HASKELL - A gutty individual effort boosted struggling Harding Academy and Jessieville’s youth showed as the Wildcats held off the Lions on Wednesday night in the opening round of the Class 3A Region 2 tournament at Benton Harmony Grove High School.
Harding’s Kohl Blickenstaff came back from a first-quarter shoulder injury to score 14 points, and Wildcats Coach Brad Francis credited Blickenstaff’s presence for setting up his teammates in the 3A-2 champions’ 54-43 victory over fourth-seeded Jessieville.
Harding’s Hayden Matthews scored a game-high 16 points, including eight in the fourth quarter after Hunter Daley’s banked-in three-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer pulled the Lions (12-14) to within 35-32.
After he hit three-pointers on Harding’s first two possessions, Blickenstaff’s shoulder popped out of place. He sat out the rest of the first half, but Matthews’ eight points and Mitchel Kirby’s seven - along with Jessieville’s frigid outside shooting - helped the Wildcats (20-7) take a 22-17 lead into the break.
“He came back the second half and gave us a little spark,” Francis said. “That kind of opened up some things for other guys.”
EPISCOPAL COLLEGIATE 77, BALD KNOB 26
Kelvin Robinson led the Wildcats (22-3) with 18 points in a victory over the Bulldogs.
Allie Freeman and Mahlon Martin each added 14 for Episcopal, which led 46-12 at the half.
4A NORTH REGION PRAIRIE GROVE 65, DARDANELLE 47
LINCOLN - Parker Galligan scored 14 points and No. 1 seed Prairie Grove punched its ticket to the Class 4A state tournament.
The red-hot Tigers (17-11) have won 9 of their past 10 games.
Ty Tice added 13 points for Prairie Grove and Dyan Soehner added 11. Will Lawrence scored 13 for the Sand Lizards and Austin Steen added 12.
MAUMELLE 75, GRAVETTE 54
The Hornets rolled over the No. 4 seed Lions as Kendall Donnerson scored 22 points. Maumelle also got 12 points each from JB Minix and Kendall Staton. Otto Troutner led Gravette with 27 points and Terence Pierce added 12.
1A REGION 1 WESTERN GROVE 68, KINGSTON 33
LEAD HILL - The Warriors (34-6), champions of the 1A-1 East District, picked up their fourth victory of the season over Kingston (15-17) and secured a state tournament berth.
The Warriors led 23-5 after one quarter, 40-14 at halftime and 60-25 going into the fourth quarter.
Ben Grice led Western Grove with 20 points and Nick Grice added 15. Chase Hathorn had 11 for Kingston.
SCRANTON 47, OMAHA 41
The Rockets (34-1) had a tough time with the Eagles (16-18) but managed to eke out a six-point victory.
Seth Siebenmorgan led Scranton with 18 points. Trent Withrow had 17 for Omaha.
1A REGION 2 NORFORK 95, RIDGEFIELD CHRISTIAN 75
BROCKWELL - Chris Lewis poured in 38 points as the Panthers knocked off the Warriors in a first-round game at Izard County High School.
Dylan Green scored 20 and Cole Williams 16 for Ridgefield Christian.
IZARD COUNTY 62, BAY 60, 2OT
Colby Jones’ layup off a pass from Andrew Walker with 3.2 seconds left in the second overtime allowed the Cougars (17-16) to upset defending Class 1A champion Bay.
Walker led Izard County with 15 points while Clay Mosley put in 11.
Bay (30-7) was led by Tyler Pritchett with 23 points while Taylor Layne and Jonathan Crain each put in 11.
Sports, Pages 21 on 02/27/2014