By ANN THARP
Special to The Leader
The Lonoke Lady Jackrabbits hosted Dollarway on Tuesday night at the Gina Cox Center and defeated the Lady Cardinals for the second time this season by a score of 54-29.
The Lady Jackrabbits (14-5, 6-1) had an 8-2 lead in the first quarter, but Dollarway tied the score at 8-8 with a three-point basket at the buzzer. Lonoke led at the half 22-13, and outscored the Lady Cardinals 23-8 in the third quarter to help secure the victory.
“I know we played a lot better the second half,” said Lonoke head coach Nathan Morris. “I think we came out against a team we beat handily the first time we played them, but that was only their third game because of football. We didn’t out position them. We didn’t do that well blocking out wise and stuff. That’s something we’ve got to get better at. Blocking out is effort.
“The press worked with a group that hadn’t worked together as much, and I was pretty excited about how they moved. The biggest part about pressure is after something works, they get excited about it. That was good, because we’ve not pressed very well this year. That’s good to know going into the second time we play everybody.”
Jarrelyn McCall led the Lady Jackrabbits in the second quarter as she had seven of the team’s 14 points for the quarter.
Her two-pointer gave Lonoke a 14-10 lead, and Callie Whitfield sank a three-pointer with 5:52 to go in the quarter for a 17-10 advantage. Eboni Willis scored a two-point basket, but couldn’t hit the free throw to complete the three-point play. However, the lead was doubled at 20-10. Dollarway cut into the lead at 20-13, but McCall hit two free throws for the 22-13 halftime score.
McCall again was a contributor in the third quarter, starting her scoring with a two-point basket plus a free throw for the three-point play. Lonoke’s full- court pressure was effective as the Lady Cardinals turned the ball over four times in a very short span, one of those being a 10-second violation.
The lead built to 45-21 with 1:15 to go in the quarter, and the quarter ended with that score intact. McCall scored nine points of the team’s 23.
Ashlyn Allen had five points in the final quarter for the Lady Jackrabbits, including 3 of 4 free throws. Dollarway sank 4 of 6 from the line to contribute to the team’s eight points in the quarter.
Lonoke scored nine fourth quarter points to set the final score of 54-29.
McCall led all scorers with 20 points. Willis added 12 for the Lady Jackrabbits, Allen had seven points, Amanda Sexton had six, and Whitfield added five points for the home team.
Chandra Hayes led Dollarway with eight points.
