Lady Lions Try Hard For Upset Of Shiloh

— Gravette Lady Lions put a scare into Shiloh Christian last Friday night but were unable to pull off the upset.

Kami Garrison scored 15 points as Shiloh Christian overcame a halftime deficit and defeated Gravette 40-33. Garrison scored 13 points in the second half for Shiloh Christian, which beat Gravette 61-38 on Jan. 15.

Gravette (8-17, 3-11) delivered a spirited effort on Senior Night and controlled much of the first half. Shiloh Christian (18-8, 11-3) pulled ahead in the third quarter and Gravette missed some inside shots that led to its deficit.

Shyanne Nichols finished with eight points to lead Gravette.

“The kids played extremely hard but we missed some opportunities when we had some good looks,” Gravette Coach Duane Thomas said. “Shiloh made some big plays down the stretch, hit their free throws and the rest is history.”

It was a particularly ugly first half for the Lady Saints, who fell behind 5-0 at the outset and trailed 15-13 at halftime. Shiloh Christian committed 11 turnovers in the first half and twice missed the rim with shots, which prompted chants from a loud Gravette student section.

“I have to give credit to Gravette,” Shiloh Christian Coach Vic Rimmer said. “Maybe we were sluggish not having two (injured) kids, but Gravette played harder than us in the first half. We matched their intensity in the second half and I thought Kami Garrison was the difference.”

Nichols led scoring for Gravette with 8; Himsl had 7, Detring 5, Bayley 4, Newell 3 and Alsup, Vanotterloo and Britton 2 each.

Boys Lose 70-51

Gravette Lions played even with the Saints during the first quarter which ended 24-21 with the visitors ahead. But Shiloh pulled ahead with 23 points to just 12 for the Lions to take a 47-33 lead to the dressing room.

It was more even during the final two quarters as substitutions gave players more game experience. Gravette was called for 26 fouls, Shiloh Christian 16.

Cody Montee led the Lions with 18 points which included four three-pointers. O’Brien had three three-pointers and 10 total points. Hendren added 7, Verbeck 4, Daniels 3, Strzelecki and Doublehead 2 apiece and Davis 1.

Sports, Pages 10 on 02/17/2010