Wildcats split with Cardinals

By Tony Burns

Sports Editor

Joderrio Ramey and BJ Johnson combined for 56 points Tuesday as El Dorado knocked off Camden Fairview 84-66 in varsity boys basketball action at Wildcat Arena. The Lady Wildcats dropped a 56-55 heartbreaker.

The Wildcats (3-3, 2-0) closed the third quarter with a 12-0 run, which turned a 52-49 deficit into a 61-52 advantage going into the fourth. Ramey and Johnson had four points apiece in the 2:24 span. Sophomore Brendan Simmons converted a lay-up and Mason Lockhart hit a floater in the lane.

The Cardinals (2-2) cut the deficit to nine before Ramey sparked a clinching 8-0 spurt with two driving lay-ups and an alley-oop pass to Johnson, whose dunk pushed the margin to 76-59 with 3:18 left in the game.

Ramey led the Wildcats with 32 points while Johnson added 24 and Simmons finished with 17 on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point land.

“It’s all good when it closes it out with 84 points on the board and we beat Camden here at home,” said El Dorado coach Gary Simmons. “With this young team, we’ll take that.”

With last year’s rim protector Daniel Gafford, now patrolling the paint in Fayetteville, the Wildcats have gone from blocking shots to taking charges. Simmons credited Alex Boone and Jarius Curry for their defensive effort under the basket.

“I don’t know how many charges we had tonight but it was probably more than we had all of last year,” said the coach.

Boone led the Wildcats with eight rebounds while Johnson grabbed six. Ramey dished out seven assists.

CJ Mitchell and Qwaishawn Thompson led Fairview with 19 and 17 points, respectively. Tarrian Thompson chipped in with 14.

The girls game was a thriller for the Lady Cardinals and a horror for El Dorado coach Destinee Rogers, who lost to her alma mater for the first time.

Fairview’s Tai’sheka Porchia scored after grabbing an offensive rebound with 30 seconds left to lift her team to victory.

El Dorado had two opportunities to regain the lead but missed a shot in the lane. And, after Fairview missed a free throw with 5.9 seconds remaining, the Lady Wildcats missed on a desperation heave just inside of half court at the buzzer.

After the game, Rogers pointed to the opposite end of the court.

“If we block out right there, we win the ball game,” she said. “We gave up a crucial lay-up because nobody blocked out. This is what we work on every single day. You can’t give up that type of stuff in a game like that. You have to do the little things in a game like this to win and we didn’t. We didn’t do it. We didn’t block out. We missed lay-ups. We turned the ball over. It is what it is. You have to block out in that moment. We didn’t block out.”

Grace Murry led El Dorado with 20 points while Tasia Richardson added 13 and Diamond Hawthorne eight.

Anna Dawson led the Lady Cardinals with 14 points while Christiana Gibbs and Porchia each scored 10.

Fairview led 27-22 at the half before Murry started to cook in the third quarter. The junior scored on a pair of drives and kicked out to Adrienne Larry for a 3-pointer as the Lady Wildcats grabbed a 31-29 lead.

Fairview scored the next five points but Murry hit two at the line and then drained a 3-pointer. Another drive into the lane by Murry gave El Dorado a 38-36 advantage.

Fairview went box-and-one on the guard and led 42-40 going into the fourth. The teams swapped the momentum down the stretch. Marte Wade hit a 3-pointer for the Lady Wildcats before the Lady Cardinals went on an 8-2 run and led 52-47. Richardson’s three-point play cut the lead to three with 2:21 left to play.

Dawson hit two at the line for Fairview before Hawthorne scored off the offensive glass. Trailing by two, the Lady Wildcats managed to shake Murry free from beyond the arc. Her 3-pointer put El Dorado up 55-54 with 1:16 remaining.

That was all of the scoring until Porchia’s rebound and game-winning putback basket.

“We’ve lost four in a row,” said Rogers. “At this point, yes, I’m very frustrated as a competitor. But, as a competitor, it just drives me to go back and keep working. We’ve got to keep working and try to figure this thing out. We’ve got a tough one coming up at Hot Springs. They’re really good. We just have to go back to work and try to figure it out.”

GIRLS

PARKERS CHAPEL 32,

TAYLOR 20

PARKERS CHAPEL - After leading 16-11 at intermission, the Lady Trojans (2-3) outscored Taylor 11-3 in the third period to pull away.

Terri Malone had 18 points and T.K. Burson hit three 3-pointers en route to scoring 10 points.

In the junior girls game, the Lady Trojans came away with a 38-16 win.

Drue Thomas scored 13 of her 15 points in the first quarter, while Macie Wood added eight points in the win.

