Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Advance To State Basketball Tournament At Vilonia

Before high school basketball season started, Prescott's senior girls were tabbed to finish fourth in the 7AA conference.

This was according to the Arkansas Hoops Yearbook.

The prediction was close. The Wolverettes finished third with a 4-2 league record.

The Wolverettes also weren't expected, by the "experts", to do well in the district tournament.

Again, the Prescott girls proved them wrong by winning the 7AA District Championship with a thrashing of favored Gurdon.

From there, it was on to the regional tourney in Star City. Those in the know said the Wolverettes would beat McGehee, which they did, 49-47, but couldn't handle Drew Central.

The Lady Pirates would disagree as they saw their season come to an end Friday night when the Wolverettes posted a 67-60 win.

This propelled the Wolverettes into the championship game with the Lady Bulldogs of Star City.

Guess what? The "experts" again gave the nod to the other team. Prescott didn't have the size, speed or depth to stay with the Lady 'Dogs.

Star City's senior girls would disagree with this.

Saturday night, playing before a hostile crowd, the Wolverettes needed an overtime period to take the next step toward the state title and possibly the overall title.

Star City went down 73-68 at the hands of Prescott, though the Lady 'Dogs led by as many as 12 points late in the second half.

The Lady 'Dogs jumped to an 18-12 lead at the end of one, and held a 38-29 as the buzzer sounded ending the first half of play.

The two squads battled to a 14-14 tie in the third, which meant Star City led the Wolverettes 52-43.

Then, the fourth period began. Cecily Butler's team came out with fire in their eyes.

Whenever the ball was in play, there was a Wolverette nearby. Prescott's girls fought hard to cut into Star City's lead.

But, with about 2:30 left, the Wolverettes still trailed by six. Time favored the Lady 'Dogs.

The crowd in the packed gymnasium seemed to think Star City had the game in hand. The atmosphere was the Wolverettes couldn't come back yet again.

The home crowd was wrong.

Still trailing with less than a minute to go in the game, the Wolverettes took charge, as they forced Star City into turnovers and foul trouble.

Star City led 60-59 with about :50 seconds left in the fourth period. Laura Culpepper had just scored and was fouled.

However, before she could take the free throw, one of the Star City players was hit with a technical foul, as she disagreed with the officials on the call.

Culpepper hit the front of the iron on her shot.

Ashlea Stewart then stepped to the line for the two shots from the technical.

The first shot hit the side of the goal and bounced harmlessly away.

Silence fell in the gym as she eyed the goal. When she took the ball in hand for the second shot, the Star City crowd erupted, hoping the noise would disrupt Stewart's concentration.

It didn't. The ball played sweet string music as Stewart hit nothing but net to tie the game at 60-60.

Each team swapped baskets as play ended in regulation time at 62-62.

For all intents and purposes, the game ended for Star City with regulation play.

Even though the Lady 'Dogs won the toss to start the "fifth period" the Wolverettes owned the final four minutes.

With the score 67-62, after Prescott scored the first five points in the OT, Butler finally called off the press to keep her girls from fouling Star City and prolonging the game.

However, the Lady 'Dogs had no other choice but to foul. And foul they did.

According to Duncan Culpepper, who was on hand for the game, the final :51 seconds of the overtime lasted 20 minutes.

For the most part, the Wolverettes were able to convert from the charity stripe in the fifth period.

Overall, Prescott was 23 of 35 from the line, while Star City was 13 of 21 in free throw attempts.

Stacy Stockton led the Wolverette charge with 23 points. Stewart added 14, including a three pointer. Jessica Hildebrand contributed 11 points and five steals to the regional title hunt, while Laura Culpepper poured in 10 points and was a four-time thief. Gladies Gulley scored eight points and pulled down 11 vital rebounds, while Leslie Hines had seven points with a trey.

Shannin paced Star City with 15.

"We changed defenses at the half," Butler said. "We went to a 1-3-1 trap and pressed. We turned the heat up."

The game came down to composure, Butler said. Her girls had it, Star City's ilost it, and along with it, the game.

"I told the girls when we got there the fans, coaches and officials would hate us, but not to let it bother us.

"I told them not to be intimidated, but to play smart, heads up ball.

"These girls have big hearts," Butler continued. "We went from being the biggest team (in the 7AA) to being average and having to pick up our game."

Gulley was named Most Valuable Player of the tourney, along with being tabbed to the All Regional team. She is joined on the All Regional squad by Culpepper, Stewart and Hildebrand. Hines and Stockton earned honorable mention to the team.

Getting to the finals, however, was no easy feat for the Wolverettes.

They found themselves battling from behind to handle McGehee's Lady Owls, but forced them out of the tourney 49-47 Wednesday night.

The Lady Owls led 13-8 after one and 26-22 at the half. The Wolverettes still trailed after three at 36-31 before their patented fourth quarter rally.

In the game, Gulley poured in 20 points and pulled down seven boards. Hildebrand had 13 points as the next highest scorer.

Stewart cleaned the glass nine times, Stockton recorded three steals and Culpepper dished out three assists.

Davis paced McGehee with 15.

The Wolverettes also converted from the line as they hit nine of 16 shots. The Lady Owls were blanked at 0-2.

This led to the date with the Lady Pirates of Drew Central.

The Wolverettes found themselves on the wrong end of a 10-8 first quarter score, but fought to tie the game 24-24 at intermission.

The Prescott crew took control of the game in the second half as they pulled to a 44-41 advantage at the end of three.

Gulley was again the team's leading scorer with 20, including 15 rebounds and a 10-12 effort from the field.

Stockton followed with 20, and hit four of four free throws. Stewart ripped the cords for 12, had seven boards and was eight of 10 at the charity stripe.

Culpepper hit the boards for eight rebounds and dished out a trio of assists, while Hildebrand played thief three times.

Shorter led Drew Central with 18 points.

This contest was not decided at the free throw line as Prescott hit 14 of 21 attempts