CONWAY -- Anton Beard scored 14 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for the East All-Stars on Thursday night in an 85-77 victory over the West in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star boys basketball game in front of 3,612 fans at the Farris Center.
Beard, a University of Arkansas signee who was selected as the game's MVP, scored nine of his points in the second half as the East overcame a seven-point deficit to claim its fifth consecutive victory in the series.
"We knew this wasn't going to be easy," said Beard, who led North Little Rock to its second consecutive Class 7A state title in March. "They weren't going to lay down for us. We came in with the mind-set to just play ball."
The West, who trailed 11-0 five minutes into the game, rallied and held a 56-49 advantage with 4:33 to play in the fourth period, but the East scored 20 of the next 21 points.
Little Rock Parkview's Daryl Macon added 11 points. Spencer Reaves of Cedar Ridge and Tamas Bruce of Osceola added 10 each for the winners. Razorbacks signee Trey Thompson of Forrest City started strong with six first-period rebounds and finished with seven points and nine rebounds.
Josh Bowling, a 6-5 forward from Benton, led all scorers with 21 points.
Hunter Ball of Waldron added 12 points and Roosevelt Murray of Pine Bluff scored 11 to lead the West team.
The East's 11-0 start was reminiscent of last year's game in which the East jumped out to a 61-28 halftime advantage on its way to 98-50 victory. But the West did not let Thursday's poor start harm its overall efforts.
"We had been hearing they were supposed to smoke us by 30 points," said Bowling, who was 10 of 14 from the floor while grabbing 3 rebounds and making 2 steals. "We just played with intensity and a chip on our shoulder, but the East was a very talented team."
The East led 15-6 after the first period, 31-20 after the second and 47-43 at the half.
The West never held the lead in the first half but managed to tie the game at 32 with 4:39 left before the half.
Bruce gave the East a spark late in the first half with three dunks in the final 3:20. He had back-to-back dunks to extend the East's advantage with 1:49 left in the half, the first of which came off a pass from Brookland's C.J. Henry.
"To be honest, I didn't know that pass was coming," Bruce said of his tomahawk dunk. "It was a surprise to me, and I didn't think [Henry] was going to throw it."
Ten seconds later, Bruce stole the ball at midcourt and went in for his third dunk of the period. The ball hit the back of the rim, went back in the air but found its way through the hoop.
"I had too much time to think about that one," said Bruce, who is headed to Shawnee Community College in Ullin, Ill.
"Our group wasn't playing well, but Tamas gave us some energy with those dunks," Beard said. "He hasn't received a lot of exposure, but he's a great player."
Bowling and the West made their best surge early in the fourth period, scoring 13 consecutive points to take a 54-48 lead with 5:38 left in the period. But Reaves hit a three-pointer at the 4:20 mark and the East outscored the West 17-3 in end the period.
The West never regained the lead, but Bowling hit a 12-footer and followed that shot with a steal and a dunk with 2:09 to play to pull the West to within 77-75. Beard countered with two free throws and a layup to put the game out of reach.
"I'm always one that it doesn't matter how many I score, if we lose, I don't feel good about the way I played," said Bowling, who will play for Arkansas State next season. "I don't like to lose."
Sports on 06/27/2014