El Dorado Shines At Arkansas Tech Camp

RUSSELLVILLE – The El Dorado Lady Wildcats concluded their summer basketball workouts by competing in the Arkansas Tech University Team Camp. The three-day camp had 56 teams with El Dorado finishing among the top eight with a 10-6 record.

“I was pleased,” said Coach Brad Slatton. “You play 16 abbreviated games, six games a day, you’re not always going to play as well as a coach would like. The thing I enjoyed out of it, we played pretty good about 60 percent of the time. When we did that, we won. The only game where we played good and didn’t win was Ozark but that is against a top-of-the-line opponent and we had a chance to win it. Other than two games, even when we didn’t play well, we found a way to win.”

Representing El Dorado at the camp were seniors Falundrus Sims, Kendra Stegall, April Curley, Cassie Tester, Sarah Sullivan and Jharmeshia Barnett; juniors Roshunda Aaron, Kensel Spivey and Amelia Roberson and sophomore Kristian Tester.

The Lady Wildcats opened the tournament with five straight wins over Booneville (32-14), Star City (32-31, OT), Flippin (30-23), Alma (13-7) and Shiloh Christian (27-17) before closing Wednesday with a 24-22 loss to Bentonville on a last-second shot. The loss was actually bigger as Stegall received a deep cut under her eye from an elbow and was lost for the rest of the week.

El Dorado fell to Springdale (27-15) before posting its biggest win of the week, a 27-26-overtime victory over Fort Smith Southside. The Lady Wildcats fell to an inspired Strong team 21-20 before slipping past Conway St. Joseph 23-22 in overtime. Lonoke handed El Dorado a 24-8 setback in what was easily the team’s worst performance.

The Lady Cats bounced back with wins over West Fork (29-13) and Parkers Chapel (29-17) before a 31-14 loss to Ozark in a game that was closer than the final score.

With a 9-5 record, El Dorado qualified for the Gold Division tournament, which featured the top 14 teams at the camp. The team opened up against Hector, an explosive offensive team. The Lady Cats won 25-17 in an entertaining, fullcourt game, setting up a rematch with Ozark.

Ozark was the top team at the camp with an undefeated record. The Lady Hillbillies are the defending Class AAA champion and have won state championships two of the last three years.

Ozark led 15-4 before Kristian Tester hit a 3-pointer, then scored on a drive to the hoop to start a 14-3 run. Sims and Sullivan scored inside to cut the lead to two before Ozark drained a 3-pointer. Spivey answered with a 3-pointer for El Dorado before Sullivan tied the game with two free throws with 7:45 remaining.

Ozark regained the lead at 24-20 before Curley hit from beyond the arc with 20 seconds left. El Dorado forced a turnover on the ensuing inbound as Ozark stepped on the line, giving the Lady Cats a chance for the upset.

El Dorado got a shot off but missed and, after picking up the loose ball rebound, got off another shot but it was after the buzzer as Ozark escaped with the 24-23 win. Ozark went on to win the tournament, beating Southside 25-20 in the championship game.

“That last game, the competitiveness that was there, it seemed like there was an atmosphere,” said Slatton. “There were two teams that did not want to lose. We enjoyed the competition. That made it fun. Our kids were disappointed but after they put it into perspective, they felt better. They were upset they didn’t pull it out. I think we’re past the point of having moral victories. We don’t have to look for a silver lining.”

There were several highlights during the week as El Dorado rallied from nine points down with five minutes to go against Star City as Curley hit a 3-pointer to force overtime. Cassie Tester came off a screen to hit a 3-pointer against Bentonville, tying the game with 19 seconds left. Against Southside, Curley hit two free throws with 10 seconds left to force overtime before Sullivan hit the game winner. Sullivan hit two free throws with 35 seconds left to tie St. Joseph and force overtime and Sims had 11 boards in the first loss to Ozark.

“I think they all did well. They all had their moments,” said Slatton. “It was important to get (Kristian Tester) in there and let people get used to playing with her. That let them see if they’ll run out and get in position to catch the ball, she’ll get it to them.”

El Dorado’s sophomore White Rose had an eye-opening week running the show for the Lady Cats.

“She had a real good camp to be a sophomore against the level of competition there,” said Slatton. “There were some awfully good guards there and I would not have traded her for any of them. She set the tone for us.”

Slatton felt good about El Dorado’s inside presence, despite the loss of Stegall. Sims and Sullivan established themselves for the Lady Cats.

“It was good for our post people to play against good competition,” said Slatton. “I thought Falundrus was the best defensive player and best rebounder up there. Sarah stepped up and scored well, started taking the ball to the basket.

“April had a good camp, made some big shots. Amelia had a good game and that was important for her confidence. Cassie hit some big shots and played solid defense. Spivey – it was important for her to get some time and continue to look for her shot. I thought Roshunda got better at handling the ball and running the offense. She always gives us good defense.”

Barnett saw limited action due to a sore knee and Stegall did not play after the first day.

“I thought Kendra was having one heck of a camp before she got hurt. She was playing as well as I’ve seen her play,” said Slatton. “I really felt sorry for Jharmeshia because her knee was bothering her. I told her I’d rather have her healthy in November than to risk it now. We worked her in some and she made some plays.”

Overall, El Dorado showed improvement since the Ouachita Baptist Camp earlier in the summer. The Lady Cats shot the ball better from the perimeter and finished better in the paint. Slatton said he was pleased with his team’s help-side defense and the lack of turnovers against pressure.

“I think we gained confidence at OBU. We came to this camp confident,” said Slatton. “We executed and found ways to win. I think defensively we did a lot better. We shot the ball a lot better. Our perimeter people gained some confidence and stepped up and made shots when they had to. People know about Sims and Sullivan and will try to take that away so it’s important other people step up.”

Although the Lady Cats were beat up at the end of the camp, Slatton was pleased the team came home with no serious injuries. Stegall was taken to the emergency room for her eye injury but did not receive stitches as the cut was glued instead of sewed.

“I worried about it. When I saw Kendra’s eye, it looked bad. If they didn’t have that new procedure, she would’ve had to get stitches,” said Slatton. “I hope Jharmeshia has time to heal but everybody really came out of it okay. I feel for the girl at Parkers Chapel. You don’t want to see anybody go down in the summer when they’re on their own time working to get better.

“With the format for this camp, it’s just natural on the second and third day, kids are going to start breaking down. We feel very fortunate not to lose anybody.”