Legacy’s Lady Warriors Head to State Semi-Finals in 1A Basketball

FORT SMITH, ARK— Legacy Academy’s Lady Warriors are having a dream run in the state tournament after a tough season of growth and development. It seems that things may have come together for them just at the right time and that playing large public schools during the season is paying dividends in the HCAA 1A state tournament. The ladies defeated Bradford Christian in Fort Smith Tuesday night to advance in quarter final play to advance to the semi-finals to take on Lakewood Christian.

The Lady Warriors were in perfect sync and came out of the gate strong at Trinity Catholic School, who hosted the quarter final game Tuesday. In the first quarter the Lady Warriors outscored Bradford 14 to 9. Playing in navy as the “visitor” team on the bracket, Legacy’s defense was strong the second quarter holding their opponents to 5 points while scoring 14 themselves. The ladies forced multiple turnovers with an effective use of the half-court trap. The Lockesburg squad also found the three point line in the first half. Grace Tucker hit a three near the end of the first period, followed by two in a row from Dori Bartek in the second. The Lady Warriors went to the locker room at halftime leading 28-14. The third period was a tough one for the Lady Warriors. Bradford came out of their locker room aggressive and worked the ball hard in to their post player, who helped even the game out. Bradford outscored Legacy 9-2 in the third period.
The Lockesburg team recovered and adjusted the pace of the game, going on to score 9 to their opponent’s 7 in the last period to secure a 40-30 win! Junior Dori Bartek scored 15 points for the Lady Warriors, followed by 14 for freshman Oaklee Lofton, and 8 for Senior Grace Tucker. Trinity Cox was on the board with 2. Lofton led with 9 rebounds and Tucker contributed 8, with Cox grabbing 7. Bartek hit two shots from the three point line in game play. Lofton also provided the team six steals, while Dori Bartek had 5, and Cox had four.
The ladies will play in the semi-finals against Lakewood Christian on Friday.