Sheridan ends Lady Devils' season

By Billy Woods

WM School District

PEARCY --- West Memphis girls coach Shelia Burns was steamed here Thursday after watching her team eliminated from the Class 6A state tournament.

Sheridan bludgeoned the Lady Devils from the free-throw line and the Lady Yellow Jackets took a 50-42 quarterfinal victory. The free-throw disparity was the main source of Burns' displeasure. Sheridan sank 28 of 32 free throws while the Lady Devils (17-15) had 6 free-throw attempts, making just 2. "Quote this...the elements were against us," Burns said, tersely. "This should never happen in the state tournament."

The Lady Devils held Sheridan (22-6) to only three second-half field goals, but the Lady Jackets canned 18 free throws in the second half. Sheridan's last field goal of the game happened with 5:06left in the fourth quarter.

Along the way, the fouls caught up to West Memphis individually as ninth-grade center Tiara Bradley sat for much of the second half saddled with foul trouble. She fouled out with 25.4 seconds left in the game.

The Lady Devils took 15 more shots from the field than Sheridan. Still, the West Memphians hung close to the champions of the 6A-West Conference. They trailed 24-22 at halftime and then took a 26-24 lead early in the third quarter on a rebound basket from senior Ty Bullins, who scored 7 points, and a basket off a sweet spin move from Bradley.

The Lady Devils' last lead was 34-33 when ninth-grade sensation Aryah Hazley stuck back a missed shot with 6:40 to play in the game. That's when Sheridan swung the game in their favor for good. The culprits were Sheridan's duo of senior Madison Raney and sophomore Diamond Morris, who combined to run off a string of seven consecutive points to give the Jackets the momentum and a 40-34 lead with 5:06 to play in the game.

Raney led all scorers with 17 points while Morris pumped in 16.

"Everything we tried to do on defense we just weren't allowed to do," said Burns. "The game hinged on that swing midway through the fourth quarter." Actually, the Lady Devils immediately answered Sheridan's spurt with a three-pointer by senior guard Paris Perkins, who led her team in scoring with 11 points, and later senior Taylor Johnson hit another three-ball to creep the Lady Devils within 44-40 with 1:15 left. But Sheridan just would not miss from the free-throw line.

The Jackets sank all 10 of their free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter, including 8 of 8 in the final 1:24.

Hazley added 10 points for the Lady Devils while Bradley stuck in 8.