped a heartbreaker to Greene County Tech 39-38.
Harding had to settle for playing in the third-place game, where they handily beat Beebe 42-30. Jessica Stevens led the Lady Wildcats with 10 points against the Lady Badgers.
The Riverview Lady Raiders won both of their consolation games on Wednesday and Thursday after a first-round loss to eventual tournament winners Carlisle.
Riverview bounced back with a 50-33 win over Newport on Wednesday, before rounding out the tournament with a consolation-finals win over Batesville Southside 53-40. Kori Meachum led Riverview with 24 points.
