Web posted
Monday, January 14, 2008
Stinson, Ark City girls end six-game slide
By DAVID WOLMAN
Traveler Sports Editor
After seeing two leads evaporate earlier last week -- both losses -- it certainly appeared things were headed that way again for the Arkansas City girls basketball team in Saturday's home makeup game against Campus.
But unlike in their losses to Newton last Tuesday and Valley Center on Friday, the Bulldogs received key contributions from their role players down the stretch Saturday afternoon and were able to snap a six-game losing streak with a 48-43 win over the Lady Colts.
Fourth-quarter scoring droughts did in Ark City (2-6, 1-3 AVCTL II) in its two prior games. It held a six-point halftime lead against Newton, only to see the Railers close out the game on a 17-2 run and hand the Bulldogs a 52-36 loss. Then against Valley Center, Ark City led by eight in the second quarter and three in the third, but were held to only three points in the last 11 1/2 minutes in a 49-37 loss.
On Saturday, Ark City was finally able to close one out. And coach Bill Stinson conceded that his team took those valuable lessons from handling late-game situations earlier last week and applied them in Saturday's tilt against Campus.
"That's exactly the same thing I talked to the girls about," he said. "I prided them on not thinking that and fighting through. Of course, I'm thinking 'here we go.' But we made some plays and hopefully that's going to be a stepping stone for us."
After Natalie Stinson continued her torrid shooting in the first half of recent games, in leading Ark City to a 23-10 lead midway through the second quarter, Campus used a couple of runs to eventually take its first lead of the contest, 31-30, on a Lorielle Slates turnaround jumper at the 3:38 mark of the third quarter.
Slates' bucket capped off a mini 6-0 run for the Lady Colts (2-6, 2-3 AVCTL II), who had won their previous two games after going winless last season and overall since an early 2006 win over Winfield.
Slates scored seven of 12 points in the second half. Freshman Casandra Brown led Campus with 13 points, including four three-pointers. Brown hit two of her three-pointers within the first 2:13 of the third quarter, the latter which cut Ark City's lead to 28-25.
Kami Tauer then connected on a pair of free throws for a 35-34 Campus lead. But that would be the last time the Lady Colts would lead on the afternoon.
And it was the play by a few unsung players who stepped their efforts late in the game and allow Ark City to earn the win.
Natalie Benton sank four free throws, including two in the first minute of the fourth quarter for a 38-36 Bulldogs lead. Benton finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
Benton and Karlye Sturd, non-factors in late-game situations of late, stepped up their efforts when Ark City was looking for someone to do so Saturday. They grabbed key rebounds and made timely baskets and foul attempts. The two accounted for six of Ark City's 15 foul attempts in the fourth quarter. Ark City went 8 of 15 from the foul line in the quarter.
Sturd connected on a pair of free throws for a 41-36 lead with 6:20 remaining. She finished with eight points and six rebounds.
"We were getting the ball down in the block a lot better, and Natalie and Karlye were doing something with it," Bill Stinson said. "If we're going to win, we can't have one person, we've got to have three or four."
Val White also contributed two steals and a key rebound.
"Val White, I can't say enough about because she plays so hard defensively. She chases loose balls down. She doesn't get much point-wise, but she's important to us," Bill Stinson said.
Campus, aided by eight fourth-quarter Ark City turnovers, had chances to tie or take the lead, but couldn't. The Lady Colts did, however, come within a single possession on three occasion in the final 4 1/2 minutes.
Slates drained a pair to cut Ark City's lead to 45-43 with 36 seconds remaining.
But it was only fitting that Natalie Stinson cap off the Bulldogs' win. She sank three free-throws in the last 32 seconds to give Ark City a two-possession lead. She finished with a game-high 23 points and four rebounds.
Her last two free throws with 23 seconds remaining accounted for the final score. When asked about what went through her mind when shooting the free throws, she credited her friends' motivation.
"My friends always tease me because sometimes I can't make them," she said. "They make little note cards that'll say, 'make the free ones.' And I was just thinking that. I've just got to make them, there's no other choice."
Just moments before, she grabbed a defensive rebound off a potential game-tying three-pointer by Tauer.
Like the previous two games, Stinson again carried Ark City offensively early against Campus. She scored 15 points in the first quarter alone, accounting for all but one of its points in the quarter. Benton made a free throw midway through the quarter.
Stinson hit back-to-back three-pointers to close out the quarter, including one from eight feet behind the three-point line as the buzzer sounded. She sported a smile and raised her arms as she watched her shot fall in, a telling sign that everything was going her way in the quarter.
Campus 10 6 19 8 -- 43
Ark City 16 8 12 12 -- 48
Campus -- Brown 13, Slates 12, Tauer 7, Wheeler 6, Peil 5.
Ark City -- Stinson 23, Benton 8, Sturd 8, Warren 5, White 3, Jordan 1.
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