Stories from Thursday, March 1, 2012

Weiner and Calico Rock met this past Saturday night in Brockwell for the girls' Class 1A Region 2 Regional title. Calico Rock used 11 three-pointers and a tight defense to post a 70-40 win over the Lady Cardinals. Weiner got to the championship game with a 63-46 quarter-final win over Norfork. Peyton Craft hit a shot in the lane with a few seconds left in overtime to give Weiner a 60-59 win over Viola and a spot in the title game. Weiner found themselves down 6-0 a minute and a half into the championship game before Lexi Smith scored a basket making the score 6-2. Paige Craft hit a three-pointer to get Weiner the closest they got all night at 8-5 with 4:22 left in the opening period. Calico Rock closed the opening period on a 16-3 run, including three three-pointers, to open up a 24-8 lead after one period of play. Calico Rock opened the second period with a 6-0 run making the score 30-8 before Weiner went on a 9-0 over the next three and a half minutes cutting the lead to 30-17. Kaci Mack and Katelyn Junyor each had four points during this run. Hunter Lewis scored the last points of the second period making the score 31-19 Calico Rock at halftime. The third period was much like the first as Calico Rock had another big offensive quarter. The Pirates used a 22-10 quarter, hitting four three-pointers, to hold a 53-29 lead after three periods. Peyton Craft scored six in the period for Weiner. Paige Craft opened the final period with a basket to cut the lead to 53-31. Calico Rock responded with back to back three-pointers to push the lead to 18 at 59-31 with a little over six minutes left in the game. The rest of the game saw the teams trade baskets as the Pirates went on to the win. Paige and Peyton Craft along with Kaci Mack were selected for the regional tournament team. Junyor led the Lady Cardinals in scoring with 12 while Mack finished with 10. "We came out and got shell shocked," Coach James Halitzka said after the game. "They (Calico Rock) are good and when we figured out we could play with them, it was a little too late."

Bay and Mammoth Spring played a close game in the finals of the boys' Class 1A Region 2 Regional tournament. In a game that saw the score go back and forth, a technical in the last minute of the game helped push Mammoth Spring to the 65-58 victory. Bay won their opening game of the tournament 61-37 over Norfork before posting a 61-45 over Izard County Consolidated to reach the title game. Bay opened the game with a 5-0 run with a three-pointer from Tyson Oliver and a basked from Gunner Freeman. Mammoth Spring scored the next four to cut the lead to one at 5-4. Freeman and Oliver again scored the next five points to but Bay up 10-4 with 4:50 left in the opening period. The Bears answered with the next six points to tie the game at 10. Damien Holt drained a three-pointer to put Bay up 13-10 with 2:30 to go in the period. Bay coach Brad Brannen was whistled for a technical foul after a foul call with 1:50 left in the period. Mammoth Spring hit the technical free throws plus the free throws from the foul to take the lead at 14-13. Zach Johnson hits a basket with 33 seconds in the period to give Bay a 15-14 lead after the opening period. The second period with the Bears scoring four points to go up 18-15 only to see Bay come back with two free throws from Kail Harris and a basket from Johnson to put the 'Jackets back on top at 21-18. Mammoth Spring tied the game at 21 before both teams traded baskets to tie the game again at 23 with 1:14 left before half. Oliver canned a three with 55 seconds and Johnson added a free throw to send Bay to the half with a 27-23 lead. Freeman and Oliver team up for five points to get Bay out to five point lead a little over two minutes into the third period. The Bears answered with an 8-2 run to take the lead at 35-34 with 3:27 left in the period. Holt tied the game at 38 with two free throws with a 1:16 left in the period. The Bears hit a three-pointer with a minute left that sends them into the final period with a 41-38 lead. Mammoth Spring stretched the lead to seven with back to back baskets to open the fourth period making the score 45-38. Freeman cut the lead to five with a basket to make it 47-42. Freeman got Bay to within four at 48-44 with 5:25 left to play before Mammoth Spring went on a 6-0 run to push the lead to 10 at 54-44 with 3:54 left. Dylan Loven and Johnson scored the next seven points to pull Bay to within three at 54-51 with 2:44 left in the game. Oliver's' two free throws with 1:31 left cut the lead to 57-56 Mammoth Spring. Loven was charged with a technical foul after a foul call with 58 seconds left with the Bears up 58-56. Mammoth Spring hit three of four free throws to go up 61-56. Oliver hit two free throws with 45 seconds to get Bay with 61-58 before the Bears closed the scoring with four free throws to set the final score. Oliver led Bay with 16 points and Freeman added 14. Bay will play Sparkman at 2:30 p.m Thursday in the Class 1A state tournament in Magnolia.

