Panthers' 30-point victory not enough to please coach

CABOT -- Cabot rolled to a 61-31 victory over Searcy to win the boys title in the Cabot Classic on Saturday night at Panther Arena.

The Panthers (5-2) cruised behind 19 points from Jacob Hudson and 17 from Seth Vance, but the victory didn't satisfy Cabot Coach Chris Meseke.

"I'm just highly frustrated," he said. "We were all over the place tonight and never got any rhythm or flow in the game. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we won, but after playing really good last night (a 52-19 victory over Lonoke), we just didn't have the same intensity tonight."

The Panthers used a pressure defense that assisted in holding the Lions (4-4) without a field goal until the 2:30 mark of the first quarter that cuts their deficit to 8-4. Cabot responded by scoring the last seven points of the quarter for a 15-4 edge.

The Lions trimmed the margin to 17-11 after a field goal by Braden Watson with 2:52 left in the half, but Cabot used eight points from Vance in the final two minutes for a 25-11 margin at the half.

"We just want them to play better consistently," Meseke said. "As coaches we have an overall goal, but the players are just playing in the moment. This is a step backward for us."

The Panthers sandwiched two three-pointers from Vance around a field goal from Watson for a 32-13 lead for Cabot.

A field goal and free throw from Freddy Hicks, coupled with a field goal from Savion Floyd, got the Lions within 16 points at 36-20, but that's as close as the game would get.

Hicks paced the Lions with 10 points while Watson added eight.

GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP

CABOT 50,

MOUNTAIN HOME 39

The Lady Panthers, after leading 11-4 after the first quarter, let the Lady Bombers narrow the deficit to four points at the half before expanding the lead to 43-23 with 7:07 left in the game.

Mountain Home trimmed it to 49-39 with 14.5 seconds remaining, but couldn't get any closer, giving the girls title to Cabot.

Shy Christopher led Cabot (7-1) with 25 points while hitting several acrobatic shots on drives to the goal. Emily Belin added eight points.

Anna Grace Foreman paced Mountain Home (6-1) with 14 points while Leah Jackson hit 3 three-pointers to add 9 points.

Sports on 12/15/2019

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