Mills remains undefeated against El Dorado in the 2016-2017 season.
Darius Hall, an Arkansas signee, scored 23 points and the Comets won their second meeting against the Wildcats, 80-68, on Saturday in the MLK Showcase at Baptist Prep in Little Rock.
Mills (17-1) also defeated El Dorado (13-3) 77-64 on Dec. 17 in Conway. El Dorado Coach Gary Simmons has seen the Comets twice now and they've handed his team two of its three losses.
"They're so long and athletic," Simmons said. "Any time you're a high school basketball team and you're so athletic, 6-5, 6-6, 6-7's on the floor and you have five or six of them, then you're doing well.
The Mills-El Dorado matchup, as it was going into their meeting in Conway last month, featured two members of Arkansas' Class of 2017 signing class -- Hall, 6-foot-6, 185 pounds, and El Dorado forward Daniel Gafford, 6-11, 225.
But Gafford had to sit out most of the first half after picking up his third foul with 6:04 left in the first quarter. From there, Mills outscored El Dorado 43-22 to take a 46-26 lead at halftime.
Having Gafford out of the game allowed the Comets to roll, Coach Raymond Cooper said.
"He's always a threat when he's on the floor," Cooper said. "With him not being in there, we really wanted to make a push while he was out. I'm glad we did because they started scoring and we were able to hold them off."
Mills led 58-44 at the end of the third quarter, but El Dorado's Ryn Vnice hit a three-pointer to cut the Comets' advantage to 61-56 with 4:30 remaining. The Comets responded, as they used a 8-2 run, capped by Hall, to extend their lead to 69-58.
Grehlon Easter scored 13 points for the Comets. Quann Marshall and Jeremiah Toney each had 12 points.
Czar Perry led El Dorado with 29 points. Charles Manning scored 15 points and Vnice had 12 points. Gafford finished with 8 points and fouled out with 1:20 remaining.
EL DORADO (68)
Vnice 5 0-0 12, Manning 6 3-4 15, Johnson 2 0-0 4, Perry 10 7-12 29, Gafford 3 2-4 8, Green 0 0-1 0. Totals 26 12-21 68.
MILLS (80)
Ford 1 0-0 2, Easter 6 1-1 13, Hall 8 7-9 23, Marshall 3 5-6 12, Clark 1 2-3 4, Virden 3 0-0 8, Toney 5 2-4 12, Jones 2 2-2 6. Totals 29 19-25 80.
El Dorado (13-3) 10 16 18 24 -- 68
Mills (17-1) 23 23 12 22 -- 80
Three-point goals -- El Dorado 4 (Perry 2, Vnice 2); Mills 3 (Virden 2, Marshall 1). Team fouls -- El Dorado 18, Mills 18. Fouled out -- Gafford, Johnson.
Sports on 01/15/2017