2/27/23
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Presli Taylor went out on top Friday night. Happily, her teammates did as well.
Taylor scored a team-high 15 points and punctuated her school record for 3-pointers with three more as Alma nipped Mountain Home, 45-44, in overtime.
The Lady Airedales (7-20, 3-11) also snapped a season-long eight-game losing streak in the process.
Sophomore Jordan Gramlich finished with 14 points, and her twin sister Jaden provided the game-winner with a go-ahead free throw. Jaden Gramlich also sparked a late comeback with a critical three-point play.
The Gramlichs also accounted for 18 of Alma’s 38 rebounds. Jordan led the way with 14 points and 11 boards.
Down five (36-31), Alma forced OT by outscoring the Lady Bombers, 11-6, thanks in part to junior Makinley McCartt’s hot shooting.
McCartt finished with a career-high seven points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Taylor ended her career with 186 3-pointers - almost 40 more than Chanlee Bottoms (147). She will also graduate as the single-season holder for 3-pointers (73), and eclipsed Abby Ostrander’s single-game record for 3-pointers of seven with eight.
Taylor finished the year as the team’s second-leading scorer (10.7 points per game).
“It was a tough year, wins and loses, but that win coming there at the end, that will be what I remember,” Taylor said. “I’m very happy we got the win. As for the records, it just sums up the hard work. I’m glad I got the opportunity to play for them and work for them. That means the world to me.”
Alma, which hadn’t won since blowing out Greenbrier (51-30) on Jan. 20, avenged last month’s 23-point loss (59-36) at Mountain Home.
Jordan Gramlich finished the season by averaging a team-high 11.7 points per game, including 13.3 during 5A-West play.
Alma 55, Mountain Home 54
BOYS - Sweet payback.
Alma sophomore Camden Curd knifed his way through the lane for a go-ahead layup with 10.7 left to play in Friday’s regular-season finale with Mountain Home.
But he and his teammates would have to wait a few seconds before celebrating a 55-54 victory.
The victory avenged Alma’s earlier 48-44 loss to the Bombers on Jan. 27.
Alma (7-21, 4-10) finished the 2022-23 season with back-to-back conference wins for the first time since beating Vilonia and Siloam Springs in consecutive 5A-West games in early February of 2020.
The Airedales erased an early 11-5 deficit by finishing the first half with a 26-15 scoring burst.
But the Bombers, and most notably junior Braiden Dewey, chipped away and fought back to tie the game at 34.
Junior Branson Brogan then started knocking shots. He wheeled inside for a go-ahead layup, drained a 3-pointer, and finished with seven of Alma’s 17 points off the bench.
The steady Curd finished the game with a team-high 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Easton Boggs added eight, and Brogan and Matthew Schlegel finished with seven a piece.
Curd finished the season with 10.5 points per game.
Israel Towns-Robinson, the team’s leading scorer for much of the year, was held to four points and five rebounds. Carmani Smith dished out a team-high five assists.
Towns-Robinson also finished the season with 10.8 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game.
Smith averaged a team-high three assists per game.