By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The outcome was never in question as Cabot advanced to the consolation finals of the Arkansas Alumni Classic basketball tournament with a 64-31 victory over Lonoke at Hall High School on Thursday.
The Lady Panthers applied a heavy press early and forced 10 turnovers from the Lady Jackrabbits in the first four minutes of play. Senior and University of Arkansas signee Melissa Wolff led the scoring charge for Cabot with 17 points and four steals, while junior Elliott Taylor added 10 points for the Lady Panthers.
“The girls played real hard; I’m real proud of them,” Cabot coach Carla Crowder said. “Lonoke, they’re really young, and I think they’re going to get it. They’re just a very young team. We’ve got four starters back, so that’s a big difference.”
Cabot started the game on a 9-0 run with an inside basket by Sydney Wacker, followed by a shot just inside the three-point line by Wolff, who then made the front end of a two-shot foul before two baskets by Taylor put the Lady Panthers up 9-0 with 13:19 left to play in the first half.
Strong defense inside by Cabot made things tough on the drive dependant Lady Jackrabbits, who earned many of their points the hard way by drawing contact on their way to the rim for a trip to the free-throw line. Senior guard Derrika Mays led the scoring for Lonoke with 11 points, while fellow senior and post player Anna Himstedt finished with eight points, including a 6-for-6 performance at the free-throw line.
Cabot put together another run of unanswered scores midway through the first half. Taylor and Wacker both scored on put backs, while senior Laci Boyett drove the paint to put the Lady Panthers up 22-7 at the 5:46 mark of the first half. Wolff completed the 8-0 run with a banker off the left side on an in-bounds play to make it 24-7.
Most of Cabot’s damage had been done from the inside early, but that changed when junior Maddie Smith checked into the game with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. Smith took an assist from Boyett and launched a three pointer that put the Lady Panthers up 27-10 and struck again from the outside just over a minute later to make it 32-12 with 3:17 remaining in the half.
Wolff decided to get in on the action outside with back-to-back threes inside of three minutes. Her second with 2:05 left to play lifted Cabot to a 38-14 lead.
Wolff, Taylor, and the rest of the Cabot starters sat on the bench most of the second half. Wolff scored two quick baskets to start the half, followed by two baskets for Taylor, who finished her night unassisted with a steal at midcourt and a drive inside the paint that gave the Lady Panthers an insurmountable 47-16 lead with 13:41 remaining.
Wolff, Taylor, Wacker and Boyett were all pulled after that, leaving juniors Jaylin Bridges and Ally Van Enk as the only players in the main rotation still on the court.
Van Enk had an all-purpose night for the Lady Panthers with five points, five rebounds and three steals.
“Ally is probably one of the best athletes we have,” Crowder said. “She just needs to get her confidence up to play. She’s a very good player when she gets ready to play.”
Himstedt led the Lady Jackrabbits on the boards with six rebounds. Lonoke committed 34 turnovers, while Cabot gave the ball away 14 times.
“We’ve just got to do a really good job rebounding,” Crowder said. “We’ve got to be a good defensive team and keep executing on offense. So we have to keep challenging them to get better.”
Cabot will play in the consolation finals of the Alumni Classic at 2:30 Saturday against Pulaski Academy or Little Rock Hall.
