By Pat Dailey (For the OzarksSportsZone.com)
Thanks to her short memory, Harper Little turned what was shaping up to be a subpar late afternoon Tuesday into a splendid early evening.
Little was a perseverant sort while netting 24 points in Clever’s 61-48 opening-round victory versus Bolivar at the Pink & White Lady Classic. The Lady Jays junior guard overcame a stretch in the first half in which she missed five straight field goals to finish 7-of-14 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers.
“My Dad is always telling me to keep shooting,” Little said. “He says it’s not going to hurt anything if you keep shooting and if I miss a shot, blow it off and go to the next shot.”
Little has the support of Clever coach Dan Jones to keep looking for her shot, no matter how she’s faring at the moment.
“She keeps her focus forward,” Jones said. “We have a total green light for her. As long as it’s good shot-selection, she needs to put it up.”
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Little was good from the get-go at the free-throw line, making all eight of her charity tosses. That was part of 17-of-19 free-throw shooting by the Lady Jays (7-2).
“I didn’t miss one and I’m really surprised by that,” Little said. “But we practice free throws every single day in practice.”
Clever has also been busy in practices working on a new offensive scheme with guards darting to the basket on back-door cuts on nearly every possession. Jones said he took a cue from Illinois coach Brad Underwood while instilling the offense over the summer months.
“Some of the girls have been good at picking up our new offense,” Jones said. “We’re learning where the cuts are and how to make them. That’s been big for us.”
The Lady Jays were 20-of-40 form the field and scored between 13-17 points each quarter.
Center Abi Menzies recorded her fifth double-double on the season while contributing 12 points and 11 rebounds. Little posted seven boards.
“Abi and Harper have been putting up great numbers,” Jones said. “Abi can be a dominant scorer, but hasn’t commanded the ball much. This game, we tried to force the issue with her and get her more involved. She’s got to be thinking, ‘It’s pretty cool when your coach wants you to shoot more.’”
Clever’s biggest lead was 16, 34-18, early in the third quarter.
Bolivar rallied to pull within five, 51-46, with 1:22 to play and had a chance to pull closer after a Clever turnover. But Little drew a charging foul on Michelle Gabani.
“I think that was her first charge this year,” Jones said. “I’m real proud of her for doing that.”
Gabani and Lexi Berry led the Lady Liberators (7-3) with 18 points apiece. Coach Darin Archer wasn’t surprised to see Berry, a freshman, respond well to playing on a big stage.
“She’s capable of that kind of night every night,” Archer said. “We need some others jump on board and start producing for us on a consistent basis. Once they do, we’ll be a pretty good ball club. Hopefully, with a little bit of time together, we can be as good as I think we can be.
“Give Clever credit, they made things tough on us offensively in the first half,” Archer added. “We struggled to find our way. We tried to make a ballgame out of it in the fourth quarter. But they were too much for us.”
Clever moves on to meet Memphis White Station in second-round play. Clever’s population is less than 2,700 while Memphis’ is nearly 650,000.
“We’ve played teams like them over the summer, so I think we’ll be ready for it,” Little said. “We like playing the big schools and make a name for ourselves.”
“We’re excited about playing the Memphis school,” Jones said. “We’re going to see what they bring. They’re not huge, but I know they’re going to be fast. We’ll see what we can do.”
Bolivar 8 10 14 16 – 48
Clever 17 13 17 14 – 61
BOLIVAR (48) – Reagan Lesh 6, Michelle Gabani 18, Taylor Dial 4, Lexi Berry 18, Hannah Newcomb 2.
CLEVER (61) – Little 24, Menzies 12, Gladney 6, Newman 14, Clevenger 5.
