CLASS 2A BOYS CLARENDON 61, JUNCTION CITY 58
HAMPTON - Donnie Lowery caught a pass from point guard Richard Knox and made a 25-foot three-pointer at the buzzer as Clarendon (30-1) defeated Junction City (27-2) on Tuesday at Hampton High School to advance to the Class 2A state championship game.
Clarendon will play defending champion Cedar Ridge for the title.
Junction City’s Keyundra Evans hit a free throw to tie the game at 58-58 with 12.4 seconds left, and Clarendon took a timeout with 8.3 seconds left.
“Basically, we were trying to get the ball to [Knox] and get him going toward the basket so he could stop and shoot or kick out,” Hudson said. “But they manned up on him and we had to go a different direction, and basically wound up with a Hail-Mary type of shot.”
Lowery caught the cross-court pass from Knox and threw up an off-balance leaner from 25 feet that went in as the buzzer sounded.
Both teams missed the front end of four one-and-ones in the final period that would have given them the lead or extended the lead.
Junction City led by 13 points in the first half, but the Lions chipped away and finally grabbed a 47-46 lead entering the final period.
CEDAR RIDGE 65, ENGLAND 50
Spencer Reaves hit 14 of 16 free throws and sparked a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter as the defending champion Timberwolves (35-3) advanced to the championship game with a victory over England (28-4).
Cedar Ridge scored the first five points and never trailed.
England, with leading scorers Devonta Patterson and Tyrick Harris limited by foul trouble, pulled to within 48-44 on a jumper by Xavier Iverson with 7:09 to play. But Reaves drilled a 15-foot jumper and scored on a put back and teammate Cade Crabtree made a layup off a steal and scored from inside to make it 56-44.
Two free throws by Reaves with 3:33 left polished off the 10-0 run and England.
Reaves finished with 25 points, Crabtree had 15 and Austin Reaves 11. Cole Crabtree had 9 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves. Harris finished with 16 points before fouling out with 1:40 to play.
CLASS 2A GIRLS MOUNTAINBURG 46, BRINKLEY 36
HAMPTON - Only three players scored for Mountainburg (32-2) on Tuesday, but they scored enough to eliminate Brinkley and earn a spot in the Class 2A state championship game.
Tara Webb, Kaylyn Moore and Auburn Peters scored all of Mountainburg’s points to send the Lady Dragons into a matchup against Spring Hill for the title.
Webb finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Moore had 15 points. Peters finished with seven points and 11 rebounds.
“There’s lead singers and backup singers in every group,” Mountainburg Coach Dan Garringer said. “Auburn and Tara are Elvis and Roy Orbison. They all accept that. There’s no jealousy. And, of course, Kaylyn has really stepped up in her junior year.”
Webb had 18 of her team’s 21 first-half points while Brinkley’s Lauren Carroll had all 20 of her team’s points, but the showdown came to a screeching end in the third quarter.
Carroll picked up two technical fouls - one for shoving a Mountainburg player and the second for something she said - with 1:30 to play, and the Lady Tigers were lost offensively from that point on.
Peters hit two technical free throws and drove to the basket for another score and a 33-22 lead. Brinkley pulled to within 34-31 early in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Dragons’ trio was too much for the Lady Tigers.
SPRING HILL 75, MARMADUKE 47
Jamie Nance scored 19 points and grabbed 20 rebounds as Spring Hill (34-0) put away Marmaduke (34-5) using its pressure defense and spread offensive attack.
Spring Hill’s Rachel Medina scored 26 points, which included four three-pointers in the first half as the Lady Bears built a 36-19 lead at halftime.
Sidnee Bopp led Marmaduke with 16 points.
- John Cooper
CLASS 1A BOYS CONCORD 50, SCRANTON 32
HARRISON - Concord (39-2) will get another crack at the state championship after defeating Scranton (38-2) in the Class 1A semifinals.
Concord lost to Bay 54-51 in last year’s state championship game. It will play Wonderview in the title game.
Jacob Roark scored 22 points but received plenty of help from his teammates. Roark scored only two points in the opening quarter as the Pirates jumped out to a 6-0 lead and went into the second quarter with a 14-2 lead. Trini Richardson scored nine points in the first quarter, and his three-pointer gave the Pirates a 12-point lead.
Conor Roby’s three-pointer, followed by a jumper from Seth Siebenmorgen, pulled Scranton to within 17-11 midway through the second quarter. But Concord pushed its lead to 26-16 going into intermission.
The Pirates began the second half with an 8-0 run by Roark to increase their advantage to 34-16. Scranton responded with an 8-0 run, but Hanse Bowman’s three-pointer gave the Pirates a 37-24 lead going into the last quarter.
The Rockets made one last push,closing the gap to 42-32 on Roby’s three-pointer with 4:00 left to play, but Scranton didn’t score again at Concord finished the game on an 8-0 run.
Richardson finished with 12 points for Concord.
Roby led Scranton with 13 points.
WONDERVIEW 56, COUNTY LINE 38
The Daredevils blew open a close game in the first half with a 14-0 run in the third quarter as it advanced to the state title game.
County Line led 15-6 early before Wonderview closed the gap to 15-12 at the first break and finished up a 15-0 run in the second quarter for a 21-15 lead. County Line came back to take a 24-23 edge, but Wonderview led 25-24 at the half.
John Beck and Hunter Gunderman had 15 points each to lead Wonderview.
CLASS 1A GIRLS NEMO VISTA 49, KIRBY 33
HARRISON - Nemo Vista, the youngest team in the tournament, surged past Kirby in the second and third quarters Tuesday at North Arkansas College and will play Wonderview in the Class 1A state championship game.
Nemo Vista - whose roster is made up of 1 junior, 7 sophomores and 7 freshmen - was led by the freshman combination of Maggie Mahan and Sade Harrison, who combined for 32 points.
Mahan, a 5-8 guard, scored all of her team’s points in the first half, when she had 17 of her game-high 20 points. Kirby led 5-2 early, but Mahan ended the quarter with a personal 5-0 run to give Nemo Vista a 7-5 lead.
Mahan scored 10 points in the second quarter and gave her team the lead for good at 12-9 on her first three-pointer, and her second three-pointer at the 4:20 mark made it 17-9.
Nemo Vista junior Kassidy Thompson made a three-pointer to open the second half, then Mahan scored a layup off a pass from Thompson to extend the lead to 22-9 two minutes into the third quarter.
Paladino, a sophomore, finished with 13 points while Sade Harrison had 12.
Megan Stinson led Kirby with nine points.
WONDERVIEW 65, ACORN 53
Junior guard Bailey Zimmerman, 6-0, scored 32 points to as Wonderview secured its second trip to the state final in the past three years with a victory over Acorn.
Zimmerman was held to five points in the first half but scored 20 points in the third quarter, when the Lady Daredevils outscored Acorn 24-15 to extend a 28-19 halftime lead to 52-34.
Ali Harris, who knocked down 3 three-pointers in the first half, finished with 11 for Wonderview.
Jessica Looney led Acorn with 22 points and Timmery Adams had 14. Jasmine Jackson scored 12 points.
- Scott McDonald
Sports, Pages 23 on 03/12/2014