Journagan, Elliott lead Harrison to victory

FAYETTEVILLE -- Harrison's two-man game worked just fine Thursday night.

Carson Journagan and Ben Elliott combined for 49 points to lead Harrison to a 70-53 victory over Lee's Summit West (Mo.) in the first round of the Fayetteville Bulldog Classic. The competition will continue today but Saturday's scheduled games have been postponed because of the threat of wintry weather.

Journagan scored 26 and Elliott 23 for Harrison, which will face Fayetteville in a second-round game today at 4 p.m. Journagan and Elliott had all of Harrison's points in the first half when the Goblins led 27-20. No one else scored for Harrison until Jayce Martin took an inside feed and scored on a short bank shot with 5 minutes, 34 seconds left in the third quarter.

That basket prompted others to get involved offensively and Harrison increased its lead to 47-33 following a 3-point basket from Jacob Shrum. The Goblins took control 62-47 in the fourth quarter after 3-pointers by Shrum and Dustin Gundry.

Harrison will need reliable scorers after all-state player Skyler Young graduated from a team that finished 25-5 last season. Journagan did his part Thursday with a variety of short jumpers and aggressive moves to the basket.

"Carson is a different kind of player than Skyler," Harrison coach David Stahler said of Young, who is a freshman at North Arkansas College in Harrison. "Carson is a hybrid center-forward who can play inside and out, and that's a big advantage for us. Elliott started for us a sophomore. A lot of people didn't know about him but he can really play."

In other games Thursday, Fayetteville defeated Hot Springs 67-57 and Blytheville topped Springdale High 45-44.

Harrison 70, Lee's Summit (Mo.) West 53

Lee's Summit West^13^7^15^18^--^53

Harrison^13^14^20^23^--^70

Lee's Summit: Johnson 16, McKnight 8, Kinder 8, Baggett 9, Brennan 4, Glasgow 4, Butler 3, Avila 1.

Harrison: Journagan 26, Elliott 23, Shrum 8, Gundry 11, Martin 2.

Sports on 12/07/2018