Stories from Thursday, January 5, 2012

The Cowboys, 2nd-4th grade, recently won the Super Bowl in the flag football league sponsored by the Trumann Parks and Recreation. Team members are: (front l-r) Keifer Scott, Trenton Creekmore, Corbyn Dodd and Aiden Stinnett. Back row (l-r) Assistant Coach Michael Stinnett, Logan Creekmore, Will Grady, Logan Despain, Luke Montgomery and Coach Mike McMullin. (Photo Provided)...

Weiner's Lady Cardinals and Rector's Lady Cougars met in the semi-finals of the girls' Division I NEA Invitational tournament. Rector got the better of the Lady Cardinals holding on for a 61-57 victory. Weiner jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and led 17-10 before Kaci Mack hit a three-pointer to give the Lady Cardinals a 20-10 after the first period. Rector had a big second quarter outscoring Weiner 22-18 to cut the lead to three as the teams went to halftime with Weiner leading, 35-32. Kaci Mack hit a three-pointer with 5:46 left in the third to give Weiner a 43-34 lead only to see the Lady Cougars fight their way back to trail by only one, 48-47, to end the third quarter. Rector took their first lead of the game less than a minute into the final period at 49-48. Weiner retook the lead at 54-52 before a three-pointer with just a little over three minutes remaining gave Rector the lead for good on their way to the 61-57 win. Weiner was led in scoring by Kaci Mack with 16 points. Katelyn Junyor added 15 for the Lady Cardinals. Paige and Peyton Craft both posted double-doubles on the night for Weiner. Paige had 13 points and 14 rebounds as Peyton scored 10 points and also grabbed 14 rebounds. "Foul trouble hurt in the game as we gave way to many," Coach James Halitzka of Weiner said after the game. "Our foul shooting hurt us tonight."

Marked Tree's Lady Indians finished as Division I runner-ups in the NEA Invitational girls' tournament this past Friday. The Lady Cougars of Rector avenged an earlier season loss to Marked Tree handing them a 52-45 setback. Rector jumped out to a 15-9 lead in the opening period. Poohnu Perry scored a basket right before the first quarter ended to set the score at 15-11 in favor of Rector. The Lady Indians came out the second period and went on a 9-0 run to take their first lead of the game 18-15. Rector answered with four points to retake the lead at 19-18. Rector extended their lead to 25-20 with just over two minutes left in the first half. Lexi and Poohnu Perry both hit baskets in the last 10 seconds of the period to cut the lead to one at half, 25-24. The third period was a back and forth game as the lead changed several times. Marked Tree (11-5) outscored Rector 12-10 in the third to set the score at 35-32 after three periods. Rector opened up the fourth period with a 5-0 run to make the score 40-32 before Poohnu Perry hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 40-35 with 6:36 left to play. The Lady Indians outscored Rector 8-4 over the next three minutes to get to within four, 44-40, before Jay Perry fouled out with 3:20 to play. Quanny Perry hit a three-pointer to make it a two-point game, 45-43 with 2:07 left in the period. Poohnu Perry fouled out with 1:30 left in the game with the score 48-45 Rector. The Lady Cougars hit four free throws in the final minutes of the game to set the final score. Jay Perry led the Lady Indians in scoring with 11. Caflora Hillis and Lexi Perry each added nine for Marked Tree. Lexi Perry grabbed 11 rebounds on the night. "They (Rector) were clutch at the end, hitting their free throws down the stretch," Marked Tree coach Derik Drewett said after the game. "We got in some foul trouble at the end, took away some of our ball handlers. It's a learning experience."

Bay took on an undefeated Cedar Ridge team in the finals of the boys' Division I NEA Invitational tournament this past Friday. Cedar Ridge got out fast, Bay got close late before a technical foul sealed their fate as the Timberwolves went on to a 54-39 victory. Cedar Ridge opened the game on a 12-3 run before they extended that lead to 17-7 after the first period. Bay scored their first points of the second period with 6:12 left making the score 21-9 Timberwolves. Bay outscored Cedar Ridge 7-6 the remainder of the period but was down 27-16 at the half. Bay came out firing to start the third period. Led by Gunner Freeman's four three-pointers, the Yellowjackets cut the led to 32-28 with 4:12 left in the period. Cedar Ridge answered to extend the lead to eight. Cedar Ridge maintained that lead as the period ended with Bay down 41-33. Tyson Oliver opened the fourth period with a basket to cut the lead to 41-35. Oliver scored again to make it 41-37 with 5:13 left and was fouled on the play. Bay's Brad Craft was whistled for a technical during this play. Oliver hit his free throw to cut the lead to three. Bay scored one point the remainder of the game as the Timberwolves claimed the title. Freeman and Oliver both had 13 points for Bay on the night. "Defensively we are not where we need to be right now, not rotating and communicating with each other," Bay coach Brad Brannen said after the game. "We made some adjustments at half that seemed to work, but after the technical our scoring stopped."

In possibly the best high school basketball game this reporter has ever watched, the EPC Warriors' Jammar Sturdivant hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give EPC a 68-65 victory over Trumann in the finals of the boys' Division II NEA Invitational this past Friday night. This was EPC's third straight NEA title. Trumann (11-3) raced out to an 8-0 lead before EPC cut that lead to two on back to back three-pointers from Strudivant. Both teams played hard the remainder of the period as the lead changed hands several times. The Warriors took a 17-16 lead after one. EPC (9-1) went up five with 5:00 left in the second period before Trumann fought back to cut the lead to one with 4:09 left in the half. Jori Ford hit a three-pointer to put EPC up by seven with 2:07 left in the second period. Matt Holt canned a three-pointer with 18 seconds left in the half to give the Wildcats a 34-33 lead only to see Byron Scales hit a shot right before the buzzer to send EPC to halftime with a 35-34 lead. The third quarter opened with both teams trading baskets before EPC went on a little run to go up 46-38 with 4:21 to go in the period. Trumann used a 9-4 run to close within 50-47 as the third period came to an end. The fourth quarter was just as close as the third with both team trading baskets and the lead changing several times. Trumann led by three twice in final three minutes but could not put the game away. A.J. Turner had a tip-in with just over a minute left to make the score 63-62. Malcolm Washington scored a basket for the Wildcats to push the lead back to three with under a minute left in the game. Sturdivant tied the game with 38 seconds left to play as he hit a big three-pointer. Trumann was called for traveling giving the ball back to EPC. Sturdivant took the inbound pass with 3.6 seconds left in the game, dribbled the ball a couple times before shooting a long three-pointer that found its mark giving the Warriors the title. Sturdivant led EPC with 31 points on the night. Turner added 14 and Ford finished with 11. Matt Holt scored 18 for Trumann. Nathan Maxwell pitched in 14 while Washington tossed in 13. "Trumann is really good and this was a great game," EPC coach Josh Hill said after the game. "I saw a few things we can work on and get better from this game and that's all due to Trumann." "The kids did a great job all night," Trumann coach Skip Dulaney said following the game." "A great player made two huge threes to beat us. Sturdivant is one of the best players in the state."

The following players were selected to the All-NEA team; Division I girls - Poohnu Perry, Jay Perry, Lexi Perry, Marked Tree; Peyton Craft, Kaci Mack, Paige Craft, Weiner; Hannah Willard, Bay - Division I boys - Dylan Loven, Tyson Oliver, Damien Holt, Gunner Freeman, Bay; Darius Ivy, Allen Buchanan, Marked Tree - Division II girls - Terrika Madden, EPC - Division II boys - Jori Ford, Darius Barnes, A.J. Turner, Jammar Sturdivant, EPC; Matt Holt, Malcolm Washington, Trumann