Little Rock Mills and Pulaski Academy successfully defended their titles in the Chartwells Spa City Shootout Saturday.
The Comets (10-2) and Lady Bruins (8-5) each received byes in the first round of the Shootout on Wednesday. They advanced to their respective finals with wins on Thursday before taking significantly different routes to repeat.
Mills raced to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter of the boys' final against Sylvan Hills (6-7) in the final game of Friday at Bank of the Ozarks Arena. Grehlon Easter, a verbal commit to Lamar University, punctuated the run with a reverse dunk midway through the quarter. The Bears finally got on the board with a three-point play by freshman Jalen Ricks.
Junior Brandon McCrary led the Comets to a 34-12 lead at the end of the first quarter with 11 points. Junior Kevin Cross added seven points and Easter had six.
The Comets led by 33 points at multiple ties in the second and third quarter, carrying a 57-28 lead into halftime and an 84-54 advantage to start the fourth quarter. The clock ran for the final frame toward the 86-61 final.
Mills was led by McCrary's 27 points. Cross scored 17 and Easter finished with 16.
Sylvan Hills junior Demetrius Torrence scored 16 points through three quarters. Ricks led the Bears in scoring with 17.
Junior Mattie Hatcher and sophomore Jazmene McMillan score eight and seven points, respectively, in the opening quarter to put the Lady Bruins ahead 18-15. Nine points from senior Lainie Ballard kept the Lady Bears within striking distance.
Pulaski Academy maintained a 28-23 lead to finish the first half, but Sylvan Hills went ahead 38-36 by the end of the third quarter. The teams traded the lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Bruins took control and never relinquished.
Senior forward Alana Canady fouled out with 1:55 left to play after receiving a technical earlier in the game for a comment made to another player. A referee said Canady told the other player to "get off" of her.
A 3-pointer by senior Jayla Bell cut the lead to 47-46 with 1:21 left to play. A basket by Pulaski Academy sophomore Katie Hindmon and two free throws by Hatcher gave the Lady Bruins a cushion at 51-46.
Bell added a 2-pointer with 16 seconds on the clock, but Sylvan Hills had one more attempt to tie the game. The Lady Bears added a late layup, but time expired before the ball was inbounded again and the game ended 51-50.
Hatcher finished the game with 21 points, while McMillan had 17. Ballard led the Lady Bears with 16 points and Bell finished with 12.
The final consolation game of the tournament saw Benton down Greenwood 52-39 behind 16 points from senior Evan Sims, nine points from junior Grant Shelnut and eight points from senior point guard Jai Peters. Greenwood led 12-9 after the first quarter following a layup by senior Neil Rice atthe buzzer.
The Panthers surged ahead to take a 30-18 lead into halftime and remained ahead 41-33 after three quarters. The Bulldogs were led in scoring by seniors Jordan Sheppard and Easton Barrett and junior Jack Gaston with eight points apiece.
Sports on 12/30/2017