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The Berryville Lady Bobcats have taken their lumps in conference play this season, including losses to Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove in a span of less than 24 hours over the weekend. But there are plenty of signs that the Lady Bobcats are improving as postseason play nears.
Berryville lost at Pea Ridge by a score of 42-32 on Friday, Feb. 3, but the Lady Bobcats were within four points with less than two minutes to play. Prairie Grove beat Berryville 66-51 on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bobcat Arena — but the margin was much closer than the teams’ first meeting this season, when Prairie Grove won 61-34.
“That’s the whole goal, is to get better each and every game,” Berryville coach Daniel Cornelison said. “We’re playing these teams the second time through, and that helps. You have to get an idea of what they can and can’t do after you play and make adjustments.”
Berryville’s defense was exceptional against Pea Ridge, Cornelison said.
“Defensively, that’s about as well as we’ve played all year long,” Cornelison said. “We did a real nice job defensively on them.”
Pea Ridge scored just six points in the first quarter before outscoring Berryville 14-5 in the second quarter for a 20-12 halftime lead.
Senior guard Hannah Youngblood led the Lady Bobcats with 10 points while classmate Mia Thurman added eight.
“I was real proud of their effort defensively,” Cornelison said. “We did a lot of things right. The ball just wouldn’t go in the hole for us.”
Against Prairie Grove, Berryville started slowly as the Lady Tigers grabbed a 15-9 lead by the end of the first quarter and were up 34-23 at halftime.
“It was just a quick turnaround,” Cornelison said. “I’m sure we were a little tired and didn’t play near as well defensively, but we made quite a few shots.”
Youngblood made three three-pointers and led the Lady Bobcats with 15 points while freshman Kaylyn Smith scored 12. Thurman added nine, sophomore Taelor Tomlinson had eight and sophomore Kynadee Hopper scored seven.
Berryville’s chances of postseason success will depend on whether shots fall for the Lady Bobcats, Cornelison said.
“We still live and die by having to make a lot of shots,” he said. “The nights those go in, we’re a whole lot more competitive than the nights they don’t. But I feel like we have gotten better.”
Berryville will host Gravette on Tuesday and Shiloh Christian on Friday at Bobcat Arena in the final two games of the regular season.
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