LITTLE ROCK — An early season loss to Concord meant little to Bay when it came time for the Class 1A state championship game.
The Yellowjackets avenged that October defeat by the Pirates with a 54-51 victory Thursday night at Barton Coliseum in Little Rock. It was the second title in three years for Bay (34-5), which defeated Black Rock for the championship in 2011.
“The first one I was just overly excited because we finally got one,” Bay Coach Brad Brannen said. “I was pacing and a nervous wreck.This one, I was lying in my bed and relaxed [Wednesday night].”
The Yellowjackets’ largest lead, 50-43, came with 2:45 remaining, but they turned the ball over twice and hit only 4 of 7 free throws the rest of the game as Concord (38-8) made one final push. Three-pointers by junior Hanse Bowman, his only points of the game, and Luke Cornett pulled the Pirates to within 53-51 at the one-minute mark. After senior Dylan Loven’s free throw made it 54-51 with :09.8 remaining, Concord junior Jacob Roark missed a potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer.
“I had a great look, it just didn’t go down,” Roark said.
It was the third time in four years that Bay had defeated Concord in the state tournament. This was the year Concord Coach Keith Cornett hoped the trend would be reversed.
“We felt this was our year to get them,” Cornett said. “We battled, we fought. We just came up a little bit short.”
Trailing by six at intermission, the Pirates hit five of their first six shots to begin the third quarter to take a 33-31 lead. Concord then missed five of its next six shots as the Yellowjackets pushed their lead to 41-35 after a basket by freshman Jonathan Crain with 1:22 left in the quarter.
The Pirates jumped out to an early 10-4 lead behind three-pointers from junior Luke Cornett and senior Ryan Cornelison. Bay finally took its first lead of the game on a three-pointer by Matthew Holt with 2:23 left in the first half. The Yellowjackets pushed the lead to 30-24 at halftime after tournament Most Valuable Player Tyson Oliver made a steal and assisted on a Loven layup.
Little separated the teams as each put together runs throughout the game. Concord opened its largest lead at six points in the first quarter. The Yellowjackets managed a six-point second-quarter advantage before their late seven-point lead.
“We talked before the game that this was going to be a game of runs,” Brannen said. “I said [after Concord opened its early advantage], ‘We’ll make ours. We just have to stick together, stay together.’”
Roark finished with just 12 points on 6-of-18 shooting from the field. He came into the final averaging more than 30 points per game since the district tournament.
“They did try to neutralize him a bunch,” said Cornett, who did not substitute once in the contest. “The depth factor’s been a problem all year. We felt we were as good as they were. We just came up a little bit short.”
After watching Roark in early games of the tournament last week in Bradley, Brannen said controlling the Concord junior was a key Thursday night.
“We went over two or three different ways to guard them because of Roark,” Brannen said. “I said if he was under 20, we’d have a chance to win.”
Oliver led all players with 19 points and had a game-high 10 rebounds and a team-high 4 assists. Loven added 13 points for the Yellowjackets, including a key offensive rebound basket with 3:50 remaining to give Bay a 47-42 advantage. Matthew Holt had 11 for Bay.
“The biggest play of the whole game was when we hadn’t scored in awhile, Tyson went in and missed it and Loven got that offensive rebound right in the middle,” Brannen said. “I thought the momentum shifted the rest of the way.”
Cornett led Concord with 16 points. Roark chipped in 13, while Cornelison added 11.
And 1s
Bay senior Tyson Oliver was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
The championship was the third for Bay, which won also state titles in 2011 and 1965. Concord has never won a state title in boys basketball.
The Yellowjackets out rebounded the Pirates 40-28 behind Oliver’s 10 and freshman Jonathan Crain’s eight.
Bay’s last field goal came with 2:48 remaining on a Matthew Holt layup. It gave the Yellowjackets their largest lead of the game (50-43).
The Pirates led 16-13 at the end of the first quarter behind 7-of-14 shooting (50 percent)from the field.
Concord Coach Keith Cornett is the uncle of junior Luke Cornett, who had a team-high 16 points for the Pirates.
Sports, Pages 24 on 03/08/2013