Van Buren girls overpower Mavs

Van Buren girls basketball coach Chris Bryant knew what he was getting into when he signed on to play the schedule his Lady Pointers have faced the first two months of the season. Friday, his team saw a “glimpse” of the future. Sophomore Brooklyn Kannady and senior Lexi Miller combined for 34 points as Van Buren rolled to an easy win over the Southside Lady Mavericks, 70-24, at Southside Gym. The Lady Pointers (4-6) never trailed. “It’s definitely a challenging schedule to start the year,” Bryant said. “Tonight, we saw a glimpse of what can happen when you get a little confidence and put the ball in the hole. We have a chance to play some good basketball before the year is out.” The Pointers outscored the Mavericks, 27-6, in the first quarter, and even as Bryant emptied his bench, Van Buren’s lead ballooned to 37 (50-13) by the end of the first half. Kannady had 18 points and Miller finished with 16. “There’s a little pressure on you at first, but once you get going you’re fine,” Miller said. “We want to continue to develop a toughness and competitiveness for 32 minutes,” Bryant said. “When you have some of the games we’ve had this preseason, it’s been hard. It’s been a challenge to keep your confidence up and to keep morale up. It’s hard to keep bringing that fight. I think the first (nine opponents), the average record was 9-and-2.” Also for the Pointers, Sunni Harrington and Carter Schmidt finished with eight points each. Allie Moss had six, and Emmalee Grebe and Bailee Woodard added four apiece. For Southside, which dropped to 0-9, Essence Norwood led the charge with six points. Emily Forsgren, Aleigha Johnson and Shilo Loranho had four apiece. Both teams will compete at the Hoops for Hunger Tournament in Russellville over the holidays. Van Buren plays Pulaski Academy a week from today at 10 a.m. The Mavs face Danville Dec. 27 at 1 p.m. Van Buren 54, Southside 51 BOYS — Junior Avery Salisbury hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 27.5 left to play and Damarius Newton scored 11 of his game-high 20 points in the final eight minutes Friday to lift Van Buren to a 54-51 win over the Southside Mavericks. Tips To Retire Ready Ad by Merrill See More The Mavericks (4-7) trailed for much of the game before going on an 11-0 scoring run to take a 46-39 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Jairo Phonesouphan and Mykale Franks. Franks led the Mavericks with 17 points. Brayden Gilmore started the Pointers’ comeback with a basket that triggered a 15-5 run to close the game. Gilmore finished with 15 points.

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Van Buren High School Athletics

VAN BUREN GIRLS OVERPOWER MAVS

KEVIN TAYLOR

Times Record | 12/21/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Jamie Mitchell