CAMDEN — The Bearden Lady Bears used a good start to upend Malvern, 43-35 on Monday night.
After Malvern scored the first points of the game, Bailey Hall nailed a three to put Bearden in front. From there, Latreese Wright would score six quick points to pace the home team early. Malvern would put together a run to take the lead with 5 minutes left in the second quarter but defense would translate to quick offense for Bearden. Malvern was able to stay in the game by getting to the foul line, but the Lady Bears would go into the half with the 27-21 advantage.
The Lady Bears would go up by as many as 14 points in the third before Malvern would begin to chip away at the lead. Malvern would cut the lead down to six with 5:30 remaining in the game but Qwamiya Jones would end a Bearden scoring drought by getting to the free throw line.
For the remainder of the game, the Lady Bears would attempt to hold the ball as much as possible to kill the clock.
Bailey Hall would lead all scorers with 19 points followed by Wright with 10 points and Kassidy Ceasar with five.
After the game, Bearden Lady Bear Head Coach Roy Murray noted how much his team has improved fundamentally and praised his seniors for their execution.
“I thought we did a really good job at playing together tonight,” Bearden Lady Bears Head Coach Roy Murray said. “We’ve grown a lot from the stand point of being able to finish. We had problems with that early on and last year. I thought the girls did a really good job of that tonight. They’ve been working really hard on it. The chemistry is getting better. I got six seniors but two are hurt. Bailey Hall moved in and is contributing to the team. With her on board with the rest of the seniors in my group working together, we got a pretty good shot. It was a big win. Malvern isn’t nothing to sneeze on. So getting that win and a win against Rison, we’re going in the right direction if we can just keep it up.”
The Junior Lady Bears were also victorious on the night winning its game, 26-15.
“The junior girls are a good solid team,” Murray said. “Dermott got to us with their pressure and I don’t think we were ready for it. But tonight we responded well. With JaMya and Abby and those girls we got a chance to be really good. They shoot the ball well. They work good together. They love playing the game. They work hard in practice and they do all the things it takes to be a good team.”
The Jr. Bears and varsity Bears were unable to come away with wins on Monday. The Jr. Bears fell 39-33 after a late charge and the Bears fell 71-44 with two of its starters missing the game.