Ramey's 39 points lifts El Dorado to win over Zebras

By Tony Burns

Sports Editor

El Dorado’s Joderrio Ramey scored a career-high 39 points Tuesday as the Wildcats staved off Pine Bluff 92-85 at Wildcat Arena. The Zebras drained 12 3-pointers in the game while El Dorado hit just once from beyond the arc.

But, the Wildcats shifted into drive mode, led by Ramey and Brenden Johnson, who combined for 68 points.

“I think I did pretty good. I think my team did pretty good,” said Ramey. “I’m just ready for the next game.”

As impressive as Ramey’s performance, Johnson also had quite a night. He scored 29 points and also did a defensive number on Pine Bluff’s quick-shooting guard Kaleb Higgins. Higgins scored 16 points in the first quarter, including four 3-pointers. Johnson assumed the defensive assignment and held the 5-9 senior to just two points in the second and nothing else until a floater in the lane with 2:47 left in the third.

Higgins finished with 31.

With Johnson focused on defense, Ramey said he knew he had to pick up some of the scoring slack.

“To be honest, I thought since B.J. was using so much energy on defense, I needed to step it up on offense and that’s what I did,” he said.

The Zebras led 25-22 after one quarter and were up 39-36 at the half.

Ramey scored 13 points in the third quarter for El Dorado, which took a 58-57 lead on a three-point play by Brendan Simmons with 1:43 left in the third. A put-back bucket at the buzzer by Jordan Tubbs gave the Wildcats a 62-58 lead going into the fourth.

El Dorado maintained its lead in the final period.

The margin was 72-63 before Pine Bluff cut the gap to three midway in the quarter. The Wildcats responded with a 9-2 run. Ramey scored on back-to-back drives, pushing the lead back to 81-71 with two minutes remaining.

The Zebras pulled to within five on a 3-pointer with 44 seconds left. But, Ramey hit a free throw then threw a long pass to Johnson, who punctuated the victory with a dunk over a Pine Bluff defender. His three-point play with 19.5 seconds left gave the Wildcats an insurmountable 90-81 cushion.

Taiveon Harris scored 26 for Pine Bluff, which punished the Wildcats on the glass early. Jared Giddens scored 11.

Simmons scored 13 for El Dorado, including a rare 4-point play in the third quarter, which bumped a five-point lead to nine.

Ramey’s 39 points could’ve been more except for 3-of-7 shooting at the line.

When told he was a point shy of 40, he grimaced and said of his free throw shooting, “I’ve got to do better, gotta practice on ‘em.”

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