Lady Cats handle Watson Chapel

In Saturday's matchup at the Farris Center between two of last year's girls state champions, Conway bettered 6A-South member Watson Chapel, 62-47.

The Lady Cats, who finished as the champs of 7A a season ago, chalked down their first victory of the season, rebounding off a season-opening loss to Rogers earlier in the week.

"Today we had a different look to us," Conway coach Janet Taylor said. "We were kind of shell-shocked in that first game against Rogers, and we have a very young team, with a little experience that came back. Rogers was just a well-oiled machine. They have one of the best teams in the state and we were able to come back in that game. Our youth showed some and we also showed what we're going to be made of."

Conway started a little shaky, while falling behind 9-3 in the opening minutes. In fact, the Lady Cats had six turnovers in the first three minutes. But, when Na'Dra Robertson and Taylor Gault entered the game, Conway got going inside and outside. The two combined for the next 12 points for Conway in a 14-2 run, which vaulted the Lady Cats ahead 17-11.

"We started a little different lineup today," Taylor said. "We had some kids miss practice, so we had to re-adjust, and kind of make up a little makeshift lineup there. That may be why we started a little bit out of sync there, but as the game went along I thought we did a good job of settling down. I was proud of that effort. I thought we played with a lot more mental toughness. I thought we played more as a team."

The Lady Cats had four players to finished in double-figures. Gault led the team in scoring with 16, followed by Robertson's 14. Tamara Heard, who is the only player beside Robertson who is returning with extensive minutes in last season's state championship game against Fayetteville, finished with 11 points. Shalom Delph ended with 10.

"We've also lost a lot of girls off of our state championship team," Watson Chapel Leslie Byrd said. "I lost four of my five starters. So we're young, just like everybody else. I thought that we still played a little inconsistent and we're gonna have to work on our shooting. We are doing good in spurts, but we are not able to continue to keep it up."