Two area high school girls basketball teams won titles in the Northeast Arkansas Tournament in Jonesboro Wednesday night.
In Division One, the Lady Timberwolves of Cedar Ridge defeated previously unbeaten Manila (15-0) 56 to 35 to take the championship trophy home. The Timberwolves’ Maddi Rider was named player of the game, finishing with 17 points.
Timberwolf Head Coach, Malcolm Long said four Cedar Ridge players made the all-tournament team: Maddi Rider, Camdyn Gipson, Bree Horton, and Madison Jackson. He noted that Gipson hurt her ankle in the first quarter of the finals and had to sit out the remainder of the game. But, in the quarter finals against Trumann she scored 22 points, and then scored 21 points in the semi-final game against Jonesboro Westside. Coach Long also said that Kate Provence had an outstanding defensive game in the finals against Manila and scored 10 points as well. Long said 16 teams competed in their division of the tournament.
Taking the Division Two tournament title with 12 teams competing, the Melbourne Lady Bearkatz, ranked first in Class 2A and 6th overall, beat Nettleton 72 to 37 in the championship game. Nettleton came into the game ranked 2nd in class 5A and 10th overall. Melbourne entered the tournament with a 10-0 record and won three straight to take the title. One coach at the tournament remarked that Melbourne looks as good this year as they did when they won their state championship titles.
This 44th annual invitational tournament was sponsored by First Community Bank.
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