By Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
EL DORADO - Apparently, Daniel Gafford is feeling much better.
After feeling sick on Friday, the El Dorado senior made his final appearance in front of the El Dorado faithful a memorable one by scoring 34 points to go with 26 rebounds and eight blocks, as the Wildcats topped Texarkana 91-78 at Wildcat Arena to win the 6A West Conference Tournament on Saturday night.
The first two games between the Wildcats (26-4) and Razorbacks (21-7) were classics that the rivals split.
However, the third game would be a different story with the Wildcats taking command early on.
Ryu Unice, who had 23 points, served as the catalyst for the Wildcats by burying four 3-pointers in the opening stanza to help the Wildcats jump out to a 28-19 lead after the opening period.
“It got us a little bit more comfortable,” said El Dorado coach Gary Simmons said. “It gave us a little freedom where we could get up and down the floor.”
From the get-go, Gafford was dominant.
The senior had a three-point play after being fouled while scoring on a drive to the basket to give the Wildcats an early 6-4 edge.
A three-point play by Keshun Greene followed by an alley-oop from Greene to Gafford were the points that put the Wildcats ahead to stay.
An 8-2 spurt in the second period with Gafford and Czar Perry collaborating for all eight points pushed El Dorado’s lead to 42-27.
Perry had 22 points for the Wildcats, including 12 in the second half.
Taviron Oliver had the hot hand early for the Razorbacks by scoring 20 of his 27 points in the first half, including 13 in the first quarter, but after a solid start, the visitors went ice cold from the floor.
“They made shots and we didn’t,” said Texarkana coach Sam Weaver. “I think they shot the ball extremely well. They were at home, and you’re supposed to shoot it well when you’re at home. We couldn’t make a shot. We didn’t do a very good job defensively. We gave up 91 points, and that’s too many points for us. The credit goes to them. They’ve got great guard play, great inside play and they’re well-coached.”
The Wildcats led 46-33 at halftime, and they never let the Razorbacks creep much closer.
Gafford was instrumental in the third period by scoring 11 points to keep Texarkana at bay, and the Wildcats went on a 10-4 run near the end of the period to push their lead to 70-52, but the Razorbacks scored the last four points of the period to close within 14 at 70-56.
Kyndal Martin tried to key a comeback by scoring 10 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, and Texarkana was able to pull within 76-68 on two free throws by Fabian Phillips with 3:14 left, but the Wildcats scored the game’s next eight points with Bishop Foster’s 3-pointer making it 84-68 with 1:31 to play.
The win seals the No. 1 seed from the West for the Wildcats, who play at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at the 6A State Tournament in Lake Hamilton.
The win also avenges a conference loss in Texarkana earlier this season.
“We definitely wanted another shot at Texarkana,” Simmons said. “I thought the kids did a great job coming out early and executing. The kids were focused. They wanted to get it, and they went and got it done.”
Texarkana will be the conference’s No. 2 seed and play at 8:30 p.m. on Friday night in the quarterfinals.