FARMINGTON -- Damon Augustus looked in peak condition Thursday for a player who's been limited because of an injury.
Just ask the Huntsville Eagles.
Augustus scored 21 points to lead Texarkana (Texas) High to a 80-59 victory over Huntsville in the first-round of the Cardinal Classic at Cardinal Arena. Alex Orr added 18 points for Texarkana (2-3) while Mason Davidson had 22 to lead Huntsville (4-2).
The three-day Cardinal Classic continues today with Farmington and Forrest City at 5:30 p.m., followed by Huntsville and Benton at 7 p.m. and Texarkana and Hot Spring Lakeside at 8 p.m.
Augustus, a 6-foot-4 senior, suffered an injury that kept him out of practices and games for about a month. But the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith signee moved about easily while scoring inside and outside. He finished his night with two dunks before taking a seat on the bench with 4 minutes to play.
"(Augustus) played on Tuesday for the first time," said Texarkana coach Jacob Skinner, a former University of Arkansas punter and former basketball coach at Shiloh Christian. "He's had two practices and this was his second game back."
Augustus wasn't the only problem for Huntsville on Thursday. Alex Orr, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, contributed 18 points for the Tigers, who had enough depth to substitute four players off the bench in the second quarter. Orr showed his ability when he followed a dunk by Augustus with a 3-pointer to put Texarkana ahead 66-47 early in the fourth quarter.
"Alex can score it. He really can," Skinner said. "He's young and he fits in really well when Damon draws more than one defender."
Texarkana dressed 13 players, including seven who played football for the Tigers, who went undefeated in the regular-season and won a district championship in Texas. The Tigers will use the three-day tournament in Farmington to jell and improve as a team.
"We've had seven full days of practice with them and I really hope we're trending in the right direction," Skinner said.
Texarkana used a 13-0 surge to race to a 38-27 lead at halftime. Huntsville called two timeouts during the surge but couldn't slow the Tigers with Augustus leading the way with 13 points after two quarters.
Huntsville appeared to gain confidence after getting some shots to go down and cut the Texarkana lead to 34-27 on the strength of the all-around play from Davidson and two 3-pointers and a short-range jumper from Troy Lambert. But Texarkana answered with consecutive baskets to close out the first half.
Texarkana continued to pull away in the second half and won easily despite 22 points from Davidson and 19 from Kayden McCubbin, a 6-foot-5 junior.
Farmington 65, Hot Springs Lakeside 51
Juniors Layne Taylor and Jaxon Berry combined for 44 points to lead host Farmington past Hot Springs Lakeside.
Taylor led the way with 23 points for the Cardinals, who improved to 10-0 on the season. Berry followed with 21 and Caleb Blakely added 11.
Farmington took control early with plenty of production from Berry, a 6-foot-4 forward who scored 14 of his 21 points in the first half. Farmington built a 34-17 lead before Lakeside closed to within 34-25, which prompted a timeout by the Cardinals. Farmington regained momentum when Taylor went aggressively to the basket and scored on a layup to beat the halftime buzzer.