East Poinsett County put together its most complete game of the season, posting a surprisingly easy 56-28 victory over Buffalo Island Central in the finals of the 2A North Regional Tournament Saturday night at the Mustang Athletic Complex. The Lady Warriors used the strong inside combination of Regional Tournament Most Valuable Player Alicia Ross and Brittany Ball to dominate the paint while Terrika Madden knocked down a pair of three pointers as EPC built an 18-8 first period lead. Ross started the second quarter with three straight buckets as EPC went on a 12-3 run to take a commanding 30-11 advantage with 3:10 left in the half. Ball also contributed a pair of baskets during the run while the Lady Mustangs had trouble finding the bucket the entire first half. Brittany Fowler did her best to try to keep BIC in the game, scoring 10 of the Lady Mustang's 14 first half points, but EPC took a 19 point lead into the dressing room at the half. The Warriors put the game away in the third quarter, outscoring BIC 14-7 to take a 47-28 bulge into the final frame. EPC coasted in the rest of the way to claim the regional title. "Everything went right for us tonight," said EPC Coach Bobby Lewallen. "We played probably our best game of the season. It couldn't have come at a better time. We had a good inside-outside game going tonight. Everything worked for us. I have three players that have started the last three years for me, and they probably played their best game tonight. I am very proud of them. They really wanted to win tonight," said Lewallen. "EPC played great and we didn't," said BIC Coach Stan Fowler. "The big thing tonight was we gave up too many offensive boards. They shot well and they played hard the whole game. We had a great shoot around this afternoon. The ball just didn't fall and things didn't click, and we got steamrolled after that," said Fowler. Ross led the Lady Warriors with 19 points while Brittany Ball added a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Madden nailed three treys to finish with 11 points. Whitney Ball and Teria Young scored four points each, Hannah Hinton tallied two while Synteria Ward chipped in one point. EPC connected on 15-25 free throws and drained three treys. Fowler led BIC with 14 points. Emily Owens scored five, Hayley Parker netted four, Cassidy Qualls tallied three while Rachel Goldammer added two. The Lady Mustangs hit 12-17 free throws and were held without a three pointer on the night. EPC placed four players on the All-Region Tournament team, including the MVP Ross. Madden, Brittany Ball and Whitney Ball were also named All-Region. The Lady Warriors (23-8) will enter the state tournament at Cedar Ridge as the number one seed from the North and will play the fourth seed from the West at 8:30 Tuesday night.

The Warriors of EPC continued their dominant march through the 2011-2012 season, claiming the 2A-North Regional Tournament championship Saturday night in Monette. EPC downed the Rector Cougars 62-52 to claim the title. The Warriors led most of the contest, but the streaking Cougars refused to go away. Each time Rector seemed poise to take the lead as the game wore on, though, EPC had a response. The Cougars managed to close to within three points in the final minutes of the fourth, but tourney MVP Jori Ford kept the Warriors in control with a clutch three-pointer with 2:02 left to play. Jammar Sturdivant pushed the EPC advantage to seven, 57-50, with a strong drive to the hoop with just over a minute left in the last stanza. Tight defensive pressure by the Warriors forced a Rector turnover on a bad pass, leading to Ford making one of two at the charity stripe with 54 seconds on the clock. Rector scored on a pair of free throws on their next possession, but Wendell Pritchett, having an outstanding performance for EPC, converted the one-in-one opportunity with 30 seconds to play. Ford added the finishing touches with a steal and layup with 15 seconds to go, setting the final in place. EPC led after each quarter: 19-10; 32-22 and 41-34. The Warriors closed the first frame with a 7-0 run on treys by Pritchett and Martin Powell and a Pritchett free throw. Pritchett led the way with a game-high 23 points in the win. The senior was a presence all over the court, providing EPC with energy and toughness in the paint and on the boards in addition to knocking down five shots from long-range. "Wendell plays hard every time he steps on the court," EPC coach Josh Hill said. "Nobody works harder." A.J. Turner added 12 points for the Warriors in the win. Also scoring for EPC were Ford 8, Sturdivant 6, Powell 6, Byron Scales 5 and Paul Pilgrim 2. Rector was led by 16 from Denver Knight. Mitchell Weber and Dillon Shelton added 14 and 12, respectively. The Warriors improved to 26-2 overall and are currently the top team in Class 2A. EPC returned to the state tournament as defending Class 2A champions. The Warriors whipped Danville, 77-44, in opening round action Tuesday in Newark, advancing to a quarterfinal meeting with either Magnet Cove or Parker's Chapel at 8:30 p.m. Friday. A win there would advance EPC to the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Newark. Semifinal Win The Warriors topped Marked Tree, 59-48, in the regional semifinals Friday night. EPC opened up what had been a tightly-contested game with dizzying pressure defense in the third quarter, allowing the Indians just one field goal and five points in the frame to move ahead, 41-34. Sturdivant paced EPC with 17 points. Turner notched a double-double with 13 points and 13 boards. Pritchett and Ford contributed 10 points each. Darius Ivy led Marked Tree with 17 points on the night. Thadious Moore notched 15 in the loss. Alan Buchanan added nine points and 11 rebounds.