The Arkadelphia High School Lady Badgers had their first game of the season Monday night as they played in the Lady Tiger Tip-off at Ouachita Baptist University. The team got an early look at conference foe Nashville as they played them in the first round. The Scrapperettes defeated the Lady Badgers, 65-47.

The Lady Badgers were scoreless through the first quarter. Nashville took an early lead and was ahead by 13 with only second to go. A Scrapperette hit a 3-point shot from almost half-court at the buzzer to make it 16-0 at the end of the first.

The Lady Badgers wasted no time in the second quarter with Leanndra Thomas getting the first basket for Arkadelphia only seconds into the quarter. Thomas added two more points with two free throws. Brittlee Williams shot a three-pointer to make the score 20-7. Then, Thomas added two more for the Lady Badgers. The Scrapperettes went on a 11-0 run jumping out to a 31-9 lead.

The Lady Badgers then had a 12-0 run with shots by Emily Strickland, Thomas, Jasmine Dickerson, Williams and Chelsea Welch. The Lady Badgers trailed only by 10 with 1:10 left in the first half. The Scrapperettes got a shot in with 16 seconds left to make it 33-21. At the buzzer, Williams got a three-pointer to narrow Nashville’s lead to nine, 33-24.

Nashville pulled ahead in the third outscoring the Lady Badgers, 15-6. Dickerson made four out of six free throws in the third to give Arkadelphia four points. Thomas added a basket with 4:30 left in the quarter for the other two.

Going into the fourth quarter, Arkadelphia trailed 48-30. After two more free throws by Dickerson, Strickland scored two for the Lady Badgers to make it 56-34 with five minutes left in the game. Nashville kept a 20-point lead through the quarter.

Welch hit a three with 1:30 left to make it 62-41. A Nashville fan gave Arkadelphia a chance at two free throws with a technical foul. Courtney Maxwell got one of the shots for a score of 63-42. Ronnicka Jones added two for the Lady Badgers. With eight seconds left, Welch scored two for a final score of 65-47.

Thomas was the leading scorer for the Lady Badgers with 11 points. She also had five rebounds. Williams had nine points and three assists. Dickerson scored eight points and had three steals.

Welch added eight points for the Lady Badgers.

“They were nervous with the first game of the season,” Coach Lynn Rook said. “Nashville is a real experienced team. They are a ‘been there, done that,’ confident team. They got in our heads early and put pressure with their zone defense. They got physical.

“We settled down in the second quarter and competed well. They played hard practically the entire game. They have got to make better decisions and grow as a team. That will come.”

Rook said that he saw some positive things from the girls Monday night. “I saw a lot of encouraging things. We potentially have a team with a lot of depth. Everybody’s got to learn their role.”

The Lady Badgers play again tonight at Gurdon. The girls’ game is at 6 p.m. and the boys will play after that game.

The Lady Badgers return to the Lady Tiger tip-off on Thursday where they will face Glen Rose at 4:30 p.m.