Sometimes you get a game that just sticks in your head after you watch it as one of the great ones. It’s one of those games where the effort, the determination, the downright grit of the athletes and coaches from both teams seem to make the scoreboard seem irrelevant at times. If you were in attendance at the Mansfield High School gymnasium on Tuesday, February 14^th and saw the Lavaca Lady Golden Arrows take on the JC Westside Lady Rebels in Round2 of the 2A-4 District Tournament then you know that one of those “sometimes games” was that game.

The game started off with some nice passing by Lavaca, but the Lady Golden Arrows couldn’t capitalize on their opening possession with points. Instead, it was the Lady Rebels who scored first with a long range three-point shot. A Lavaca foul then allowed JC Westside to sink a free throw to take an early 4-0 lead. An offensive rebound and put back by the Lady Rebels added to their lead and forced Lavaca to take a time out with 4:32 left in the quarter. Lavaca’s passing game finally opened up to what they wanted as the Lady Golden Arrows connected with a hook shot to break JC Westside’s momentum. Just as soon as Lavaca stopped JC Westside’s momentum, they picked up their own as the Lady Golden Arrows tied the game up at 6-6 off of free throws and a layup. The teams then took turns putting up points in the paint until the opening quarter ended with a narrow 11-10 JC Westside lead.

Lavaca came out smoking hot to start the second quarter as the Lady Golden Arrows went on a 12-3 run on JC Westside. The game was turning into a one-way golden street for Lavaca’s offense leaving JC Westside’s defense looking a little bit gassed. The Lady Rebels finally started putting it back together with two minutes left in the quarter by hanging nine straight points on Lavaca to close the score to a 23-21 Lady Golden Arrow lead. Both teams then proceeded to take turns with fouls and turnovers which slowed the games pace down. Lavaca would hit a free throw with 0:04 seconds left in the half and prepared to head into the half with 0:02 on the clock. That’s when the Lady Rebels fired off a half court cannon ball that smoked through the net at the buzzer to tie the game 24-24.

With a new half and a tied score, both teams got a fresh start. But who who’d take advantage of it? Lavaca would take advantage first with a pair of free throws to break the tie and take the lead 26-24. Lavaca knew two points wouldn’t suffice though so the Lady Golden Arrows added a board bucket and drew a plus one on a foul to gain a five-point lead. Lavaca was getting hot, but fouls kept the Lady Rebels on ice forcing JC Westside to call a time out at the 3:50 mark of the third quarter. JC Westside broke free of their frosty situation with a three-point shot, but that was after an 11-0 run by the Lady Golden Arrows. Lavaca continued their dominance all the way down to a 38-27 score at the end of the third quarter.

Trying to make up for a rough third quarter, JC Westside scored first off of a free throw to open the final quarter of play. The Lady Rebels then closed the game down to a six-point lead with back-to-back board buckets in the paint. The cannon balls and arrows were beginning to fly again as both teams pulled out all the stops to earn a prized spot in Round3 of the tournament. Lavaca pulled out the lead back out to twelve points before the Lady Rebels broke the streak with a free throw. JC Westside then sank two threes to bring the scoreboard back down within nine points, but Lavaca wasn’t deterred as they continued to light up the scoreboard enroute to a 53-44 final score and the victory.

The Lady Golden Arrows used their tenacity in the face of adversity to punch their ticket to Round3 of the 2A-4 District Tournament. Lavaca will have just a single day to rest up after their hard-fought win as they will play again on Thursday, February 16th at 7:00pm at the Mansfield High School gymnasium. Thier opponent will be the number two seeded Mansfield Lady Tigers. The winner of that game will head directly to the 2A-4 District Championship game while the loser will have to settle for playing in the third-place game at 4:00pm. 

The Western Yell County Wolverines pulled off quite the upset on Monday, February 13^th by slaying the Mountainburg Dragons. If the Wolverines hope was to roll through the 2A-4 District Tournament as a Cinderella Story, then they were well on their way. Standing in the way of that feel good story though was a JC Westside Rebels team that was made up of giants. Could the Wolverines take down both dragons and giants in just two days? Not if the Rebels had anything to say about it.

Both Western Yell and JC Westside went straight to the boards with powerful board buckets to start the game. The Wolverines then swapped their rough and gruff power game and caught JC Westside off guard for a pair of three-point sniper shots to gain a fast 8-2 lead over the Rebels. The fast paced high and flying match up was already shaping up to be exactly what everyone expected as both teams showed off their talents. The Rebels were able to go on a 6-0 run with offensive rebounds and put backs to tie the game up 10-10. Western Yell broke the tie though and kept the nets hot with another three-point shot to close the first quarter ahead of JC Westside 13-10.