SMACKOVER 50,

LAKE VILLAGE 32

SMACKOVER - The Lady Bucks used a balanced attack to knock off Lake Village on Tuesday.

Jordyn White and Sharnes McGhee paced Smackover with 16 and 14 points, respectively.

Reniyra Terry scored eight for Lake Village.

Smackover's junior girls won 28-4. Laylah Gatson led the Lady Bucks with 12 while Jamiya Murphy added 11.

NEVADA COUNTY 45,

STRONG 40

STRONG - Poor free-throw shooting sealed the Lady Bulldogs' fate in their first loss of the season.

Overall, Strong was just 6-of-22 from the charity stripe.

Dynasty Davis had 17 points and seven steals for the Lady Bulldogs (2-1). Kiki Shelton had seven points and Edneisha Cooper added six points for Strong, who was tied with the visitors at 38-all before being outscored 7-2 down the stretch.

WEST SIDE CHRISTIAN 52,

VICTORY CHRISTIAN 11

Olivia Voss had 14 points for the Lady Warriors (10-1, 3-0), who had nine players en route to staying undefeated in the AACS South.

West Side Christian also won the junior girls game 42-8 to improve their record to 2-2.

Daisy Tabe had 17 points and Carley Dugal finished with 11 points in the win.

BOYS

SMACKOVER 80,

LAKE VILLAGE 70

SMACKOVER - Jaqueze Modica erupted for 35 points, seven rebounds and five assists, as the Bucks (2-2, 2-1) won their home opener in Class 3A-4A District 12 play.

The Bucks led 34-27 at intermission and 56-50 after three periods before winning by the final margin.

After scoring 23 points in their loss to Valley Springs, Peyton Jones had 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists in Tuesday's win.

Damarous White added 13 points and Roshard Boone finished with eight points for Smackover.

Malachi Armour led Lake Village with 28.

PARKERS CHAPEL 56,

TAYLOR 28

PARKERS CHAPEL - Dawson Goodwin led a balanced scoring attack with 16 points for the Trojans (6-0, 1-0), who stayed undefeated in winning their Class 1A-2A District 15 opener.

Canon Morgan had nine points and Nate Garrett-Evans added eight points for the Trojans, who broke open a close game by outscoring the Tigers 14-5 in the second period to take a 24-13 lead at intermission.

Amari Bell and Josh Osborn had six points each for the Trojans, who had 10 players score in the win.

NEVADA COUNTY 67,

STRONG 66

STRONG - Trey Smith was one of four players in double figures with 26 points for the Bulldogs (3-3), who fell in a seesaw affair.

Jadarrius Dixon had 14 points, while Derrion Davis added 13 points and Desmond Newton finished with 11 points for the Bulldogs, who will return to action next Tuesday when they host Bearden to start a stretch of three games in four nights.

WEST SIDE CHRISTIAN 70,

VICTORY CHRISTIAN 24

Zachary Scriber and John Wylie had 13 points apiece for the Warriors (7-3, 2-1), who picked up a home win in AACS South play.

Tucker Williams had 11 points and Stephfan Tabe chipped in with 10 points for the Warriors.

West Side Christian also won the junior boys game 53-21.

Ashton Yarbrough had 15 points, while Spencer McNabb scored 13 points and Anderson Colley finished with nine points in the contest.

JUNIOR HIGH

BARTON FALLS ON ROAD

NORTH LITTLE ROCK - Barton's eighth-grade girls basketball team fell at North Little Rock 37-29 on Monday night.

Kalese Moseby had 14 points for Barton, who saw their record drop to 5-5.

PARKERS CHAPEL WINS IN DOUBLE OVERTIME

NORPHLET - Drue Thomas scored with six seconds left in double overtime to lead Parkers Chapel's junior girls basketball team to a 30-28 win over Smackover on Monday.

Macie Wood knotted the game at 27-all with a 3-pointer with 1:27 left to force overtime, and Thomas, who had 10 points, put the Lady Trojans (4-1) ahead to stay with her aforementioned basket in the second extra session.

Laylah Gatson had nine points and points and 12 rebounds, while Adriana Grant added six points for Smackover.

In the seventh-grade girls game, Smackover topped Parkers Chapel 28-16.

Sydney Preston had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds for Smackover.

BUCKS OUTLAST TROJANS

NORPHLET - Smackover's junior boys basketball team held off Parkers Chapel for a 49-46 win on Monday.

T'Jay Modica had 17 points and Javion Lee chipped in with 11 points for the Bucks.

Evan Younger had 16 points, while Nik Garcia had nine points and Lancer Clark added eight points for the Trojans.

Smackover also won the seventh-grade game over the Trojans 32-9.

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