GRAVETTE -- A sea of orange greeted visitors to the Lions' Den in Gravette on Jan. 11 for the Lion Booster Club's annual Orange Out night. Students, faculty, staff and Lion fans received an orange T-shirt to help support the Lions and Lady Lions win their fight in the Shiloh Christian Saints' and Lady Saints' conference showdowns. When the final buzzers sounded on both contests, the Lions and Lady Lions emerged victoriously.
The tip-off went to the Lady Lions, who drove down to their basket; and, with only 25 seconds off the first-quarter clock, Reese Hamilton hit a 3-point field goal, one of five for the night, giving Gravette its first points of the night and the lead. Thirty seconds later, Hamilton repeated her earlier performance and hit her second 3-pointer of the night. The Lady Lions were off and running, leading 6-0.
One minute later, Lady Saint Sydney Wyand hit a field goal, putting Shiloh on the scoreboard for the first time. Gravette jumped out to a 10-8 lead with the clock winding down on the first quarter. With 19 seconds left, Eden Graves landed a field goal to tie the game at 10-all going into the next quarter.
Just a little over a minute into the second quarter, the Lady Saints took the lead for the first time in the contest. By the end of the first half, Shiloh Christian held a slim three-point lead over Gravette going into the halftime break.
The Lady Saints continued to hold the lead until the 6:01 mark when the Lady Lions managed to regain it once again, this time by a mere point. Over the next four minutes, the lead changed hands once again and Shiloh was in control. With less than a minute left in the third quarter, Gravette came back to retake the lead by one at the close of the quarter.
The Lady Lions held on to take the conference win, 43-40, over the Lady Saints.
Six Lady Lions contributed to the scoring effort for the contest. At the top of the list was Reese Hamilton with 17 points, including five 3-pointers for the night. Other Lady Lions scorers included Brynn Romine and Rachel Deihl, each with eight, Alexa Parker with five, DaLacie Wishon with three, and Kelsey Fletcher with two.
On the Lady Saints' side, two players were in double figures, Hailey Tunnell with 11 and Sydney Wyand with 10, followed by Maiesha Washington with nine, Eden Graves with six, Avery Beers with three, and Lauren Wyand with one.
Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS
Brynn Romine (Gravette 22) drives the ball between a pair of Lady Saint defenders on her way to the basket midway through the third quarter of the Gravette-Shiloh Christian varsity girls basketball contest at the Lions' Den in Gravette Jan. 11. The Lady Lions defeated the Lady Saints 43-40 in the final minute of the conference contest.
Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS
Rachel Deihl (Gravette 12) stretches as far as she can to bring down a rebound denying Eden Graves (45) and another Lady Saint a chance to recover the ball during the first quarter of the Gravette-Shiloh Christian varsity girls game in Gravette Jan. 11. The Lady Lions took the conference win 43-40 over the Lady Saints.
Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS
Keeley Elsea (Gravette 40) tries to put up a shot from the left side of the lane during the third quarter of the Gravette-Shiloh Christian varsity girls basketball game in Gravette Jan. 11. Elsea's shot bounced off the rim and was rebounded by a Lady Saint.