For the second straight game, Benton High School went toe-to-toe with an out-of-state opponent but fell short at the King Cotton Holiday Classic.
Windermere (Fla.) Prep outlasted the Panthers 77-72 at the Pine Bluff Convention Center, making up for a close loss in the first round.
The Lakers led most of the game, only spending 42 seconds trailing, but Benton never went away. The Panthers trailed 60-54 entering the fourth quarter but quickly cut the deficit to one in the first minute of the final period.
Windermere responded quickly with an 8-0 run, but Benton fought back. A three-pointer by sophomore Brian Cal Jr., a White Hall transfer, and a layup by senior Javarious Russell cut the Lakers’ lead to 73-72 with 50 seconds remaining.
Junior forward Zihang Fan scored just six points for the Lakers, but two of those came after a timeout to give Windermere a critical three-point lead. Benton called a timeout with 23.8 seconds remaining to draw up a play.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Rather than shoot a three to tie the game, the Panthers opted for a quick two-point shot. Claudius Burrows defended it, and the ball ultimately went out of bounds off Benton. Burrows then scored on the other end to make it a two-possession game and secure the Lakers’ victory.
Tristen Tucker led Windermere with 22 points. Burrows and Brandon Bass Jr. scored 17 apiece, with Bass adding seven rebounds and a team-high five assists.
Benton sophomore Anthony Spratt Jr. scored a game-high 27 points with five assists. Cal scored 18, with Peyton Bolding adding 12.
This win for Windermere came after the Lakers fell 75-73 to St. Michael’s Catholic Prep (Austin, Texas) in the most competitive first round game. Benton’s loss comes two days after a 74-66 first round loss to Inglewood, Calif., which was a similar game to Monday’s in that the Panthers hung around but fell short in the end.
Alexander (Ga.) 78, Little Rock Hall 64
Little Rock Hall hung around but couldn’t find a comeback in a loss to Alexander (Douglasville, Ga.).
Hall briefly led 8-7 in the first quarter, but Alexander answered with a 12-2 run and led the rest of the game. The Cougars led 40-25 at halftime after making five three-pointers. The Warriors struggled with turnovers in the first half, preventing them from getting shots off.
The Alexander lead stayed in the 12- to 18-point range most of the second half as Hall got its offense going. The Warriors outscored Alexander 34-33 in the second half and briefly got the deficit back within single digits when senior Shaah Rahmaan made it 73-64 with 1:16 remaining, but Alexander kept the lead from dwindling any further.
Rahmaan and fellow senior Triston Jahnke each scored 23 points for Hall, but no other Warrior exceeded seven. Five Cougars scored in double digits, led by Gregory Dunson’s 13. Alexander outscored Hall 19-8 from turnovers.
Gillion Academy (Va.) 71, Atascocita, Texas, 65
Arkansas State signee Aaron McGee scored 32 points to lead a Gillion Academy (Springfield, Va.) comeback victory against Atascocita, located near the Houston suburb of Humble.
Atascocita led most of the game after hitting four three-pointers in the first quarter and five in the second. The Eagles led 34-26 at halftime after leading by as much as 13 late in the half, but Gillion fought back to tie the game late in the third on a three-pointer by Christian Morrison Jr.
The Eagles led 52-50 entering the fourth, but McGee hit a three-pointer midway through the quarter which gave the Lions their first lead since the first. McGee later scored in transition after a steal to make it 67-61 with just under 2 minutes to play, and Gillion held on from there.
Gillion shot 70 percent from the field in the fourth quarter, while Atascocita shot 26.7 percent.
Morrison finished with 13 points, while teammate Willie Burnett III scored 12. For Atascocita, Adam Boyd led with 16 points, and Royce Shelton finished with 12.
