Baptist Prep had a 20-point lead over Lamar after three quarters in the 3A-3 regional tournament at Central Arkansas Christian in North Little Rock on Friday night, but the Eagles let that lead dwindle to 11 points before taking a 58-44 victory and a berth in today's final.
When that game is played today, it will make the second consecutive day the Eagles will play an opponent for the fourth time this season when they face Mayflower.
"Well, you just have to make a free throw," Baptist Prep Coach Steve Miller said when asked what happened to his team's big lead. "I don't know how all this happens when we work on it so much. Sometimes, it's like a bad cold; it just hits you."
One of the team's best free-throw shooters, Baptist Prep guard DJ Townsend, hit only 1 of 5 free throws in the second half.
"I was surprised, but I know he was, too," Miller said. "I guarantee you he'll work on that tomorrow when we do our walk-through."
Today's game will be the second time in a week for Baptist Prep and Mayflower will play after meeting in the final of last week's district tournament, a 58-53 victory for Baptist Prep. The season series stands a 2-1 in favor of Baptist Prep.
"We played them in our last regular-season game and played them last week in the district tournament final," Miller said. "When you play the best teams, sometimes that happens."
Miller blamed a little individual play for the fourth-quarter run by the Warriors on Friday.
"In the third quarter, we got that big lead, then we kind of started doing individual stuff and we need to clean that up a little," he said. "When you hold a good Lamar team to 44 points, that is good for your team."
The teams battled back and forth in the first quarter before Townsend sank a field goal with 3.5 seconds left for a 13-10 lead.r
Baptist Prep made good use of three-pointers in the second quarter, using three of them as a springboard to a 28-20 lead at the break.
The Eagles took advantage of 3 three-pointers in the third quarter as well, while holding the Warriors to only eight points.
Baptist Prep's Daniel Cobb hit a field goal with 4:25 left in the quarter to take a 39-24 lead, but the Eagles didn't score again until almost two minutes later, when Jonathan Singleton scored with 2:30 remaining for a 41-26 lead.
Baptist Prep closed out the quarter with a 7-2 run and a 20-point lead.
By the time Singleton scored a field goal and a free throw with 5:40 left, Lamar had whittled its deficit to 51-25. Then two consecutive field goals trimmed the margin to 51-39.
With 1:59 left, Lamar had cut the lead to 55-44, but could get no closer. The Eagles made sure of that by holding the ball for the final 1:32y.
Cobb had a game-high 19 points for the Eagles, while Singleton had 17 and Townsend chipped in 12. Jerron Massengale led Lamar with 14 points, while Bradlee Kemp added 11.
MAYFLOWER 46, CENTRAL ARKANSAS CHRISTIAN 44
The Eagles defeated the host Mustangs in the other boys semifinal Friday afternoon.
First-half consistency allowed Mayflower (22-4) to hold a 24-23 edge at the half. After three quarters, the Eagles held a 37-33 lead.
But things got tight in the fourth quarter. Braxton McCuien sank three free throws to give Mayflower a 40-37 lead. Jackson Richmond kept CAC close with three field goals in the final quarter, the last of which gave the Mustangs a 44-42 lead with 1:53 left.
With 22 seconds remaining, McCuien took advantage of a three-point play to take a 45-44 lead. With five seconds left, Kaleb Moody hit one of two free throws for a 46-44 lead. Richmond then went for the final shot, but it bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
McCuien led the Eagles with 17 points, including six of the nine points Mayflower scored in the fourth quarter. Steven Massey led CAC with 14 points while Richmond had 13.