Stories from Thursday, January 26, 2012

Bay notched their 25th win of the season and their ninth consecutive win with a 72-32 1A-3 East conference victory over Armorel in senior boys' basketball action this past Tuesday in Bay. Dylan Love and Gunner Freeman both scored 14 points for Bay (25-4, 8-0) on the night. Tyson Oliver added 11. In the junior high boys' game, Jonathan Crain and Tyler Pritchett scored 17 and 15 points respectively to lead Bay to a 55-27 victory.

Harrisburg hosted Manila this past Friday night in senior high boys' basketball action. The Hornets led after the first two periods but the Lions used a strong second half to come away with a 67-52 win. Harrisburg raced out to a 9-2 lead with 1:12 left in the opening period. The Hornets' Brayden Honeycutt canned a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Harrisburg a 12-5 lead after one. Manila used a 10-4 run in the first two minutes of the second period to close the gap to 16-15 in favor of the Hornets. After trading baskets Manila hits a three-pointer to cut the lead to 21-20 before Harrisburg got a stick back bucket to make the score 23-20 with 3:10 left in the half. Manila hit another three-pointer tying the game up at 23 with 3:00 left in the period. Both teams traded buckets for the rest of the quarter with Harrisburg taking the lead into halftime at 31-29. Harrisburg opened the third period with a basket to push their lead to four at 33-29. Manila hit another three-pointer at the 5:20 mark to tie the game at 33. Manila opened a four point lead at 39-35 with 4:39 left in the third period. Manila went up 46-41 with 1:06 left before the Hornets closed to within 46-43 as the period ended. Manila used a 21-9 fourth period to break open the game on their way to the victory. Brayden Honeycutt scored 14 on the night for Harrisburg. Drew Price pitched in 12 for the Hornets. "The kids played hard tonight," Harrisburg coach Kenton Weaver said after the game. "They (Manila) changed defenses a couple times. When they went to man to man, we had trouble hitting our shots." In the junior high game, Manila took a 62-41 win.

A.J. Turner (4) and Darius Barnes (7) of EPC have both been selected to play in the Arkansas High School All-Star football game to be held June 21st at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

Marked Tree's Lady Indians hosted the Lady Greyhounds from Marmaduke in senior high girls' basketball action last Thursday night. The visitors made 12 of 13 free throws down the stretch to post a 53-42 win. Both teams came out ready to play exchanging baskets and playing tight defense for the first five and a half minutes of the first period. Marmaduke hit two three-pointers late in the period to open up a 15-7 lead after one period of play. Poohnu Perry opened the second period by draining a long three-pointer to make the score 15-10. The Lady Greyhounds hit a couple three-pointers to go ahead 25-16 with 2:42 left in the half. Jay Perry closes the lead to 25-20 with two free throws with 1:11 remaining in the half. Neither team scored again before halftime. Marked Tree started out the third period with a 5-0 run to tie the game at 25 with 5:34 left in the period. Marmaduke used two-three pointers to go on a 6-1 run before Jay Perry is fouled and hits two free throws making the score 31-28 with 3:35 left in the third. Marked Tree coach Derik Drewitt is whistled for a technical after a foul call. Marmaduke hits both free throws for the foul and makes one of two on the technical shots to make the score 34-28 with 2:34 left in the period. The teams traded a basket each the remainder of the period with Marmaduke hitting a shot at the buzzer to go up 36-30. The final period saw each team scoring a basket in the opening minute before Marmaduke strings together a couple baskets to go up 42-34 with 4:17 left in the game. The Lady Greyhounds extended the lead to 10, 44-34, with 3:04 left with two free throws. Marmaduke slowed the game down for the remainder of the game being selective on their shots on the way to the victory. Poohnu Perry led Marked Tree with 19 points as Jay Perry added 12. "The girls played a good game tonight," Drewitt said after the game. "Marmaduke slowed the game down in the last period taking us out of our game plan and they hit their free throws in the end."

Weiner swept the CRA Falcons in senior high basketball action this past Tuesday night in Weiner. Both games were similar as both teams had to withstand a strong second half from their visitors to secure the wins. The boys' won 64-60 and the girls' claimed a 50-40 victory. In the girls' contest, the Lady Cardinals opened the game with a 5-2 run with Kaci Mack scoring all five points. CRA came back and took a 6-5 lead before Weiner ended the period on an 11-0 run to take a 16-6 lead after the first period. Weiner extended that run to 15-0 before CRA hit a three-pointer to make the score 20-9. CRA went on to outscore the Lady Cardinals 11-10 in the second but Weiner took a 26-17 to the locker room at halftime. Both teams came out cold in the third period with the first basket being scored by CRA with 5:09 left. The shooter was fouled and after making the free throw the score was 26-20 Weiner. Mack hit a three-pointer with 3:04 left in the period putting the Lady Cardinals up 10 at 34-24. CRA would catch fire before the end of the quarter outscoring Weiner 10-2 close the gap to 36-34 after three periods of play. Weiner used a 14-6 final period to pull away for the win. Mack hit nine of ten free throws in the period. Weiner (15-11, 5-3 1A-3 East) was led by Mack's 23 points on the night. Katelyn Junyor added 13 points and Paige Craft pulled down nine rebounds for the Lady Cardinals. "We got in foul trouble in the second half and couldn't get a rebound," Weiner coach James Halitzka said after the game. "We got to the free throw line there late and were able to make the shots." Weiner won the junior girls' game, 33-24. In the boys' game, Weiner came out fast but then had to hold off CRA to claim the win. Running and gunning from the tip off, the Cardinals ran out to a 21-8 lead after the first period. Weiner used a good combination of inside and outside shots in the period. The Cardinals kept the intensity going in the second period as they took a 14 point lead into the half at 38-24. CRA outscored Weiner in the third period but still trailed heading into the final period 46-34. Then CRA got hot. CRA opened the final period with a three-pointer to cut the lead to nine, 46-37. This score sparks a 9-0 run by CRA to cut the lead to 46-43. Weiner stops the run with a free throw by Drake Melton only to see CRA hit a three-pointer to make the score 47-46 Weiner with 5:53 left to play. CRA tied the score at 52 with 4:35 left in the period. Weiner closed out the period with a 12-8 run to set the final score at 64-60. Taylor Ozbun led the Cardinals with 26 points. Alex Jones added 17 for Weiner. "The guys played a smart game, we did a better job of handling their pressure," Weiner coach Casey Parson said following the game. "We had a well rounded team effort. "