Late in the third quarter of Saturday’s 7A semifinal, the Northside Lady Bears began making a comeback.

Trailing by 11 to Conway, the Lady Bears cut it to one point with more than five minutes left.

But they got no closer, as Conway was able to make some plays to withstand the charge, while the Lady Bears were unable to capitalize on some important possessions late. The Lady Wampus Cats went on to end Northside’s season with a 54-43 win at North Little Rock High School.

“Just give Conway a lot of credit; they shot the ball well, they hit a lot of shots and we got rattled,” Northside coach Rickey Smith said. “We lost our composure a little bit, and we missed four shots right there under the goal in the fourth period.

“That’s the difference in the ballgame; we get those four shots, we block out on the free-throw line and we don’t get rattled. But give Conway credit.”

Conway (27-3), the top seed from the 7A-Central, will advance to take on No. 2 seed North Little Rock for the 7A championship next week in Hot Springs.

The Lady Bears, who finished in a three-way tie for the 7A-Central title with Conway and NLR but got the No. 3 seed for state, finishes the season at 26-4.

There’s also plenty of returning talent coming back next season for the Lady Bears. But in the aftermath of Saturday’s defeat, Smith talked about the players who won’t be returning to the team.


“I love my senior class, I love my kids,” Smith said. “We won 26 ballgames this year in a very tough league. ... We had a successful season, it did not end the way we wanted it but the future looks bright, but I hurt for that senior class, I really do.”

The Lady Wampus Cats also won the last two games of the three times they played Northside this season. Northside won the first game at home by two points, before Conway took the second game at its court, winning by four.

Going in, it seemed to favor another close ballgame.

The Lady Bears took an early 8-4 lead before Conway reeled off eight straight points to go in front. Although Northside got within one a few more times after that, the Lady Wampus Cats never trailed following that 8-0 run.

Conway eventually led by seven at halftime and then increased it to 11 late in the third.

But that’s when Northside, specifically freshman point guard Jersey Wolfenbarger, began heating up.


Wolfenbarger was personally responsible for an 8-0 run to end the third quarter, beginning by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers. The push made it a one-possession game, 37-34 in Conway’s favor, entering the fourth.

Northside then closed the gap to a point twice in the final quarter. The latter came with 5:30 left, on a running shot in the lane by senior Cierah Carey off an offensive rebound, which made it 39-38.

Seconds later, Conway answered on the other end. Then after Northside came up empty on its next possession, Conway junior Asiyha Smith hit a 3 to extend the lead to six, 44-38.

Two foul shots by Lady Bear junior Sara Bershers made it a four-point game with less than four minutes left. But the Lady Wampus Cats scored eight of the next 10 points to turn back the Lady Bears.

That sequence included a pair of missed layups from the Lady Bears, and Conway missing the front end of a one-and-one. But Lady Wampus Cat Cardrina Nolen got the rebound off the missed free throw, drew a foul and made two free throws of her own with 2:17 left for a 50-42 Conway lead.

“We missed four or five shots right under the basket and could have made it a ballgame,” Rickey Smith said.

“We cut it to four I think or maybe six, and they missed two free throws, but we don’t block out and they get a stick-back. Those two or three little things there.”

Asiyha Smith finished with 20 points and hit two 3's. Junior Myla Yelder added 18 points and went 9-of-10 from the foul line for Conway.

Bershers, who had 30 points in Northside’s quarterfinal win against Bentonville on Friday, had 11 points on Saturday. Wolfenbarger added 10 points, all coming in the third quarter.
