The Upperman Lady Bees from Baxter have been to the Ladies Classic many times over the years, but this will be the first time they can go back home with the championship trophy.
The Bees turned back the talented Bearden Lady Bulldogs 59-50, using their hard-nosed defense to help them through a strong third quarter surge that led them to the victory.
Bearden was up 29-25 at halftime but Upperman outscored the Bulldogs 17-5 in the third quarter to jump into the lead and never letting the Dogs regain the momentum. Shots kept bouncing off the rim for Bearden and the lead grew in the fourth quarter.
Sadie South led the victory with 20 points while tournament most valuable offensive player Taylor Dolente scored 14.
Natalya Hodge did not have a good shooting night for Bearden but still managed 18 points before fouling out in the final period. Emma Rainey finished with 14.
Bearden (50): Natalya Hodge 5-17 6-6 18, Hunt 1-2 2-2 5, Rainey 3-14 2-2 8, Mills 0-0 0-0 0, Foster 1-2 1-2 3, Corum 2-3 0-0 6, Lemarbre 0-1 2-2 2, Myers 2-2 0-0 6, Hudson 1-1 0-0 2, Ferraris 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15-42 13-14 50.
Upperman (59): Sadie South 7-13 0-0 20, Taylor Dolente 3-8 8-10 14, G.Butler 2-6 4-4 8, M.Butler 3-5 1-2 9, Carson 1-3 4-6 6, Crouch 0-0 2-2 2, Phy 0-0 0-0 0, Stone 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-35 19-24 59.
3-Point Goals: BHS—7 (Hodge 2, Corum 2, Myers 2, Hunt.) UHS—8 (South 6, M.Butler 2).
Score by quarters:
Bearden 16 13 5 16–50
Upperman 14 11 17 17–59