JC Westside scored on two rebound put backs to start the second quarter to come within one point of the Wolverines, but Western Yell shook it off an went back ahead with a drive straight to the basket. The Rebels bounced right back again and tied the game up at 16-16 by putting in the work in the paint. The power game of the bigger Rebels was starting to payoff for the Rebels, so they stuck with it and it paid off with JC Westside taking their first lead of the night with an 18-16 score. Western Yell kept their long-range shooting going, but their success rate was low allowing JC Westside to pile up points and build momentum. The momentum started to flow through the Rebels defense too allowing JC Westside tack on back break away layups off of Wolverine turnovers. JC Westside was clearly in the driver’s seat when the buzzer sounded as the Rebels went into the half up 28-19 over Western Yell. 

The second half picked up where the first half left off. Western Yell uncharacteristically could not seem to hit the mark on their shots. The Rebels on the other hand sank a three-pointer and followed it up with a put back to score the first points of the third quarter. JC Westside placed a lease in the paint as the Rebels made the Wolverines pay for any inside attempts to score on one end and dominated the boards on the other to extend their lead to 38-23. The lead only got bigger for the Rebels as Western Yell still couldn’t seem to buy a point while JC Westside just couldn’t miss. The Wolverines broke through the Rebels 20-point lead towards the end of the final quarter, but it was JC Westside who scored their way to a 45-29 lead at the third quarter buzzer. The fourth quarter was a complete rewind of third quarter film as JC Westside used their size advantage to score another 17 points on the Wolverines enroute to a 62-44 over Western Yell.

The JC Westside Rebels earned their automatic spot in the 2A Regional Tournament with the win and will now face the Mansfield Tigers. The two teams split W’s in the regular season with the Rebels winning the latest contest.  It will definably be a must-see game as JC Westside takes on Mansfield on Thursday, February 16^th at 8:30pm with a shot at the 2A-4 District Championship game on the line.

The 2A-4 District Tournament picked back up on Tuesday, February 14^th with a slate of top tier programs lined up for competition. To start Round2 off with a bang, the first game was scheduled for the Western Yell Lady Wolverines versus the Mountainburg Lady Dragons. Even though it was Valentine’s Day, there would be no love lost in the matchup as each program was not only try to advance to the next round, but both were also shooting for their next step to a possible District Championship and a coveted spot in the 2A Regional Tournament.

Both teams started off with an aggressive and fast paced defense, denying each other any easy shots. Mountainburg finally struck first with a fiery three-point shot to take the early lead over the Lady Wolverines. Western Yell was able to roll in a short jump shot, but the Lady Dragons laid in another three pointer to extend their lead to 6-2. The game then turned into a “tag, you’re it” race as Mountainburg matched a Western Yell jump shot and both teams answered each other’s three-point shots putting fans on the edge of their seats early. The only thing that that stopped the back-and-forth dance was the buzzer at the end of the first quarter as Western Yell led Mountainburg 13-11.

Mountainburg came out at the start of the second quarter swinging with a wild defense that temporarily stunned the Lady Wolverines. The Lady Dragons was then able to tie up the game at 13-13 with a short jump shot at the 4:51 mark. Western Yell would not give in to the pressure though and decided to apply some good defensive pressure of their own on the Lady Dragons. The adjustment worked well as the Lady Wolverines ran away with three straight turnovers, all of which ended with points on the scoreboard. Western Yell dominated the rest of the second quarter with their aggressive defense and rolled into halftime with a 25-16 lead over the Lady Dragons.

The second half gave Mountainburg a second chance at regaining momentum, and they did not disappoint. The Lady Dragons started off with a free throw point and followed it up by dropping in a long range three-pointer forcing Western Yell to call a time out at the 6:36 mark. The Lady Wolverines would storm back after the short break to put up four unanswered points of their own extending their lead to 29-20. Western Yell’s run ended just as soon as it started though as fouls sent Mountainburg to the line where they were able to creep up on the scoreboard cutting Western Yell’s lead to 29-24. The Lady Wolverines were rabid rebounders though and took defensive rebounds down court for a six-point run before Mountainburg stopped them with a three-point shot. The late shot was good, but not enough as the Lady Wolverines maintained the lead at 35-27.

Two great programs had one quarter left to leave it all on the floor, but only one would come out of the game with the “W”. The final quarter saw both teams take it literally as the basketball and bodies bounce off the floor. Western Yell and Mountainburg showed that they were willing to give all they had, but Western Yell was able to escape a fiery comeback by Mountainburg to win 56-40. Next in line for the fierce Lady Wolverines will be the top seeded Hector Lady Wildcats. The Round3 showdown will tip off on Thursday, February 16th at 4:00pm at the Mansfield High School gymnasium. The winner will be bound for the 2A-4 District Championship which will be played on Friday, February 17^th at 7:00pm while the losing team will vie for third place at 4:00pm.