Mills played 25 games entering Tuesday's 5A-Central Conference boys tournament game. The defending Class 5A state champions were determined to not spoil a 23-victory season with a loss.
Grehlon Easter scored 17 points and was one of four Comets to score at least 10 points in a 70-44 victory over the Sylvan Hills Bears at Maumelle High School.
Kevin Cross finished with 16 points for the Comets (24-2), the No. 1 seed in the 5A-Central. Kaevon Jones had 13 points while Orion Virden added 12 points. The Comets shot 28 of 49 and made 5 three-pointers.
Mills Coach Raymond Cooper understood the importance of winning Tuesday to reach the Class 5A state tournament.
"I told them this is the championship game," Cooper said. "If you don't win, your season is over with. We've got to approach it like that, like it's the last game of the year.
"That's what it amounted to."
The Comets will play Little Rock Parkview or Pulaski Academy in a semifinal game at 7 p.m. Thursday. They defeated Parkview in last season's Class 5A state championship game in Hot Springs.
Mills led 12-2 with 3:48 remaining in the first quarter and entered the second quarter with a 17-4 lead. The Comets shot 50 percent (7 of 14) in the first eight minutes.
Easter scored 12 points in the second quarter to help the Comets take a 40-24 advantage into halftime. He knocked down two three-pointers and had two slam dunks in the quarter.
"He does timely things, man," Cooper said. "He's got the pulse of the team. He's unselfish, but when he knows he needs to assert himself, he will. He's done that all year."
Sylvan Hills cut the lead to 47-34 with 2:30 left in the third quarter on James Nichols' three-pointer, but Mills closed the quarter on a 13-4 run to lead 60-38 entering the fourth quarter.
Jalen Ricks led the Bears (6-23) with 15 points. Demetrius Torrence scored 11 points, and Caleb Campbell added 10 points.
LITTLE ROCK FAIR 41,
BEEBE 23
Deaveon Bankston scored 13 points to lead Little Rock Fair (22-4) past Beebe (12-16).
Fair, the No. 2 seed in the 5A-Central, will play Little Rock Christian or Little Rock McClellan at 8:15 p.m. Thursday in a semifinal game.
The War Eagles led 8-2 at the end of the first quarter. Mickael Foust’s threepoint play with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter gave Fair a 17-5 lead, which was the halftime score.
Consecutive baskets from Foust and Jeanvie Mbani extended Fair’s lead to 26-11 with less than two minutes left in the third quarter. Bankston scored six consecutive points to stretch Fair’s lead to 33-15 with 4:30 remaining.
Foust had 11 points for the War Eagles. Beebe was led by D’andre Butler and EJ Smith, who each had five points.
Sports on 02/21/2018