Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wolverettes Capture Prescott Classic With 68-57 Win Over Bradley

When the Prescott and Bradley senior girls met in the finals of the Prescott Classic Wednesday, Dec. 30, it was well worth the price of admission.

These are two of the best high school senior girls basketball teams in southern Arkansas, if not the state, as was shown by how .

This was the second time these two teams met. The first time occurred in the Nashville Tournament last year. The results hugely favored Bradley.

When the Lady Bears and Wolverettes met Wednesday, it was payback time, with Prescott posting a 68-57 win.

The game opened with Prescott taking a 7-2 lead at the 6:04 point, only to see Bradley rally.

The Wolverettes saw Andrea Cossey, who suffered from some kind of bug, go in and out of the game. This allowed Bradley to stay close as the Lady Bears cut the lead to 13-8 with 3:25 left in the first.

Anytime Prescott built a lead, Bradley fought to cut into it so the Lady Bears could stay within striking distance.

When the Wolverettes made a mistake, the Lady Bears made them pay.

Late in the first period, Prescott Coach Bill Cossey inserted Emmet transfer Amanda Hodges to give the Wolverettes some height inside the paint.

Period one ended with Prescott posting a 23-17 lead.

Bradley was in the bonus to open the second quarter, but neither team was able to dominate the other.

With Cossey in and out of the game, the rest of the Wolverettes moved their games to the next level a level which could take them to the state tournament, if not all the way and kept the Lady Bears at bay.

Bradley was able to narrow the gap somewhat in the second, but only by a point as halftime saw the score 35-30 in Prescott's favor.

The third quarter opened with Traci Graham finding her range from beyond the arc, while Stacy Stockton found herself in a shooting zone, hitting nearly everything she put up.

Hodges contributed inside with her rebounding skills and soft touch when she took a shot. Hodges ended with seven in the game.

The two squads fought like heavyweights, pounding one another up and down the court, keeping fans on both sides on the edge of their seats.

With 2:38 left in the period, Prescott led 47-35, but the Lady Bears rallied and outscored Prescott 10-5 for the rest of the quarter.

Coach Cossey installed several different player combinations throughout the course of the game to see which players worked best together. The game ended with Stockton, Cossey, Graham, Hodges and Jessica Hendrix on the floor, working together in much the same manner of the Chicago Bulls.

Period three ended with Prescott up 49-45.

Bradley took the lead at 51-50 with 6:25 left in the game. The Wolverettes had two choices fold like a cheap tent in a high wind or bear down, play hard and show what they were made of. They did the latter.

Hodges tied the game at the line with 6:03 left and Prescott retook the lead at 53-51 when Cossey nailed a 10-footer.

Still, neither team asked for nor gave any quarter. The squads battled the length of the court until the final buzzer.

Cossey shook off whatever bug she had been suffering from and began firing away from outside, finding nothing but the bottom of the net.

With 4:28 left, Prescott built its lead to 57-51 and didn't look back for the rest of the contest.

About a minute later, Bradley's girls got rattled and began turning the ball over. This allowed Prescott to add to its lead and put the game away.

With 2:42 left, Cossey nailed another trey to give the Wolverettes a 10-point lead at 63-53. This was more than Bradley could handle and Prescott sailed in for the win and tourney title.

The Wolverettes were led by Stockton's 24, while Hendrix netted 10 and Cossey scored 14.

Corona Harris led all scorers with 26, with Tina Harris adding 18 for Bradley.

Prescott was 11 of 19 from the stripe, while Bradley converted seven of 18.

Bradley's boys tangled with Hot Springs Lakeside in the other finals, with the Rams posting a 59-40 win.

The Rams opened with a 22-15 lead at the end of one and went up 38-23 at the break. By the end of the third quarter, Lakeside was completely in command 51-30.

Patrick McKellar led the Rams with 14, with Patrick Westerman adding 11. Mitch McCoy contributed 10 in the win.

Greg Davis was the game's high scorer with 24.

Bradley saw little time at the line and only shot 40 percent, hitting two of five. Lakeside was 70 percent at the charity stripe, netting seven of 10.

Prescott's boys finished third in the tourney by ousting league rival Nashville, 77-52.

There was plenty of hustle from both crews in the first period as Prescott pressed most of the game.

The Wolves mostly ran a man defense, while the Scrappers stayed in a 1-3-1 zone.

Period one ended with the two teams deadlocked at 15-15.

Prescott opened the second eight minute stanza with a three and was in the double bonus by the 6:16 mark. The Wolves also held a 21-15 lead at the time.

The Scrappers were able to stay close through three, but ran out of steam in the fourth quarter.

Matt Brannon stayed beyond the three-point barrier most of the game, firing away with deadly accuracy and keeping the Scrappers off balance.

Halftime saw the Wolves with a 21-16 lead.

The hosts began period three with a steal and layup, but Nashville was fired up, for this quarter anyway, and battled to stay in the contest.

The Wolves, on the other hand, settled down and played a more control-oriented game. Period three concluded with Prescott up 48-42.

The final eight minutes saw the Wolves in complete control of all aspects of the game as Nashville fired its final salvo in the third.

Prescott's defense forced turnovers the offense turned into points.

The end was evident with 2:29 left as the Scrappers were nailed with an intentional foul. This gave Prescott two free throws and the ball.

Nashville fired blindly from three-point land, but to no avail.

The game would have been a bigger blowout had Prescott shot better from the free throw line. The Wolves were 22 of 38, while Nashville was eight of 14.

Brandon Wilson led Prescott's offense with 28 points, while Brannon canned 18. Edward Glenn stroked the nylons for 14.

Travell Green led the Scrappers with 19, while Willie Scott had 15.

In other tourney games, Bradley's girls routed Hatfield 65-29 to get things started.

The Bradley boys sent Hatfield packing with a 90-52 loss, while Prescott's senior girls' first game was a close one against Lakeside, with the Wolverettes winning 54-41.

Lakeside's senior boys dumped Blevins 73-50, while the Hornets sent Hatfield home with an 82-69 whipping.

Hatfield's senior girls ended Lak