Lady Chicks claim win over Lady Pirates

Lady Chickasaws 58, Lady Pirates 20

GOSNELL— The Blytheville Lady Chickasaws came into the packed Gosnell gymnasium Tuesday night where they reminded everyone in the gym why they were the number two seed in the 4A-3 girls division as they defeated the Gosnell Lady Pirates 58-20.

“This game was definitely big for the community bringing everybody out and together to watch two really good teams compete against each other,” said Lady Chicks head coach Jacquonna Young. “Especially since both of us are in the same county, I think it was something big for the community and the kids as well.”

Blytheville (16-8, 7-3) jumped out to a 7-0 lead; however, Gosnell (5-19, 2-8) tied the game at seven with a layup by sophomore forward Lanaeshia Lincoln assisted by classmate Amalia Caruthers with 4:25 remaining in the first quarter.

Blytheville went on another run to lead 18-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Blytheville continued where they left off at the end of the first quarter with tough defensive pressure and outscored the Lady Pirates 13-2 in the second quarter to lead 31-12 at the half.

“I’ve been talking to my kids about defense. Defense wins games,” Young said. “A Lot of teams can’t handle pressure.”

The Lady Chicks kept scoring in the third quarter outscoring the Lady Pirates,19-4, to lead 50-16 at the end of the third quarter.

The Lady Chicks were led offensively by senior Mikayla Guess with 21 points. McKinley Walker chipped in nine points and McKenzie Thompson added eight points.

Gosnell struggled offensively with Lincoln leading the team with seven points. Freshman guard Bryonna Thompson chipped in five points.

The Lady Chicks secured a first round bye in the 4A-3 where they will play the winner of the Westside Lady Warriors and the Pocahontas Lady Redskins on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 4 p.m.

Gosnell hosted the Hayti Lady Indians Thursday night and were victorious, 59-48, on their senior night.

The Lady Pirates drew the fifth seed and will face the fourth seed Brookland Lady Bearcats Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 4 p.m.

Gosnell were defeated in the regular season in their first regular season matchup against the Lady Bearcats at Gosnell, 51-45, but avenged the loss two weeks later at Brookland, 50-44.