Lady Devils pull out soothing victory

Lady Devils pull out soothing victory

Her head coach had a cold but Aryah Hazley was red hot with 41 points in the win

WM School District PARAGOULD — With the remnants of strep throat still visible, a raspyvoiced Shelia Burns got the best medicine possible here last Friday night.

As her star guard Aryah Hazley put her team on her back and poured in basket after basket, Burns, who missed the Lady Devils' previous game against Jonesboro because of illness, was totally unaware of the sophomore's point total.

When the final horn sounded and the West Memphis girls coming out victorious 72-67 in overtime at Greene County Tech, an informant told Burns that Hazley had just scored 42 points.

'Really?' she asked.

'Totally unaware of that.

But it sure takes away the pain I've had the last few days.'

On the heels of one of their worst losses in quite a while, the Lady Devils (78 overall, 3-3 in the 6A/5A-3 Conference) looked as though they were on their way to another defeat before Hazley put it in overdrive.

Hazley scored 18 of her total in the fourth quarter and in overtime as the West Memphis girls rallied from a 54-44 deficit after three quarters.

'I never dreamed that after that letdown against Jonesboro that we'd come to Greene County Tech, with the way they shoot the ball, and come out victorious. That may sound pessimistic, but we have a lot of inexperienced players and sometimes it shows up. This was a great win and Aryah was truly great.' Hazley nearly did it all.

But she had some help in overtime.

The West Memphis rookie sent the game into overtime when she drained two free throws with 22.3 seconds left in regulation.

The totality of the rally provided an immediate burst of momentum for West Memphis heading into overtime, and it showed up in the form of the visitors scoring the first 9 points of the extra period.

Tatyana Burks scored 5 of her 9 points in the first one-minute, 19-seconds of overtime. She converted a three-point play on the Lady Devils' first possession and then followed that up immediately by sinking two free throws. Then after four straight free throws by Hazley, the Lady Devils found themselves up 69-60 over a punch-drunk group of Lady Eagles.

'When Aryah is focused and rolling the rest of the team rallies behind her,' Burns stated. 'I think that's what got Burks going. She made two terrific plays in overtime.'

Despite a seemingly insurmountable lead with just 1:43 to play, Tech made it a one-possession game, trailing only 70-67 with 38 seconds still to play and, most importantly, with Hazley on the bench after collecting her fifth foul just seconds earlier.

Furthermore, the Lady Devils' second-best foul shooter, sophomore center Tierra Bradley, had just limped to the bench after a collision with another player.

Down a scorer and a ballhandler, the Lady Devils got the ball in the hands of senior Kyla Proctor, who got free for a layup with 11 seconds to play to seal the win.

'That was the clincher,' Burns said of Proctor's basket. 'With A-Rod (Hazley) fouling out and TBaby (Bradley) hurt, we had to depend on other players, and they came through. This was a big win for us.'

The Lady Devils found themselves in a doubledigit deficit after Greene County Tech drilled 13 of its first 16 foul shots.

'We just wanted to keep them off the line in the second half, and we did,' Burns commented. 'Then, they just didn't stroke the ball as well in the second half and that gave us the window we needed.'

Bradley also scored 9 points for West Memphis while junior Kenya Freeman hit for 7. Among Hazley's point total were four three-pointers.

Overshadowed greatly by Hazley's heroics, Tech's Tiffany Gramling had 26 points while teammate Allie Thomas scored 19.

The Lady Devils host Marion tonight.

By Billy Woods