Ouachita's junior boys allowed just 6 first-half points for Cutter Morning Star Thursday night en route to a 52-21 win at Eagle Arena.
"I thought we got off to kind of a slow start but once we got back in the groove of it, we got going pretty good," said junior Warriors head coach Clayton Ray. "It's been a pretty good group all year. They've got good chemistry. They share the ball and move the ball pretty good, work off each other pretty good. It seems like all year long, the press kind of gets us going. It gets us going and then from there it works our half-court offense."
Garner Thornton put the junior Eagles (4-9) on the scoreboard off the opening possession before Trey Cox had a putback to knot the score. Ouachita (8-1) then turned up its defense to take a 14-2 lead into the second quarter.
Cameron Mattingly opened the second quarter with a 10-foot jumper, followed by a Thornton bucket, before Mattingly hit eight consecutive buckets for a 28-4 lead. Edwin Mancinas put up a shot in the final minute to set the halftime spread.
Caden Lee grabbed a rebound, taking it coast-to-coast to keep the junior Warriors' momentum alive. Thornton responded with a pair of buckets before teammate Drake Bissel had a steal and layup to pull within 34-13 with 2:30 left in the frame.
Corbin Bahr added a 3-pointer for Ouachita before a 3-point play by Mattingly. Thornton put up a pair from the line before Mattingly drove into the paint for a 40-17 lead going into the final six minutes.
Ouachita continued to roll with a 10-2 run in the first three minutes of the period. Bissel and Brody Speers cut into the ever-increasing deficit before Matthew Fabian put up a shot in the paint to seal the win.
"I feel like it was a tale of two halves," said junior Eagles head coach Shawn Kellems. "The first half we came out, we were scared. We just thought they were somebody they weren't -- let them get up big. The second half we come out -- the third quarter's 12-11, you know. We just came out and competed in the second half, and we've just got to put four quarters together and when we do we win. And when we don't, it looks like that."
Kellems noted that Thornton, the team's leading scorer, is their overall most dominant player.
"We look to him to score," he said. "And Drake Bissel is the other one. They work well together and they attack the rim and they're not scared. Those two are going to be really good in the future."
Mattingly led Ouachita with a double-double, racking up 17 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Cox had 12 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal, Kaiden Bahr had 7 points, three rebounds, three steals and one assist, Lee had 5 points, six rebounds and two steals, Jayden Alston had 4 points, five rebounds and a steal, Corbin Bahr had 3 points with a rebound and Easton Kyzer and Fabian each had 2 points with Kyzer adding an assist and a rebound.
Thornton led Cutter Morning Star with 12 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals while Bissel added 4 points with four steals, two rebounds and an assist. Mancinas had 3 points, three assists, two steals and a rebound and Speers had 2 points with one assist.
The junior Eagles travel to Mountain Pine Tuesday while the junior Warriors host Trinity Christian.