Stories from Thursday, February 23, 2012

Trumann's senior high basketball teams entered 4A-3 district play last Wednesday night at Westside facing the same situation; a win extends their seasons. That was not the case for either team as Valley View downed the Wildcats 70-63 and Brookland ousted the Lady Wildcats 47-31. The first half of the boys' game was a close battle with Trumann holding a two-point lead at the end of the first and second periods. The third period started out much the same before Valley View went on a 12-2 run to go up 44-33 half way through the period. Valley View pushed that lead to 13 by the end of the quarter. Trumann got no closer than five in the final period of the game. Matt Holt led four players in double figures for Trumann with 18 points. Lee Conatser added 12, Dylan Dulaney had 11 and Malcolm Washington finished with 10 points. Washington added 12 rebounds on the night and Nate Maxwell grabbed 10 for the Wildcats. "We made some bad decisions offensively and the third quarter hurt us bad," Trumann coach Skip Dulaney said after the game. The Lady Wildcats found themselves down early against Brookland and never could fight their way back. Trumann was down seven after one period of play and were down 16 at the break. Jazmye Nixon led Trumann in scoring with 19 points.

Weiner's Lady Cardinals advanced to the finals of the 1A-3 East district tournament with a 64-59 overtime win over CRA. The boys let a nine-point lead slip away in the second half as they fell to CRA, 67-54. The boys and girls will advance to the regional tournament this week in Violet Hill. The first period was saw both come out and play well with Weiner taking a 16-13 as the period ended. The Cardinals outscored CRA 17-11 in the second period to take a 33-24 lead at half time. Weiner stretched that lead to 11 at 35-24 before CRA went on a 13-2 run to cut the lead to 37-35 a little over half way through the period. Weiner got the lead back to five at 40-35 before CRA closed out the third period on a 6-2 run to make the score 42-41 Weiner after three. CRA came out the last period on fire as they outscored Weiner 25-13 to take the win. Drake Melton led the Cardinals in scoring with 18 points. Taylor Ozbun chipped in 15 points for Weiner. "We played well in the first half but got away from what we needed to do in the second half," Weiner coach Casey Parson said after the game. "I'm proud of the guys and we'll get ready for regionals." The first half of the girls' game was a back and forth affair before CRA opened a nine-point lead with a little over left in the period. The Lady Cardinals fought back with Peyton Craft hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the lead to three at 18-15 in favor of CRA. The second period was a close one as both played hard going to the locker rooms tied at 25. The Lady Cardinals outscored the Lady Falcons 17-12 in the third period to take a 42-37 into the final period. Weiner led by as many as six in the final period as CRA grinded away as the teams finished regulation tied 52-52. Weiner owned the overtime jumping out to a five-point lead as they outscored CRA 12-7 in the period. "We split with them (CRA) in the season, we felt lucky getting the win tonight on their home court," coach James Halitzka commented after the game. "Kaci (Mack) handled the ball well and hit some clutch free throws for us late."

Marked Tree's boys and girls' basketball teams both punched their tickets to the Class 2A North Region regional tournament being held this week in Monette. The Lady Indians topped Rector 59-58 in a quarterfinal match up before falling to the eventual district champion BIC Lady Mustangs. The boys had a bye to the semifinal round where they lost a heartbreaker to Riverside, 53-52 in 2A-3 district games. In the boys' contest, Marked Tree took the lead with under a minute left in the game. Riverside scored a basket with seven seconds left to tie the game at 52. The Indians advanced the ball past half court and called for a time out. Marked Tree had no timeouts left and were given a technical foul with two seconds left in the game. Riverside made one of two free throws to pull out the 53-52 win. Allen Buchanan and Darius Ivy led Marked Tree with 15 and 11 points respectively. On the girls' side, the Lady Indians got 15 points from Poohnu Perry with Lexie Perry chipping in 12 and Caflora Hillis adding 10 in the win over Rector. Poohnu Perry again led Marked Tree in scoring in their game against top-seeded BIC with 25 points. Jay Perry finished with 17 for the Lady Indians.

EPC's senior basketball teams both captured trophies in the 2A-3 district tournament his past Saturday in Cherry Valley. The boys won their fourth straight district title with a 71-38 win over Riverside. The Lady Warriors faced top seeded BIC and lost 59-46. Both teams will advance to the Class 2A North Region regional tournament this week in Monette. Jammar Sturdivant opened the scoring with a three-pointer and the Warriors were off and running opening up a 12-2 lead midway through the opening period. The period ended with EPC up 19-12. The second period was more of EPC hitting from inside and outside as they led 37-21 at the half. The second half saw a lot of substituting as EPC cruised to the win. "We defended pretty well tonight," EPC coach Josh Hill said after the game. EPC and BIC came out ready to play as the game was tied at 14 after one period of play. EPC led 29-23 at the half. BIC came out the third period and outscored EPC 16-7 to take a three-point lead into the final period at 39-36. BIC continued with the hot hand by outscoring the Lady Warriors 20-11 in the last period to set the final score. EPC was led by Alicia Ross with 17 with Terrika Madden adding 11 points. "Second half was bad, we had good looks but couldn't get much to fall in," EPC coach Bobby Lewallen said after the game. "We'll regroup and go after it next week."

Bays' senior boys and girls' basketball teams captured 1A-3 East district titles this past Saturday in Paragould. Bay downed CRA in the boys' title game 71-48 and the girls' posted a 45-41 win over Weiner. Bays' girls and boys along with the Weiner girls advance to the Class 1A Region 2 regional tournament this week in Violet Hill. The 'Jackets got to the title game by downing Black Rock in the semi-finals by a score of 72-50. Bay wasted little time jumping to the lead and held an 18-9 lead after the first period. Bay extended that lead to 11, 36-25 at the half. Bay outscored Black Rock 24-12 in the third period to go up 60-37 after three. Bay substituted freely the final period on the their way to the win. Gunner Freeman led Bay with 25 points on the night. Dylan Loven added 21 for the 'Jackets. "I thought we ran all our sets well against the zone tonight which has been giving us some trouble," Bay coach Brad Brannen commented after the game. "We missed some free throws early and we'll work on that next week in practice." In the finals, Damien Holt led four Bay players in double figures on the night with 23 points. Freeman, Tyson Oliver and Kail Harris all netted 10 points apiece for Bay. The girls' road was a bit tougher as they posted a 43-37 victory over Armorel in the semi-finals. The teams started slow as they fought to a 7-7 tie after the first period. Both teams warmed up in the second as Bay took a 22-19 lead to the locker room. The third period was back and forth with Bay taking a one-point lead at 31-30 into the final period. The last period was a close battle with Bay taking a five-point lead only to see Armorel cut the lead to two at 39-37 with less than a minute left. Bay hit four free throws to finish out the scoring. Courtney Francomano led the Lady 'Jackets in scoring with 14 points. Sara Sharp and Hannah Willard added 12 and 11 points respectively for Bay. "We just kept grinding it out and we hit a couple shots there late to help us," coach Chad LaRose of Bay said after the game. It was another close game in the finals as Bay hit four free throws in the final seconds of the game to get the win. Willard led Bay with 19 points as Courtney Francomano chipped in 10 on the night. Kaci Mack led all scorers with 23 points for Weiner.