by Malcolm Butler
Cedar Creek continued its early season run as giant killers as the Lady Cougars defeated Class 5A Benton 53-51 in the consolation game of the 2024 Doc Edwards Tournament.
The Lady Cougars (13-3) recorded their fourth win of the season over either a 4A or 5A team and finished the three-day event with a 3-1 mark, including wins over Homer (65-24), Hornbeck (54-38) and Benton and a hard-fought loss to eventual tournament champion and Class 5A Airline (61-50).
“We took big strides as a team on both ends of the floor,” said head coach Katie Hall. “We had to be strategic playing four games in three days coming off a break. I knew we wouldn’t be crisp.
“But there were some great moments and then there were some moments where we needed to be better. We saw some kids really step up for us. Alivia Lee really shined all weekend. Avery (Ryan) got into her groove and didn’t rush. Mary Grace (Hawkins) was big. Everyone contributed in their own way. It was a great experience for our team.”
Ryan earned all-tournament team honors for the event, averaging 14.3 points per game over the Lady Cougars four contests.
Lee (13.3 ppg) and Hawkins (10.0 ppg) both averaged in double figures for the four games, as Lee recorded four double digit scoring performances and Hawkins added three 10-plus point games.
In the consolation game win over Benton Saturday afternoon, the used a stellar defensive effort in the final quarter to hold the Tigers to only four points in order to record the come-from-behind victory.
In a tie game with less than 20 seconds to play, the Lady Cougars got the go-head bucket on a layup from Taylor Martinez. Creek then got the final stops in the waning seconds thanks to a pair of blocked shots by Avery Ryan.
The Lady Cougars have now won eight of its last nine games.
The three losses have come against three teams who are a combined 37-7 this year (Haughton 17-1, Airline 12-1, Sterlington 8-5).
Creek will play at West Ouachita tonight at 6 p.m. followed by the varsity boys following.
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Cedar Creek 53, Benton 51
Cedar Creek Scoring: FG(3)-FT=Total Points
Alivia Lee 4(2)-2=12; Mary Grace Hawkins 4(3)-1=12; Mallory Smith 1(1)-0=3; Taylor Martinez 1-3=5; Zoey Venters 1-0=2; Avery Ryan 8(1)-2=19. Totals: 19(7)-8=53.
Score by Quarters
Cedar Creek (Record 13-3): 8-19-16-10=53
Benton (Record 13-7): 7-23-17-4=51
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Airline 61, Cedar Creek 50
Cedar Creek Scoring
Alivia Lee 6(1)-0=13; Mary Grace Hawkins 2(2)-4=10; Caroline James 3(1)-0=7; Mallory Smith 1-2=4; Taylor Martinez 1-0=2; Avery Ryan 5-4=14. Totals: 18(4)-10=50.
Score by Quarters
Cedar Creek (Record 12-3): 11-16-17-6=50
Airline (Record 12-1): 18-16-12-15=61
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Cedar Creek 54, Hornbeck 38
Cedar Creek Scoring
Alivia Lee 7(3)-0=17; Mary Grace Hawkins 1-3=5; Britton Bennett 1-0=2; Caroline James 1-2=4; Mallory Smith 2-0=4; Taylor Martinez 1-2=4; Zoey Venters 1-0=2; Avery Ryan 7-2=16. Totals: 21(3)-9=54.
Score by Quarters
Cedar Creek (Record 12-2): 16-13-12-13=54
Hornbeck (Record 6-9): 4-12-16-6=36
