Lady Wildcats fall to De Queen 72-63

One of the best girls basketball teams in Arkansas got everything it could handle Friday afternoon in Pine Bluff, but Watson Chapel fell short of spoiling the visitors’ undefeated season.

The Lady Wildcats fell 72-63 to De Queen at the Leslie Byrd Henderson Gymnasium.

Watson Chapel Coach Lenell Brown said he knew how good De Queen was, so he had the Lady Wildcats (12-4) practice against the boys to prepare.

“I told them, ‘I need y’all to get as physical as y’all can with them,’ because I knew what was coming in here,” Brown said. “The boys did a great job preparing us for this big ol’ game. Going forward, we’re just going to be more of the aggressor than getting pushed around.”

De Queen (18-0) led 57-48 entering the fourth quarter thanks to a halfcourt buzzer beater by Emma Chambers.

Watson Chapel junior Maranda Emerson opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer. She hit two more later in the quarter before fellow junior Jayla Rodgers tied the game at 61.

De Queen took the lead back on a 3-pointer by Shalyn Lyle, which started an 11-2 run to finish the game and keep the Lady Leopards undefeated.

Brown said mental mistakes cost the Lady Wildcats in the fourth quarter.

“It wasn’t the pressure,” Brown said. “They was tired. It’s crazy, because De Queen did what we do to everybody else. They did it to us. They wear us down and make us mentally weak. We had some careless turnovers in the fourth quarter that really hurt us.”

The game featured five lead changes, though the Lady Wildcats never led in the second half. Watson Chapel’s best stretch was a 14-2 run in the second quarter, which gave the Lady Wildcats a 25-22 lead and forced a De Queen timeout. The Lady Leopards had the lead back seconds later after a 3-pointer and a steal and score.

A Trinity Mitchner 3-pointer gave the Lady Wildcats the lead before Chambers took the lead back for De Queen, and Watson Chapel never led again.

Emerson tied the game at 36 early in the third quarter, but De Queen answered with a Jessie Lyle 3-pointer.

The sharpshooting Lady Leopards made nine 3-pointers, while Watson Chapel made six.

Emerson scored a game-high 19 points despite having 2 at halftime. Five Lady Wildcats scored, all reaching at least 10 points. Christian Lovett followed Emerson’s lead with 13.

Shalyn Lyle led De Queen with 17 points, just ahead of Liggin’s 16. Chambers finished with 14.

BOYS: Watson Chapel 52, De Queen 32

The Watson Chapel boys shut out De Queen in the first quarter Friday en route to a 52-32 home victory.

Watson Chapel (6-10) outscored the Leopards 18-0 in the first quarter. De Queen’s first points came 45 seconds into the second quarter on a 3-pointer from Caden Lindly.

Wildcats coach Jevon Barnes said the Wildcats played their assignments.

“We know they can shoot it, so we wanted to have the game pretty fast,” Barnes said. “I think we did well, and we executed great first quarter. Then, I told them after the first quarter, it kinda reminded me of Pine Bluff High. We started out 10-0. Next thing you know, we got a ball game. That’s what happened today. 18-0, then I look up, it’s 20-11. So, little small things we gotta do, but I’m very proud of how they responded the first half.”

Lindly’s 3-pointer started an 11-2 run for De Queen (5-8), leading to a Wildcat timeout. Watson Chapel senior Joseph Dockett broke the run after the stoppage, but a 16-point second quarter saw De Queen trail 28-16 at halftime.

Watson Chapel didn’t allow any similar runs by De Queen the rest of the way, holding the Leopards to 8 points each in the third and fourth quarters. The Wildcats began the second half on a 6-0 run and kept the Leopards at bay from there.

Dockett scored a game-high 24 points, followed by Jabaree Smith with 12. Sam Graham led De Queen with 10 points.

Watson Chapel began the game with a 1-0 lead and possession of the ball after a technical foul was called on the Leopards prior to the game. De Queen received another technical in the fourth quarter. Smith shot the technical free throws for the Wildcats and made 3 of 4.