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Lady Wolves conquer Howe

By CRAIG HALL
FORT SMITH—Heavener ended Howe’s reign as two-time defending champions of the girls’ division of the LeFlore County Tournament Saturday night at the Stubblefield Center.

The win before an announced crowd of 2,568 gave Heavener’s girls their first county championship since 1993. The loss was the first of the season for the Lady Lions.

Photo by CRAIG HALL
Heavener's Taylor Collins gets off a shot after colliding with Brianna Hillebrand.

The final score was 49-35, but the game was still in doubt until late. Heavener, which has lost two games on the season in the TOC, led only 37-33 with 6:57 left before the Lady Wolves scored seven straight while Howe was held scoreless for 5:23.

Shaylee Manley started the scoring for Heavener with a layup. Skylar Cooper followed with a steal and layup and Taylor Collins added three free throws.

Lynsey White ended the drought for Howe with a free throw with 1:34 left to cut the lead to 10 but with Heavener’s delay game working well, the contest was already decided.

Taylor Collins hit both free throws with 1:05 remaining, Manley hit another free throw and Kim Benson scored with 25 seconds left.

“It’s a long time coming,” said Heavener coach Jody Fincher. “It’s nice to get the monkey off our backs. I’m real proud of the girls.” 

Heavener has had problems this year with slow starts but that was definitely not the case in the championship game. The Lady Wolves jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first quarter before settling on a 16-8 lead after the first quarter.

“We were real motivated to come out and play,” Fincher said. “We knew that would help. Howe hasn’t had to play from behind a whole lot.”

Another key for the Lady Wolves was taking care of the ball against Howe’s pressure defense.

“Our veteran guards really took care of the ball,” Fincher said. “Shaylee played well and took care of the ball and played good defense.”

Heavener also held Howe’s powerful inside game in check.

“Our post players are underrated,” Fincher said. “We played good position defense and got a lot of help from the backside.”

The win should pay dividends down the road for Heavener as well.

“This is going to give us a lot of confidence as we finish conference play and get into the playoffs to beat a quality team like Howe,” he said. “It has to give us a lot of confidence.”

After Heavener’s hot start, Howe started climbing back into the game. The Lady Wolves still led by 10 in the second quarter when Howe’s Chelsea Baggs was called for a foul.

Fincher questioned the call and was given a technical. Baggs hit three of the four free throws and after taking possession, White hit a three and the lead was down to four. Randa Grant further cut into the lead with a basket soon after.

After building the lead back to four by halftime, Howe came back and tied the score twice early in the third quarter. Collins gave Heavener the lead for good with 4:57 left in the third by hitting one of two free throws.

Cooper followed with a short jumper, was fouled and hit the free throw. Baggs scored on a layup for Howe, but Collins finished the quarter by scoring four points to put the lead back to six, setting the stage for the final quarter.

Collins led Heavener with 20 points while Cooper added 12. Baggs was the leading scorer for Howe with 12 points.
 

 


 
 


 

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