CONWAY – The first quarter of Saturday’s boys’ basketball All-Star game began and ended with the ball in a Pine Bluff High School graduate’s hands.
Randy Emerson Jr. controlled the opening tip and beat the first quarter buzzer with a go-ahead shot, helping lead the West All-Stars to an 86-70 win in the Arkansas High School Coaches’ Association All-Star Game at the Farris Center in Conway.
Emerson collected the ball after Marco Smith from Fort Smith Northside won the opening tip, but the East took control of the game early, leading by as much as 13-4.
The West chipped away, and Emerson and Smith teamed up again late in the quarter. Emerson took the ball down the sideline in transition, then lobbed it to Smith for a dunk to cut the deficit to 13-12.
The East led 15-13 in the final seconds when the West stole the ball and got it to Emerson at the top of the arc. He beat the buzzer for his first points of the game to give the West a 16-15 lead after the first quarter.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Emerson said his teammate’s defensive play gave him the chance to take that shot.
“Ty (Robinson) got the steal,” Emerson said. “He didn’t too much come up with it, and I ended up getting the ball. I just ended up shooting it. I (was) like, ‘Let it fly,’ and it went in.”
The first half consisted of three quarters with each team playing a different lineup each quarter, so Emerson didn’t play again until the second half. In the meantime, the West maintained the lead he had given it.
Jaiden Wilson of The New School improved upon Emerson’s heroics to end the second quarter when he beat the buzzer with a turnaround 3-pointer, making the West’s lead 35-27. The West led 44-37 at halftime.
Pine Bluff head coach Billy Dixon was the West head coach for this game. He said Emerson’s buzzer-beater was a momentum play which helped turn the game around for the West.
“He’s been full of energy and juice (in) the time that we’ve been here,” Dixon said. “The guys like him. He’s a team-type player, so when he made that shot, that got guys excited.”
Emerson returned in the second half. His best play came midway through the quarter when he collected an offensive rebound and hit a turnaround jumper on the baseline while drawing a foul. He hit the free throw to complete the 3-point play and extend the lead to 55-40.
He exited after a timeout late in the fourth but returned in the fifth, completing another 3-point play.
Lake Hamilton’s Ty Robinson won overall MVP after scoring a game-high 16 points for the West. Layne Taylor of Farmington won West MVP with 14 points. Emerson followed with 9 points.
Jermaine Christopher of Cabot won East MVP with 9 points. Josh Lawrence of Vilonia led the East with 10.
Emerson said it was an honor to play with some of Arkansas’ best players.
“You don’t get to play with too many great guys like that,” Emerson said. “Playing against them during the season, it just felt good to play with them and play against them.”