HIGH SCHOOL BOYS

Vanover asserts self vs. Bauxite

Connor Vanover did not score in either the first or fourth quarters Tuesday night, but what Baptist Prep's 7-3 junior center did in the middle two quarters was more than Bauxite Miners could handle.

Vanover finished with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks as the unbeaten Eagles held off the Miners 53-46 in a 4A/3A-9 Conference game in Little Rock.

"Connor was amazing, especially in that second quarter," Baptist Prep Coach Brian Ross said. "He was scoring in every way possible. He was scoring on the post up. He was hitting some threes. He's doing a lot better off the dribble this year. He was impressive, and he really kept us in it."

Bauxite (7-2, 2-1) fell behind 11-3 early but the Miners scored the final seven points of the first quarter and the first eight points of the second quarter before Baptist Prep (9-0, 4-0) recovered.

Vanover, 0 of 1 from the floor in the first quarter, did not score until the 5:27 mark of the second quarter, but he finished with 15 points and five rebounds in the first half. Vanover completed the game by hitting 9 of 15 shots.

Baptist Prep led 30-25 at the half.

"In all seriousness, maybe the next time we practice [for Baptist Prep] we have someone hold a broomstick up," Bauxite Coach Andy Brakebill said of facing the 7-3 Vanover. "They are a very big team. You most definitely can't simulate that in practice, but we tried to mix it up against their defenses on different zone offenses, and we did a good job with it. Unfortunately, we didn't come up with enough plays at the end."

Baptist Prep extended its lead to as much as 13 points, 49-36, before Bauxite made a final push. The Miners got as close as 49-43 with 1:50 left when junior guard Jacob Stroud hit a three-pointer. Bauxite had two more possessions to cut into the Eagles' lead, but both ended in turnovers.

"We let a lot of opportunities get away from us," Brakebill said. "We missed a lot of easy shots in the first half, and there were plays in the second half where we didn't get opportunities off of our steals. With that being said, I was proud of our guys. We competed hard and executed our gameplan. That's a heckuva team, and our guys competed with them."

Sophomore Issac McBride, who completed a four-point play during the second quarter as the Eagles turned an 18-11 deficit into a 22-18 lead, scored six of his 17 points in the fourth quarter to help Baptist Prep hold on for the victory. Senior guard Dylan Hogan added nine to the Eagles' total.

Stroud scored 17 points in the first half and finished with 24 points and three steals. Junior Colton Robinson added 13 points and eight rebounds for Bauxite.

GIRLS

BAUXITE 61, BAPTIST PREP 35

Sydney Oliver scored 15 points as the Lady Miners stopped the Lady Eagles in Little Rock. Mili Olguin came off the bench to add 11 for Bauxite, which outscored Baptist Prep 32-14 in the second half. Madison Jones scored 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds for Baptist Prep while Reagan Reed added 9 points, all on three-pointers.

Sports on 12/07/2016

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