FARMINGTON -- Prior to Huntsville's second game at the Tony Chachere's Classic, Alex Pemberton's season-high for 3-pointers made in a game was three.
It took him less than one quarter to better that against Gravette.
Tony Chachere’s Classic at Farmington
Boys
Huntsville 61, Gravette 37
Huntsville^21^17^11^12^–^61
Gravette^7^10^11^9^–^37
Gravette (3-2): Duke 7, Wishon 6, Trembly 5, Soule 5, White 4, Miller 4, Griffen 2, Lopez 2, Childress 2.
Huntsville (8-0): Pemberton 25, Bohannan 12, Eaton 11, Siegrist 5, McCone 4, Hawthorn 3.
Pemberton led the Eagles to a 61-37 win over the Lions behind a game-high 25 points on 7-of-12 from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-3 senior connected on 4-of-5 from long range in the first quarter and helped Huntsville jump out 12-2 and take a 21-7 lead into the second quarter.
"Our kids shot real well early, and Pemberton shot it real well," Huntsville coach Jim Stafford said. "He had nearly 20 points at the half, they got out of their zone and went man and he made some more baskets there. We distributed the ball well and moved the ball."
Gravette, behind seven straight points from Seth Duke, cut the Eagles' lead to 23-16 and appeared to have settled in following a rough five-turnover, 2-for-7 shooting quarter to begin the day.
But Pemberton's fifth 3-pointer, a Jack Eaton three-point play and Clay Siegrist's layup triggered a 15-1 Huntsville run to close the half and a 38-17 halftime lead.
"We got on a good run, and our kids are pretty patient," Stafford said. "When things are going good, we're capable of shooting good every night."
Huntsville's 3-point shooting was not only reliable, but forced Gravette's hand. The Lions opened the game in a 1-3-1 zone and, 8 minutes later, the Eagles were 6-of-10 from behind the arc and Gravette resorted back to a traditional man-to-man. Huntsville's Ty Bohannan knocked down three 3-pointers of his own and Tanner Hawthorn added one for good measure.
As a team, Huntsville shot 44 percent (11-of-25) from 3-point range.
"It's fun. You just go out there and have fun," Pemberton said of his big night. "I've got my teammates there to back me up, they were looking for me. It's just fun.
"We have good teamwork. Some nights one of us is shooting good, other nights one of us is driving good, shooting good. We're good as a team together."
Less than 24 hours removed from its double-overtime loss to Farmington, Gravette was held to 13-of-34 shooting. Kelton Trembly, who led the Lions with 26 points Thursday, and Andrew Miller were limited to five and four points, respectively. Duke led Gravette with seven points.
"(Gravette) had a hard game last night," Stafford said. "I'm sure we didn't get their best game, but our kids played real well."
Next for Huntsville is a rematch with tournament-host Farmington today at 3:30 p.m. The Eagles took the first meeting of the season at home, 43-39, and Pemberton says Huntsville is looking forward to another meeting with the Cardinals.
"It was a close game last time," he said. "It came down to a last-second play and we're excited to play them again."
Girls
Huntsville 64, Gravette 48
Makayla Watkins and Maci Campbell were too much offensively for the Lady Lions. Campbell scored a game-high 19 points and Watkins followed with 16 as Huntsville moves on to face Farmington today at 2 p.m. in the girls championship game.
Cally Kildow and Tori Foster led Gravette with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Gravette closes out the three-day event against Waldron today at 11 a.m.
Farmington 54, Waldron 16
Kaylee Brown scored 15 points and Madisyn Pense added 13 as the Lady Cardinals again crusied to a win on their homefloor. Farmington led 18-2 after one and 35-2 at halftime, holding the Lady Bulldogs scoreless in the second quarter.
Waldron will close out a difficult three-day stretch against Gravette today at 11 a.m.
Boys
Farmington 55, Waldron 52
A Waldron 3-pointer grazed off the front of the rim as time expired and Farmington escaped a late fourth-quarter Bulldogs rally to cap the second day of the Tony Chachere's Classic.
Delta State signee Matt Wilson scored a game-high 20-points, 10 in the first quarter, to lead Farmington. Cade Fenton, the hero in the double-overtime win against Gravette Thursday, followed with 13. Waldron's Luke Reed and Jesse Chrisman brought the Bulldogs back from a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit, but came up one shot short.
Reed poured in a team-high 17 points and Chrisman added 16.
Sports on 12/10/2016