Austin Reaves and Robert "R.J." Glasper have been two of the state's most prolific scorers over the past year.
They went out of their way to prove it Thursday night.
Tale of the tape
A look at the offensive statistics compiled by Cedar Ridge’s Austin Reaves and Forrest City’s R.J. Glasper in Cedar Ridge’s 117-115 victory Thursday night:
REAVES;GLASPER
73;Total points;59
18;Points in OT;17
18;Total FGs;21
15;2-pt. FGs;12
3;3-pt. FGs;9
34-37;FT/Attempts;8-14
Reaves, a 6-5 guard from Cedar Ridge, scored 73 points and Glasper, a 5-9 guard from Forrest City, scored 59 in Cedar Ridge's 117-115 victory in triple overtime in a first-round game at the Barry Pruitt Hurricane Classic at Jonesboro High School.
"R.J. and Reaves were going at it," Forrest City Coach Dwight Lofton said. "Both were at their peak tonight."
In addition to the two players combining for 132 points, the teams' combined 232 points is apparently a state record. That total topped Brookland's 117-104 victory over Tuckerman in 2010, which according to the Arkansas Activities Association record book was the state record.
"I'm wore out," Cedar Ridge Coach Isaac Middlebrooks said. "A stop and a rebound for us at either the end of regulation or the first overtime and we wouldn't have been in that position, but every time we would make a great play they would answer."
The state record for points by an individual is 108, set by Morris Dale Mathis of St. Joe in 1955.
Cedar Ridge (5-1) entered the fourth quarter with a 68-64 advantage. At that point, Reaves had scored 40 and Glasper had 29, but they were far from finished.
Reaves scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and had 55 at the end of regulation. Glasper scored 13 fourth-quarter points to end regulation with 42.
After the first overtime, the teams were tied at 100. The second overtime ended with Glasper hitting a "deep" three-pointer to tie the game at 110-110.
Reaves, who averaged 27.5 points a game as a junior, scored 18 points in the three four-minute overtime periods. Glasper managed 17 in the overtimes.
"That's not the way we wanted to play," said Middlebrooks, whose team was averaging 67.8 points a game entering Thursday's game. "We want to slow it down. ... I had a couple of coaches tell me that Reaves could score 70 on them. I said 'No way, he can't score 70.' But he did."
Reaves' previous career high was 51 points earlier this season against Tuckerman. Reaves had only 18 field goals -- 15 two-pointers and 3 three-pointers -- Thursday but was 34 of 37 from the free-throw line.
"He should have had 76," Middlebrooks said.
Glasper was coming off a career-best 43 points against El Dorado on Saturday. Glasper has scored at least 30 points in five games this season and his lowest output has been 23. He is averaging 38.3 points a game. Glasper poured in 21 field goals -- 12 two-pointers and 9 three-pointers -- Thursday and was 8 of 14 from the free-throw line.
The game ended with Forrest City missing its last three shots. Lofton said the Mustangs inbounded the ball with 8.5 seconds left, but Glasper missed an open three-pointer and Forrest City missed two more shots that could have sent the game into a fourth overtime.
Montrell Randle, a 6-2 senior, added 24 points for Forrest City, which will play Greene County Tech in today's consolation round. Cedar Ridge, which will meet Springdale Har-Ber in tonight's semifinals, picked up 17 points from 5-9 junior Ethan Ballard and 15 points from 6-3 senior Cade Crabtree.
Lofton didn't enjoy the loss that saw his team drop to 4-3, but the Forrest City coach said the 232-point game is something he can remember fondly.
"Nothing comes close to this game," Lofton said. "I've never been involved in something like this."
Sports on 12/04/2015