Joyner follows plan, technically speaking

Saturday, January 18, 2014

The outcome turned on two technical fouls, and Jacksonville Coach Victor Joyner said that was the plan.

Jacksonville trailed Little Rock McClellan by two points late in the third quarter when senior center Kanaan Jackson picked up his fourth foul. Joyner responded vigorously enough to pick up two technical fouls and was consequently ejected.

Jacksonville went on to fall behind by as many as six points, but it followed junior guard Devin Campbell and Jackson to an 80-74 victory at the Lion’s Den on Friday night.

“Sometimes you got to send a message any way you can,” Joyner said. “You can’t say anything about officials, but we weren’t getting a break on anything. I felt like I had to get my point across.”

Jacksonville athletic director and assistant coach Jerry Wilson took over for Joyner on the bench.

“I had faith in Coach Wilson and my kids,” Joyner said. “We practice together every day. We’re family. They know what they need to do. They knew the game plan.”

Two free throws by McClellan freshman guard Quawn Marshall tied the score at 70 with 1:29 left, but a layup by junior center Tedric Wolfe off a rebound gave Jacksonville the lead for good on its next possession. Two free throws by junior guard Sergio Barkley gave Jacksonville (14-3, 4-0 5A Central) a 74-70 lead with 1:01 left.

Another free throw by Barkley with 25 seconds left put Jacksonville ahead 77-72.

Jackson led Jacksonville with 17 points. Junior guard Keith Hayes scored 21 to lead McClellan (9-7, 3-1).

“We’ll learn from this,” McClellan Coach Chris Threatt said. “But right now it hurts.”

Sports, Pages 28 on 01/18/2014