LITTLE ROCK — Jacksonville and McClellan battled for the conference lead Friday night at the Lions Den.
It was intense. It was close. It wasn’t particularly pretty.
But Jacksonville prevailed, beating McClellan 42-41 to take over first place in the 5A-Central conference.
Jacksonville (17-4, 10-1) trailed 41-40 with the clock ticking down and McClellan (15-7, 9-2) in possession. But Jacksonville’s Justin McCleary came up with a steal in the lane, then made a long pass to Keith Charleston for what turned out to the game-winning basket with 14.2 seconds left to play.
“It was a flat-out battle, but it was ugly,” Jacksonville Coach Victor Joyner said. “It was so ugly and the way we played, we didn’t deserve to win. But those kids fought so hard and just willed a win. That made me so happy.”
The Red Devils began the fourth quarter with a 35-31 lead, but fell behind after committing four turnovers in the opening 90 seconds of the quarter.
Derrick Hardy scored two baskets for McClellan, along with a Terrance Jones basket, to give the Lions a 37-35 lead. Hardy led all scorers with 13 points.
Jacksonville’s Sergio Berkley made his only field goal at 4:29, then gave the Devils the lead a minute later with two free throws.
That lead didn’t last long as McClellan’s Tronsayne Ellis came up with two steals, turning one into a layup and passing to Tyrin Hollis to give McClellan a 41-39 lead with 1:15 left to play.
Before those two steals, Jacksonville handled McClellan’s press, but had trouble handling the ball on the offensive end.
“We’d beat that, then mess up and give it to them out of our half-court offense,” Joyner said. “That’s just from not being patient and not taking care of the ball.”
The Red Devils’ largest lead, 31-25, came when Jacksonville, sparked by Aaron Smith’s three-pointer, outscored McClellan 7-0. Smith scored seven of his team-high 10 points in the third quarter. Brandon Brockman also scored 10 points for the Red Devils.
Sports, Pages 22 on 02/09/2013