Ashdown guard Kaiden Hunter scored 18 points and the Panthers connected on 22 of 31 free-throw attempts in earning a 55-42 victory over host Joe T. Robinson in Saturday's championship game of the 7-4A tournament.
Hunter connected on two three-point attempts in the first four minutes. The Panthers built as much as a 14-point lead -- 23-9 -- in the first half. Robinson could only get as close as 37-32 in the third quarter.
"We guarded really well tonight," Ashdown Coach James Smith said. "We played a lot better defensively. We didn't have to help as much. We kept them from driving to the hole early and holding them to 14 [first-half] points is pretty good."
Ashdown's reward for Saturday's victory is another game against a host team. The Panthers (19-5) will play at Monticello in the opening round of the 4A-South Region Tournament on Wednesday. Monticello is the No. 4 seed from the 8-4A. Robinson will play No. 3-seeded Warren on Thursday.
Robinson, which hit 14 of 36 shots, was paced by senior guard Cameron Bush's 15 points, but no other Senator had more than eight points. Bush also had three assists and three steals.
"On offense, we had ball movement issues," Robinson Coach Anwar Hardin said. "The ball was not moving. My post wasn't working inside. We just did not carry out the game plan. Some of that's on me, some of that's on them. But we win together and we lose together."
Ashdown won its fifth in a row and has won 14 of its last 15 games.
Robinson (18-11) dropped only its second game in its last nine outings.
Hunter was 8 of 9 from the free-throw line, including a 4-for-4 effort in the fourth quarter.
"He's pretty good," Hardin said of Hunter. "He's got a quick release on his shot and he can shoot it. He's quick with the ball."
Ashdown was 12 of 14 from the line in the fourth quarter.
"We shot them well the last two games," Smith said. "We'll have games where we're 18 of 20 and then have a game where we're 5 of 20. Tonight was one of the good nights."
Forward Lamar Wilkerson added 10 points and Cullen Young nine for Ashdown.
Robinson's Javion Porter scored eight points while teammate Elliott Harris collected a game-high seven rebounds.
Sports on 02/18/2018