BOYS MELBOURNE 50, FLIPPIN 42 The fourth-seeded Bearkatz (13-9) completed their remarkable run through the district tournament, outscoring third-seeded Flippin (25-10) 22-8 in the fourth quarter of the 3A-1 East title game. The Bobcats led 10-3 after one quarter and 23-14 at halftime, then built a 31-21 advantage in the third quarter. But the Bearkatz came back, cutting the gap to 34-28 at the final break, pulling even at 37-37 on a three-pointer by Wil Dowdle before eventually building a 49-39 lead with 37.6 seconds left to play. Kyler McLaughlin led the way with 26 points for Melbourne and Dowdle added 16. Spencer Politte led Flippin with 15 points.
GIRLS GENOA CENTRAL 55, CENTERPOINT 54 Bailey Everett led the Lady Dragons (22-5) with 23 points in a victory over the Lady Knights in the championship game of the 3A-7 Tournament in Prescott. Laiken Sorrells scored 20 points for Centerpoint.
LONOKE 45, HEBER SPRINGS 38 Jarrelyn McCall’s 18 points helped the Lady Rabbits (22-6) turn back the Lady Panthers in the championship game of the 4A-2 Tournament in Marianna. Hannah Johnson led Heber Springs with 10 points.
MALVERN 42, CENTRAL ARKANSAS CHRISTIAN 30 Tiffany Murdock led the Lady Leopards (24-2) with 17 points in the championship game of the 4A-7 Tournament in Nashville. Raven Baker added nine points for Malvern, which scored the game’s first 12 points. Sidnee Jones scored 16 for the Lady Mustangs. VALLEY SPRINGS 65, MELBOURNE 51 Sophomore guard Payton Tennison drained seven three-pointers and scored 25 points in the first half as the Lady Tigers (31-2) grabbed an 18-point first half lead and held off a second-half run by the Lady Bearkatz (16-8) in taking the district championship and the conference’s top seed in next week’s 3ARegion 3 Tournament. Valley Springs led 17-11 after one quarter and then outscored Melbourne 21-9 in the second, including a three-pointer at the buzzer by Tennison for a 38-20 lead at intermission. Tennison scored just three points in the second half as she moved the ball around to the open player. The Lady Tigers led by as much as 47-24 in the third quarter and took a 53-34 advantage into the final quarter. Lead by Shelbie Byram’s 15 fourth-quarter points, the Lady Bearkatz got as close as 55-46 in the final minutes. Tennison led Valley Springs with 28 points. Byram finished with 24 for Melbourne.
Sports, Pages 23 on 02/23/2014