GREENLAND -- The Mountainburg girls started slow but finished fast to eliminate Yellville-Summit on Thursday.
Mountainburg rallied from a seven-point deficit in the first half to defeat Yellville-Summit 52-41 in the Class 2A West Region Tournament at Dee Lee Gymnasium. Freshman Elliot Owen scored 22 points for Mountainburg, which dominated the second half after falling behind 17-10 in the first quarter.
Owen had eight points when the Lady Dragons outscored Yellville-Summit 18-8 in the third quarter. She had 22 of Mountainburg's 39 points in the first half.
"She's just a freshman and a kid who lives and breathes [basketball]," Mountainburg Coach Paige Jones said of Owen. "I moved her up to varsity this year and we wouldn't be where we are without her running the point guard spot."
Bryley Thomas added nine points for Mountainburg (23-4), which suffered three of its losses to a Mansfield, which improved to 27-0 with a 62-20 victory over Greenland in a first-round regional game Wednesday.
Mountainburg's height advantage came into play after Yellville-Summit was able to use its quickness to score transition points in the first quarter. The Lady Dragons clamped down defensively in the second half and used offensive rebounding to overcome its slow start.
"Our defense was the main key in the second half," Jones said. "I challenged them at halftime to just come out and make winning plays. That means getting every loose ball, every rebound, those type of things, and they took it to heart."
Yellville-Summit looked like the better team early as its guards, were able to penetrate and make high percentage shots. Mountainburg got it going late in the second quarter, but Yellville-Summit still led 25-23 after Abby Methvin banked in a long three-pointer at the buzzer.
But the start of the third quarter was different for the Lady Panthers (15-11), who only managed a combined 16 points in the second half. Methvin scored 15 points for Yellville-Summit, which continued to get in position to score but failed to finish its shots near the rim after the first quarter.
"We had our chances to score but just didn't get the ball in the hole," Yellville-Summit Coach Charlie Melton said. "It would've made a big difference to keep the pressure on them, but we struggled with it, making shots."
Cotter 47, Western Yell County 19
Kylee Chastain made eight three-pointers and finished with 26 points to lead Cotter past Western Yell County.
Emma Jones added 12 points for Cotter (24-8), which led 16-11 at halftime and 29-16 after three quarters. MyKaila Rodriguez scored 12 points for Western Yell County (18-17), which managed three three-pointers and two free throws in the first half.
BOYS
Lavaca 57, Cotter 40
Lavaca went on a 12-3 run start the fourth quarter and pull away from Cotter.
Andrew Johnson scored six points during the surge and finished with 24 points to lead the Golden Arrows (21-9). Ryan Benedict scored 15 points to lead Cotter (15-22).