No brooms, no ladders, no scissors and no problems.
Without the aid of any props or a head coach, Little Rock Hall trounced Jacksonville 78-53 in the 5A-Central Conference regular-season finale at George Cirks Arena on Thursday night.
Hall (20-6, 13-1) used a 21-point, 8-rebound effort from senior Greg Johnson to increase the Warriors' winning streak to 10 games and end any hopes of the Titans (15-10, 8-6) advancing to the postseason.
Two nights earlier, Hall clinched the league title against rival Little Rock Parkview but almost caused a brawl after the contest when some of the Warriors attempted to bring a ladder onto the Patriots' home court to cut down the nets. The result was a two-game suspension for Hall Coach Jon Coleman, who missed Thursday's game and who will miss the Warriors' state tournament first-round game Tuesday.
"It was like missing a legend," said assistant coach Ahmad Martin, who filled in for Coleman. "I think it took our guys a little while to get used to a different voice, but once we got it going it worked out."
"It felt weird being in the locker room and in the film session before the game not having him there and not hearing his voice," said senior Jonathan Coleman, the head coach's son who finished with 19 points. "He told us not to worry about it and just enjoy our senior night. He told us to fight through it and I think we did a good job of that."
Hall never trailed after the 5:30 mark of the first quarter. Johnson completed a three-point play that gave the Warriors an 8-7 advantage and start a string of 10 consecutive points.
Senior Kevon Cooper scored 10 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and had 2 assists in the second quarter. He finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.
"Cooper is a big part of this team, especially when we're trying to work the ball inside out," Martin said. "He got his points and he kicked it out to our guards so they could get their points, too."
The Warriors led 20-14 at the end of one quarter and 39-28 at the half. Johnson scored the first five points of the second half and Jacksonville never got any closer than 11 the rest of the way.
For Jacksonville Coach Victor Joyner, it will be only the second time in his 28 years as a head coach that he will miss the postseason, breaking a 26-year streak of state tournament appearances.
"I'm proud of these guys. They gave me everything they had," Joyner said. "It was fun coaching them and they've got a lot of wiggle room to learn."
Senior guard Mykel Moore led the Titans with 16 points, while freshman Christian Moore added 10.
The Titans were guilty of 18 turnovers, 13 of which came in the second half.
"We were missing so many parts," said Joyner, whose team was missing two starters because of injuries. "We had guys handling the ball that generally hadn't handled the ball all year. ... Too many turnovers. Too many mistakes. Too many sophomores on the floor. The moment might have been a little too big for them."
Sports on 02/22/2019