CLASS 5A

Seasoned Marion overcomes hostile atmosphere

PEARCY -- Marion was neither intimidated by Lake Hamilton's unfriendly crowd nor the Wolves' 32-game home winning streak, earning a convincing 60-46 victory in Saturday's Class 5A boys state semifinal game at Wolf Arena.

Junior guard Detrick Reeves scored 25 points as the top-ranked Patriots (24-3) extended their winning streak to 18 games and their record to 22-0 against Arkansas opponents.

Marion advances to this weekend's championship game at the Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs.

Lake Hamilton senior Clyde Hill opened the fourth quarter with a putback to pull the Wolves to within 44-42. Marion scored the next 12 points, quieting a raucous crowd that filled the gymnasium to its capacity.

"It was great," Reeves said. "We knew it was going to be a hostile environment, but we just had to come out and play. We did."

Lake Hamilton suffered its first home loss since Jan. 24, 2017.

"That's why we put them into a tough position early in the year," Marion Coach David Clark said. "We played a tough schedule, and the benefit of playing that tough schedule is that it made us ready for the postseason."

Lake Hamilton (25-3) did not hold the lead after the 2:41 mark of the first quarter, but the Wolves were never down by more than six points until Marion's fourth-quarter run.

Lake Hamilton senior guard Lane Kersey, who scored his team's first seven points, kept the Wolves in the contest with five three-pointers and a team-high 16 points.

"Lane is going to give you everything he's got," Lake Hamilton Coach Scotty Pennington said. "He's playing on an ankle that he shouldn't be. He sprained it on the first play of the Jonesboro game [Tuesday] and never said a word. He just kept on plugging along. He hit some big shots. He wasn't going to go down without a fight. I thought he played well."

After Hill's rebounded basket at the 7:25 mark of the fourth quarter, Marion responded 10 seconds later with a putback of its own. Keyshawn Woods, who scored all six of his points in the fourth quarter, banked in the rebounded shot with 7:15 left that started the Patriots on their way to 12 consecutive points, all of which came from within the paint.

"We always want to be aggressive and attack the goal," said Clark, whose team was 6-of-9 shooting in the fourth quarter. "I don't think there's too many people who can stay with our guards. Even though Detrick Reeves was shooting the heck out of the ball, he's better and more effective when he goes for the basket.

"I knew they couldn't hold us off the dribble. That's why most teams are playing a zone against us. Once we got into the game, they made some mistakes and we got some easy layups."

"Give them credit. They're smart," Pennington said. "When they got a six-point lead and pulled us out [of the zone] ... that's an empty feeling. For us, we don't have the eight 6-5 freak athletes like a Little Rock Hall who could pressure them and turn them over. We did what we had to do, but they got by us and made us pay."

Tim Ceasar, a 6-9 senior who had been the Patriots' leading scorer in Marion's first two state tournament games, scored eight of his 12 points in the third quarter. Ceasar did not score in the fourth quarter, but he did have five rebounds.

Marion did not commit a turnover in the fourth quarter until the 1:30 mark when it had built a 56-42 advantage.

"We knew when they got that six-point lead that it was going to be really difficult to come back," Pennington said. "We needed them to make mistakes and they didn't."

LITTLE ROCK HALL 43,

WEST MEMPHIS 38

Montavious Dismuke hit two free throws with 4.1 seconds remaining to ensure the Warriors (23-6) of a trip to the Class 5A championship game.

Hall outscored West Memphis 14-8 in the fourth quarter to claim its 13th consecutive victory.

Senior Kevon Cooper, who led Hall with 17 points, scored six points and made two steals in the fourth quarter to spark the comeback. Dismuke finished with 10 points, and both of his assists came in the fourth quarter.

West Memphis (25-6) led 30-29 at the start of the final quarter, but Hall scored 12 of the next 14 points.

The Blue Devils got within 41-38 and had the ball with a chance to tie with 11 seconds left, but junior Chris Moore -- who led West Memphis with 17 points -- threw the ball into the stands for a turnover with 6.7 seconds to play.

Dismuke was fouled on the inbounds play and put the game away with his free throws.

Sports on 03/03/2019

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