Lady Cats Claim Championship In Simmons First Classic

Kristian Tester drives to the hoop against Pine Bluff Dollarway. Tester, a sophomore, averaged 17.3 points, 7 assists and 3.3 steals in the three tournament games.

El Dorado Tops Watson Chapel In Finals

El Dorado opened the girls basketball season in style. The Lady Cats conquered the competition in the season-opening Simmons First/Lady Cat Classic, beating highly regarded Watson Chapel 67-57 in the championship game.

El Dorado opened the tournament with a 90-33 win over Lake Village before beating Pine Bluff Dollarway 73-45 in the semifinals. Each of the three teams El Dorado played, went 2-1 in the tournament with the only loss to the Lady Cats.

“That makes you feel even better,” said Coach Brad Slatton. “Every team we played in the tournament, got a trophy.”

Not only did El Dorado play the best teams in the tournament, in Watson Chapel, it beat one of the top teams in the state. Watson Chapel was ranked as high as fifth in Class AAAA last season and expected to be even better this season.

El Dorado had to erase a double-digit deficit, outscoring Watson Chapel 17-4 in the final 4:34 of the game to claim its first girls basketball championship of any kind in at least 10 years.

“I’m excited,” Slatton said after the game. “We beat a very good team. I’m excited about that as much as anything. They’re a team that’s going to go a long way. We did what we had to do. We controlled the boards late. Free throws were big. Everybody that played, contributed.”

El Dorado sank 28-of-34 free throws in the game, including 5-of-6 down the stretch. Sophomore point guard Kristian Tester hit 15-of-18 at the line and finished with 19 points, six assists and three steals. Sarah Sullivan scored 17 with 10 rebounds and three assists and hit 7-of-9 at the line. Kendra Stegall came off the bench for 14 points and six boards with Falundrus Sims contributing 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Meshali Mitchell and Roshunda Aaron brought a spark off the bench. Mitchell scored six and Aaron had two assists. April Curley had two blocked shots with Cassie Tester recording two steals. Kensel Spivey also provided key minutes.

Watson Chapel took the early lead and built a 33-22 halftime advantage. Despite the deficit, Slatton said he wasn’t worried.

“The thing I told them at halftime, we’ve worked ourselves to the point where adversity won’t bother us,” said Slatton. “It won’t keep us down. We’ll never stay down because of the experiences we’ve already had. I expected us to go on a run. I just hoped it wouldn’t be too late.”

The Lady Cats trailed 48-39 late in the third before Kristian Tester scored in the lane to cut the gap to seven going into the final period. Sims opened the fourth quarter with a putback bucket before Tester stopped and popped a short jumper on the break. Tester followed with a free throw then fed Stegall for a short jumper, tying the game at 48-48 with 5:41 left to play.

Watson Chapel’s Shadea Martin drained a 3-pointer but El Dorado got the ball inside to Sims for a bucket. Martin scored again for Watson Chapel for a 53-50 lead with 4:48 remaining.

Sullivan hit a jumper for El Dorado and Tester followed with two free throws, giving the Lady Cats their first lead of the game at 54-53 left on the clock. Sullivan drained a jumper and Tester fed Stegall for a layup on a 2-on-1 break. Stegall hit a pair from the line and Sims scored inside, giving El Dorado a 62-53 lead with 2:02 left.

El Dorado hit 5-of-6 from the line in the final two minutes, including 4-of-4 from Tester.

In the semifinal win over Dollarway, Kristian Tester scored 17 with six assists with Sims adding 12 with nine boards and three blocks. Curley scored 10. Cassie Tester and Sullivan scored nine and eight, respectively. Spivey scored eight.

“We came out real sluggish in the first half,” said Slatton. “We were out of sync, missed a lot of easy shots and didn’t block out at all. We were a step slow on defense. I expected us to be a little flat after an emotional game but we’ve got to do a better job than that.

“We came back in the second half and did a better job.”

El Dorado opened its season with a 57-point win over Lake Village.

Sullivan led the way with 19 points and 12 rebounds with Kristian Tester notching 16 with nine assists and six steals. Curley scored 15 and Sims had 10 with 14 boards and four blocks. Stegall also scored 10 off the bench with seven boards and four assists. Cassie Tester chipped in nine with four steals and Aaron dished out six assists.

All nine players scored in the first two games for El Dorado, which splits its roster in the tournament as the El Dorado B team also participated in the bracket.