Mikael Foust turned his team's blown opportunity into a game-winning play for Little Rock Fair on Friday night.
Foust, the War Eagles' 6-0 junior guard, came up with a steal at midcourt and drove in for a layup with 1.6 seconds remaining to give Fair a 54-52 victory over Mills in front of a full house in the Jammin' for Jackets semifinals at George Cirks Arena.
Prior to Foust's steal, Fair had turned the ball over with 9.5 seconds left when senior Kris Bankston was tied up under the basket by Mills forward Kaevon Jones. The Comets got the ball on the alternating possession, but they no sooner had moved the ball past the midcourt line when Foust swatted the ball away from Mills guard Quawn Marshall.
"I was just trying not to lose the ball and miss the layup," said Foust, who finished with 8 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. "It was the biggest moment of my life and the scariest moment of my life."
As it turned out, Foust's fears were unfounded. He gained control of the ball in front of the three-point line before hitting the layup at full speed.
"Both teams played so well it's a shame the game came down to something like that," Fair Coach Charlie Johnson said. "That's just the way things are. We just happened to be on the winning end."
Junior Daeveon Bankston wound up as the War Eagles' leading scorer, scoring all 21 of his points in the second half -- 12 on three-pointers -- as Fair (7-1) rallied from a 26-21 halftime deficit. Kris Bankston added 11 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks and 4 steals. Senior Khyron Gilbert scored all 10 of his points in the first half.
But it was Foust -- a nonstarter -- who received the hero's welcome at the end of the game.
"My teammates rally around each other," said Foust, who credited junior Kam Stafford for turning Marshall into a position to where Foust could make the steal. "Kam led him to the middle, and it gave me the perfect opportunity to go for the steal."
"Mikael does a lot for us," Johnson said. "If I could just make him understand what his role is, he's going to be a good player. I love the boy to death. That's why I'm on him so hard because he has a chance to be a really good player. He came through for us tonight. He played well, but all of them did."
Mills Coach Raymond Cooper said his team failed to follow the game plan.
"We took the game plan and just threw it out the window," Cooper said. "We've gotten away with that before tonight, but we've played in spurts all year long. We'll get teams down, then we'll let them come back. We don't focus throughout the game. We make too many mental errors. We miss block-out assignments. We make too many silly turnovers. It finally caught up with us."
University of Arkansas signee Darius Hall and junior guard Grehlon Easter each scored 12 points to lead Mills (5-1).
Fair will play defending champion Little Rock Parkview in tonight's championship game.
"I've never won it before, and I've never even been to the finals before," Johnson said. "Hey, I'm just glad to be in it."
LITTLE ROCK PARKVIEW 78,
LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 59
Javon Franklin and Caleb Stokes combined for 25 points in the second half as the Patriots (6-1) broke away from the Tigers (5-1) in the second semifinal game.
Franklin finished with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. He scored 14 points in the final 16 minutes. Stokes had 15 points -- 11 in the second half -- to go along with 10 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 assists.
Central senior Cameron Johnson led all scorers with 28 points while collecting 11 rebounds. Guard Jacobia Platt added 18 points, but no other Central player had more than six points.
Central's Jakaylan Jackson hit a three-pointer at the end of the first half to tie the game at 34, but Parkview scored 16 of the first 18 points of the second half. Parkview was 18-of-29 shooting in the second half. Central was 7 of 26 in the second half.
University of Arkansas signee Khalil Garland scored Parkview's first 11 points, but he scored only 2 more points the remainder of the half and finished the game with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Curtis White hit 3 three-pointers in the second half and came up with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists for the game.
EPISCOPAL COLLEGIATE 55,
LITTLE ROCK HALL 51
Freshman Khalen Robinson hit two free throws with 12.7 seconds remaining to break a 51-51 tie and the Wildcats (6-2) went on to claim a consolation-round victory over the host Warriors (4-2).
Kamron Brasfield, who scored a game-high 23 points, added two more free throws with 4.5 seconds remaining to seal Episcopal's victory.
Gavin Hawkins connected on six three-pointers and finished with 20 points. Both Brasfield and Hawkins had six rebounds. Robinson finished with nine points.
Antonio Smith led Hall with 15 points while grabbing 8 rebounds and making 3 steals. Tyree Tillman scored all 12 of his points in the second half, and Issac Beal added 10 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks.
BRYANT 71,
LITTLE ROCK McCLELLAN 32
Romen Martin led the Hornets (5-1) with 13 points in a victory over the Lions (2-5).
Calvin Allen added 10 points, 6 steals and 6 assists for Bryant, which led 19-2 seven minutes into the contest.
Lowell Washington also scored 10 points for Bryant, which led 46-19 at the half.
Marcis Hall scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds for McClellan.
Sports on 12/10/2016