MONTICELLO – A fourth quarter lead slipped away Thursday night as Watson Chapel’s season ended at regionals.
The Wildcat boys’ basketball team lost 69-59 to Nashville in the opening round of the Class 4A Region 4 tournament at Monticello High School.
Watson Chapel (13-14) senior Joseph Dockett scored a game-high 29 points in his final high school game. Fellow senior Malyk Williams added 13 for the Wildcats.
Head coach Jevon Barnes said Docket gave it everything he had.
“Started off really, really great,” Barnes said. “He’s human. A couple of times I think legs probably got a little tired. He played a lot of minutes this year. I’m just really impressed with his overall season, how he stayed the course. Played a lot of minutes, took a lot of beatings. Looking forward to somebody giving him an opportunity to play on the next level.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Dockett gave the Wildcats a 47-45 lead with 7:17 remaining in the game with two free throws which marked the game’s fourth lead change.
Nashville (16-6) took the lead back within a minute on a 3-pointer by Bo Bell, and the Scrappers led the rest of the game. Watson Chapel missed five free throws in the fourth quarter which could have kept the Wildcats alive for longer.
Despite the misses, Dockett cut the deficit to 55-53 later in the quarter, but that was as close as Watson Chapel would get. The Scrappers made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:01 to see out the game.
Barnes said the Wildcats were only a couple of plays away from having a chance to win.
“We gave up some key 3s, a couple 50-50 balls that we didn’t get,” Barnes said. “They started rebounding the ball really well. We missed a couple of block out assignments. Our guys played hard. … A couple of free throws we missed. A couple of chippies that we didn’t get that I think could have got us over the hump, but that’s how the game goes.”
The Wildcats opened the game on a 7-0 run, but Nashville answered with a 6-0 run. Watson Chapel retained the lead until late in the second quarter, when a 12-2 run put the Scrappers ahead 32-27. Kasen Morgan scored 5 points on the run after intercepting passes at the top of the key and scoring in transition on back-to-back possessions.
In the final 1:43 of the first half, Wildcat senior Detric Cooper hit a 3-pointer and Dockett scored a late layup to send the game into halftime tied at 32. A layup by Kevin Marcus late in the third again tied the game at 45 entering the final quarter.
Bell led Nashville with 22 points, with Morgan adding 19.
Nashville will face Magnolia in the regional semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
GIRLS: Arkadelphia 69, Star City 33
The Star City girls struggled to score against Arkadelphia during the opening game of the regional tournament’s second day.
It took just over two minutes for either team to score from the field. Star City (13-16) got its first points from Brenaesia Moore with 5:48 on the clock. The Lady Dogs trailed 4-2 after her shot, which came one possession after the Lady Badgers’ first field goal by Z’Layiah Jackson.
Arkadelphia (19-7) led 6-4 later in the quarter before going on an 8-0 run to gain some separation. The Lady Badgers went on to lead 23-9 after the first quarter, then held the Lady Dogs without a field goal in the second quarter and led 39-12 at halftime. The Lady Badgers went on to outscored Star City 30-21 in the second half.
Moore led Star City with 11 points, followed by Cora Rambin and Shaniya Rochell with 10 each. K’Arieia Gentry led Arkadelphia with 13 points, followed by Jackson and Janya McKillion with 12 apiece.
Arkadelphia will face Nashville at 4 p.m. Friday.
GIRLS: De Queen 66, Warren 47
The Warren girls couldn’t keep up with De Queen’s long-range shooting.
De Queen (29-1) made seven 3-pointers, six in the first half. Landri Liggin hit a deep 3 to beat the first quarter buzzer, extending the Lady Leopards’ lead to 24-13. De Queen hit four in a dominant second quarter, with several of them coming from well behind the arc, to take a 50-19 lead into halftime.
Warren (9-20) trailed 64-33 entering the fourth quarter, but the Lady Lumberjacks played well enough to force De Queen to reinsert some of its starters to stop the run. Warren outscored the Lady Leopards 14-2 in the fourth, but the big deficit and the running clock kept the Lady Lumberjacks from truly threatening a comeback.
Bayleigh Miller led Warren with a game-high 20 points. Jessie Lyle, who made three of De Queen’s 3-pointers from long range, led the Lady Leopards with 18 points.
De Queen will face Camden Fairview at 7 p.m. Friday.
BOYS: Camden Fairview 49, Star City 41
The Star City boys came the closest of any southeast Arkansas team to earning a spot in the state tournament, but Camden Fairview won it in the final quarter of the regional tournament’s first round.
Star City (18-10) led 39-35 early in the fourth quarter before the Cardinals came back to tie it at 39 with shots by Herman Fill and Pureon Howell.
Later, Howell sneaked up on a Bulldog player bringing the ball up the court and stole it, leading to a Fill 3-pointer to give Camden Fairview (19-7) the lead. Darius Redix answered for Star City, cutting it to 42-41 with 2:18 to play.
The Bulldogs didn’t score again. Zjyqkis Jackson hit a 3 to pad Fairview’s lead. From there, the Cardinals made four of eight free throw attempts over the final 1:30. Turnovers kept the Bulldogs from taking advantage of Fairview’s misses.
Fill led all scorers with 20 points. Dujuan Haney led Star City with 17 points.
Fairview will face Arkadelphia at 8:30 p.m. Friday.
No Conference 4A-8 team, boys or girls, advanced.