4A NORTH REGION BOYS

Maumelle to play in region final

— Maumelle junior Derayun Canada came off the bench to keep Booneville at bay Saturday afternoon.

Canada scored all seven of his points in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, helping the host Hornets earn a 54-47 victory over the Bearcats in the Class 4A North Region semifinals.

Canada, a 6-1 junior guard, helped the Hornets (20-11) build a 47-36 lead with 3:40 left. Booneville (12-14) pulled as close as 49-45 in the final 30 seconds, but two free throws each from freshman Shawn Williams and sophomore Gary Burton kept Maumelle on top.

“Derayun came off the bench and helped us tremendously,” Maumelle Coach Michael Shook said. “He brings a lot of energy and he has a very good mid-range shot. ... And defensively, he really gets after it. I was really proud of him today.”

Maumelle advances to Monday’s championship game and will play 4A-4 Conference rival Pottsville in the final.

The Hornets defeated Booneville for the fourth time this season, but Saturday’s victory was the first time the Bearcats had managed to keep the margin under 10 points.

Senior forward Jacob Lear led the Bearcats with 15 points. He connected on four three pointers, one of which turned into a four-point play that pulled Booneville to within 33-32 with 4:38 left in the third quarter.

But the Bearcats hit only one more three-point attempt the rest of the game and they never held a lead in the second half.

“It probably didn’t show in this came, but we’ve been working really hard to throw out of traps and try to handle their pressure,” Booneville Coach Tim Goers said. “We pretty much tried to get back to fundamentals.”

Junior forward Kendall Donnerson led Maumelle with 14 points, 10 of which came during the second quarter as the Hornets turned an 11-8 deficit after one quarter into a 24-20 halftime advantage. Donnerson also had a team high seven rebounds.

Burton added 10 points for Maumelle, including a 6-of-6 effort from the free-throw line.

Senior forward Alexander Scott added 12 points and led Booneville in rebounding with 10. Senior guard Jacob Cooney scored 10 points, had 3 steals and handed out 3 assists.

Sports, Pages 31 on 02/24/2013

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