FORREST CITY -- El Dorado had no trouble in the Rumble on the Ridge championship game Saturday night, defeating Forrest City 102-85 in front of a packed house.
Junior post Daniel Gafford led El Dorado with 36 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals and 2 assists to propel a Wildcats team that is expected to be among the best in Class 6A this season.
Gafford, who is 6-10 and orally committed to Arkansas, scored the first points of the game on one of his seven dunks and finished the opening quarter with eight points. He scored 14 points in the first half.
"You can't say enough about him, and he's still a work in progress because he didn't start playing until his eighth-grade year," El Dorado Coach Gary Simmons said. "He's still learning, loves the game, so athletic and runs the floor so well."
Junior point guard Czar Perry added 35 points for El Dorado and was named the tournament MVP after averaging 26 points and just more than eight assists per game in the tournament.
"He runs the show for us," said Simmons, whose team made six three-pointers Saturday and 8 of 14 free throws. "He really gets Daniel going, and like the night before they really doubled and tripled Daniel and guards decided it was going to be their night."
Senior guard Josh Ford added 20 points for El Dorado, and junior guard Ryu Unice had 10.
Defending champion Forrest City was led by senior guard Robert Glasper Jr., who had a game-high 43 points for the Mustangs who are averaging more than 80 points a game. Junior Trajan Norment added 14 points and senior Montrell Randle had 10 for Forrest City, which made 19 of 25 free throws and five three-pointers.
El Dorado trailed for most of the first quarter but never by more than six. Norment's field goal with 50 seconds left in the period gave Forrest City a 21-15 lead before Perry hit a three-pointer to pull El Dorado to within 21-18 heading into the second.
"We had to fix getting beat back," Simmons said. "We told them that at the team meeting at the hotel, but until they see it sometimes you can't comprehend it. At halftime we challenged them, asked them to stop the fast breaks and we win the ball game."
Forrest City led 28-22 with 5:52 left in the second quarter after a three by Glasper, but El Dorado took a 41-39 lead into halftime as Ford scored 10 points in the quarter. Gafford chipped in 10 as well, including a field goal with 20.3 seconds left in the half as El Dorado grabbed the lead.
Gafford scored the first six points of the third quarter and combined with Perry for 21 in the quarter as the Wildcats started to pull away for a 77-56 lead heading into the final quarter.
Gafford scored the first six points of the fourth quarter -- and eight of the Wildcats' first 10 -- as El Dorado went ahead 87-62 on its way to a tournament-record 102 points.
"We're kind of a special group at times," Simmons said. "We have four guards and a fifth one that can come off the bench that can break you [down] off the dribble. When you've got that and got your 6-10 just sitting back, waiting on his time and not forcing anything, we're playing a lot like a team."
Sports on 11/29/2015