SOUTHWIND (TENN.) 58,
LITTLE ROCK HALL 53
Trailing Southwind, Tenn., by 15 points early in the third quarter, Little Rock Hall pulled to within three points of the Jaguars with five minutes left in Friday's second-round winner's semifinal game at the Rumble on the Ridge.
Unfortunately, that was as close as the Hall Warriors would get as Southwind pulled away and held on for a 58-53 victory.
Southwind advances to today's championship game at 4:30 p.m., while Hall falls into the consolation game for third place at 3 p.m.
Southwind senior guard Mark Freeman drained 3 three-pointers in the first half to help the Jaguars to a 31-23 halftime lead and finished with 19 points and 4 threes. Quinton Williams added 17 points and Ashton Taylor finished with 11 points to lead the Jaguars (3-0).
Hall (3-1) got 15 points from Gregory Johnson, 10 from Jared Smith, 9 from Kevon Cooper and 6 from Xavier Madison.
Southwind scored the first seven points of the second half to lead 38-23, their biggest cushion of the game.
Smith, Cooper and Jonathan Coleman combined to get Hall within seven points at 46-39 to close out the third quarter.
A three-pointer by Hall's Montavious Dismuke got the Warriors within 3 at 49-46 with 5 minutes remaining in the game.
Following a timeout, Southwind spread the floor to run the clock, eventually working for a Jalin Clay layup and a 51-46 cushion. Williams made it 53-46 with a pull-up jumper.
Hall answered with a jumper and an inside layup by Johnson to get within three at 53-50 with just over two minutes showing.
A Southwind second-effort putback pushed the Jaguars to 55-50 with 1:16 left before Johnson turned a conventional three-point play cutting Southwind's lead to 55-53 with one minute left in the game.
Freeman iced the victory for Southwind with a pair of free throws with 26 seconds remaining and Clay added a single free throw to set the final.
Southwind missed their first 4 shots to open the game, while Hall sank 5 of their first 6 free throws.
After a 9-9 tie with four minutes in the first quarter, Southwind began to pull away to lead 20-14 after one quarter.
Southwind slowed the pace in the second quarter to play a modified half-court game which led to a 27-18 lead after a three-pointer from Williams.
Hall opened the tournament on Thursday with a 60-54 victory over Humboldt, Tenn., while Southwind took a first-round 66-26 victory over McComb, Miss.
Southwind is looking for the school's third Rumble on the Ridge title after winning the tournament in 2011 and 2012.
Humboldt (Tenn.) 65, McComb (Miss.) 37
For the second consecutive day, McComb, Miss., found itself on the wrong end of a "mercy rule" game at the Rumble on the Ridge, losing to Humboldt, Tenn., 65-37.
Humboldt, led by junior forward Anthony Jones' 18 points and senior forward JusUn Pankey's 14 points, advances to today's fifth-place trophy game at 1:30 p.m.
Montrez Ward added 10 points for the Vikings, who led 20-8 after the first quarter, 40-15 at at the half and 57-25 to start the fourth quarter.
Braxton Grippi led McComb with 13 points while Donavan Ramos added eight points.
McComb, 66-26 losers to Southwind, Tenn., in Thursday's first round game, will play for seventh place today at noon.
FORREST CITY 71,
EL DORADO 64
FORREST CITY — El Dorado’s bid to become the first team to win three consecutive Rumble on the Ridge tournament titles ended Friday night with a semifinal loss to the host Forrest City Mustangs.
Senior Deviunta Foster struck for 15 points, 9 in the fourth quarter, to lead the Mustangs past two-time defending tournament champion El Dorado 71-64. Senior Josiah Gayles added 13 points and junior Randal Moore finished with 12 points for the Mustangs.
The Mustangs withstood El Dorado’s three-point barrage and a five-point deficit at the half to take control of the game in the third quarter.
After forcing a 41-41 tie, the Mustangs took a 43-41 lead and did not relinquish it.
El Dorado defeated Forrest City in the 2015 title game and beat North Little Rock last year. Forrest City will try to win its second Rumble on the Ridge title today when it faces Southwind, Tenn., in the title game set for 4:30 p.m.
At a glance
THURSDAY’S SCORES
Southwind, Tenn., 66,
McComb, Miss., 26 Little Rock Hall 60, Humboldt, Tenn., 54 Forrest City 79, Montgomery (Ala.) Sidney Lanier 70 El Dorado 66, St. Paul’s, La., 64
FRIDAY’S SCORES
Humboldt, Tenn., 65,
McComb, Miss., 37 Southwind, Tenn., 58, Little Rock Hall 53 St. Paul’s, La., 67, Montgomery (Ala.) Sidney Lanier 59 Forrest City 71, El Dorado 64
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Seventh-place game, noon Fifth-place game, 1:30 p.m. Third-place game, 3 p.m. Championship game, 4:30 p.m.
Sports on 11/25/2017