LADY BEARCATS GET OFF TO FAST STARTS

The Booneville Lady Bearcats got off to good starts twice this week but would eventually fall to both Mena and Lamar.

Mena 52 Lady Bearcats 30

Baylee Parnell fueled a fast start with six consecutive points in a 0-0 run that saw the Lady Bearcats open a 10-5 lead.

Mena scored the next seven points to retake a lead before a 3 by Linley Garret and a Lexi Franklin basket made it 15-12.

Garrett and Franklin would be the leading scorers with eight apiece on the night.

Then Mena warmed up. The home Ladycats hit three 3s before halftime, the last one at the buzzer, and led 23-19 at the half.

A Franklin free throw got the Lady Bearcats within a possession but Mena hit three more 3s in the third quarter and led by as many as 12 before settling for a 34-26 lead going to the final quarter.

Mena stayed hot from 3-point land with four more over the first four minutes of the final quarter, the final one starting a 9-0 run to end the game.

Lamar 58 Lady Bearcats 45

Angie Brown scored the game’s first basket and, after Tempi Terry scored Lamar took a time out. Terry would score again to make it 6-0 before the Lady Warriors started to get untracked.

Lamar scored the next 14 points but a pair of free throws by Terry and a 3 by Linley Garrett had the Lady Bearcats down just 14-11 at the end of a quarter.

Lamar got a basket nine seconds into the second quarter but Lexi Franklin answered before the Lady Warriors started to build on their lead.

Three times before halftime Lamar pushed the lead to double digits, which was where it stood at the break, 27-17.

The deficit grew to 15 as the Lady Bearcats went scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half. It was Terry who ended the drought with a 3.

Terry and Franklin co-led the Lady Bearcats with 12 points apiece.

Lamar led by 20 through three quarters and was up 22 with 3:14 to play before Garrett, Franklin, Ciara Smith, and JJ Keatts combined for 12 points in just over two minutes to cut the deficit in half.

A buzzer basket set the final margin at 13 in favor of the Lady Warriors.

The Lady Bearcats will next play at 6:40 Monday against Acorn in the 10th annual Bearcat Classic.