BHS girls defeat ES in opener

The Berryville Lady Bobcats got off to a successful start to the 2022-23 season, beating Eureka Springs 3418 on Friday, Nov. 11, at Highlander Arena.

Senior guard Hannah Youngblood, a three-year starter for the Lady Bobcats, scored a game-high 15 points. Freshman Kaylyn Smith added 11 as Berryville jumped out to a 19-6 halftime lead.

Defensively, the Lady Bobcats held Eureka Springs to one field goal in the first half.

Berryville coach Daniel Cornelison praised his team’s work ethic in preparing for the season.

“The girls are coming in and working hard every day,” Cornelison said. “I feel like we’re getting better every day. We’ve got a good group of girls. I really enjoy them. They work hard, and hopefully we can put some things together.”

The Lady Bobcats will count heavily on Youngblood, who played for the varsity late in her freshman year and has been in the starting lineup since she was a sophomore.

“I’m looking for big things from her,” Cornelison said. “She’s had a really good first three weeks of practice. She’s obviously the leader of this team. We’re going to be looking to her to provide a lot of scoring opportunities, both scoring it and dishing it after she attacks. We’re going to look to her for quite a bit.”

Youngblood and Smith were joined in the starting lineup against Eureka Springs by seniors Mia Thurman and Avery Bell and sophomore Kynadee Hopper.

“We’re going to try real hard every day in practice,” Cornelison said. “We’re going to try real hard as a coaching staff. We’re just going to try to be the best team we can be at the end of the day. That’s all you can ask for. I like these girls. They play hard. So, we’ll see.”

Berryville will host Green Forest on Tuesday and Harrison on Friday at Bobcat Arena.