MAGNET COVE -- Cutter Morning Star's senior boys followed their first loss of the season with a dominating second-half performance Wednesday to defeat Spring Hill 72-40 in the Magnet Cove senior basketball tournament.
The Eagles (4-1) shot 2-for-12 from 3-point range Monday and 17-for-44 overall in a 52-45 loss in the first round of the tournament against Glen Rose. Cutter Morning Star led 20-13 after the first quarter Wednesday and 40-27 at halftime.
"We were pressing early," said Eagles head coach Matt Carter. "When we got out of the press and went into our zone, we did a really good job in it. I thought we played hard in it. I thought we rebounded very, very, very well in it."
Cutter Morning Star outrebounded Glen Rose just 18-14 as the Eagles turned the ball over 22 times and forced 13 steals, including seven by sophomore Ryan Brown. They outrebounded Spring Hill 32-21 in a consolation game.
Brown finished with 19 points and one assist against Glen Rose in his lowest scoring output of the season. He followed with 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists against Spring Hill.
"I thought, offensively, we played more in control," Carter said. "Ryan did a great job of getting us into our stuff, being patient when he needed to be and being aggressive when he needed to be. I felt like that made us work better as a team."
Brown shot 6-for-9 from the field and made 7 of 8 at the free throw line. He scored 33, 35 and 20 points in the first three games of the season.
Cutter Morning Star outscored Spring Hill 17-5 in the third quarter and 32-13 in the second half. The Eagles cut their turnovers from 22 on Monday to only 10 against the Bears.
"Overall, we were more in control," Carter said. "Our effort was way better than the other night. I am pleased we bounced back and had a lot of character to do so. We've still got a lot of work to do, but I was proud of the effort."
Jaylen Puckett shot 6-for-10 on the way to 13 points and three rebounds. Mason Treat made 5 of 6 shots to finish with 12 points and three rebounds.
Chris Kennedy grabbed six rebounds, and Colby Heaton made five assists to go with six points. Rhett Barrett added nine points, three rebounds and three assists.
Senior Hays Martin led Spring Hill with nine points.
The Eagles will cap four games Tuesday on the road at Maumelle Charter. The seventh-grade boys are scheduled to play at 4:30 p.m. before junior high and senior high girls games.
Sports on 12/01/2017