Football
Last-Minute Additions
A total of 17 players were added late to the Arkansas High School Coaches' Association All-Star football game.
Ten players were added to the West, including Brandon Gates of Rogers Heritage, Huntsville's Will Anderson, and Springdale High's Sam Kennedy.
All of them had an impact in the West's 23-14 win on Friday night.
Gates led the West in rushing with 49 yards on eight carries and scored on a 2-yard run in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead and the tie-breaking 7-yard scoring run in the third quarter for a 21-14 lead. Gates also returned a kickoff 52 yards and caught four passes for 48 yards, generating 149 all-purpose yards.
Kennedy kicked three extra points.
Anderson blocked an extra point after the East scored with 7 minutes, 32 seconds left in the second quarter.
They were added after players dropped out after the second roster was released in April or didn't report to the start of all-star camp on Monday.
The original roster was released in January before a revised list in April after other players chose not to participate or were already on college campuses and enrolled in summer school in June.
Taking The Snaps
Josh Qualls of Heritage and Toney Hawkins of Morrilton successfully handled the quarterback chores for the victorious West team on Friday night.
Qualls was 25-of-31 for 222 yards and a touchdown in earning Most Valuable Player honors.
Hawkins, who led Morrilton the Class 5A state championship, ran for 33 yards and passed for 6 yards.
The original West roster included quarterback Jabe Burgess of Greenwood, but Burgess enrolled at the University of Tulsa in January and began working out with the Hurricane.
Qualls and Hawkins were perfect quarterbacks for the shotgun offense especially with the West coaching staff of Cody McNabb of Morrilton, Perry Escalante of Heritage, Greg Kendrick of Charleston, and Scott Neathery and Zach Watson of Benton. All are staunch believers in the Spread offense and all had quarterbacks who threw for more than 2,000 yards last season.
The West offense generated 334 yards on Friday night in the 23-14 win.
Defense, Too
The West defense also played well on Friday night.
The West had 14 tackles for 34 yards of losses with two sacks.
Kendrix McCann of Texarkana led the West with six tackles, a sack and two tackles for lost yardage.
Colby Isbell of Heritage also had a sack and an assist on a tackle for lost yardage.
Cua Rose of Springdale intercepted a pass for the West.
-- Leland Barclay
Har-Ber's Hall Bucks Major-College Trend
Most football players who sign with major colleges usually skip the All-Star game because their new coaches want them to get on campus, take some summer classes and get accustomed to their new surroundings.
Springdale Har-Ber Jake Hall became one of the exceptions. The defensive lineman, who signed with Arkansas in February, received approval by Razorbacks coach Brett Bielema to take part in the week-long activities and play in Friday's game at Estes Stadium.
"I talked with Coach B, and he thought it was a great opportunity to get to play some more football," Hall said. "I want to continue to improve and get ready for the fall. Any opportunity to play football, and I'll be there."
Hall also picked up some good news while he was at All-Star week. Arkansas announced that Hall would receive a scholarship for the fall, a few months ahead of schedule.
"I had actually been talking to them for a while," Hall said. "Before, I was just going to go on scholarship in January, but probably since the beginning of summer, I've been talking to them about getting a scholarship."
-- Henry Apple@NWAHENRY
Baseball
Getting Picked
The West All-Stars dropped the first game of their baseball doubleheader 5-4, but base-running problems cost them a big scoring chance in the second inning on Tuesday.
The West managed three walks and a hit in the bottom of the second, but scored just one run because they got two runners picked off.
L'Donta Howard of Foreman drove in the West's lone run with a one-out triple into the left-center field gap. Prairie Grove's Ty Tice also drew a walk, but East pitcher Joey Abraham picked him off first base for the second out. A little later in the inning East catcher Tucker Harris of Greene County Tech picked Howard off third to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Kane Malnar of White County Central and Howard were honored as outstanding campers.
West coach Kirk Bock of Bryant was also named the Arkansas High School Coaches Association outstanding baseball coach. He led Bryant to the Class 7A state title.
--PAUL BOYD•@NWAPAULB
Volleyball
East Domination
The East notched only the third sweep in All-Star volleyball history on Wednesday evening.
The last time one team won every set was in 2003, a 5-0 East win. The West also won 3-0 in the first Arkansas High School Coaches' Association All-Star volleyball match 3-0 in 2002.
The West still leads the all-time series 7-6, but the East has won three of the last four.
Benton's Brandy Chumley was also honored as the outstanding volleyball coach by the coaches association. Chumley led her team to a Class 6A runner-up finish. She was also an East All-Star assistant coach.
Dynamic Duos
Brittany Butler and Lauren Brown, who were high school teammates at Shiloh Christian, enjoyed solid performances for the West All-Stars in Wednesday's volleyball match.
Butler finished with five kills and a team-high one solo block and three block assists. Brown had a team-high 12 assists and three digs.
Emily Bruce and Ariel Hornsby were also Bentonville High School teammates and also West All-Star teammates. Bruce finished with eight digs, while Hornsby had four kills, four digs and a block assist.
Girls Basketball
Strictly Inside
The West leaned heavily on post players Marleeya Montgomery of Springdale Har-Ber and Haley Summers of Kingston in Thursday's all-star girls basketball game.
The 5-11 tandem scored eight points each in the first half to help the West to a 40-39 halftime lead. Summers led the West with 13 points, while Montgomery, who will play basketball at North Arkansas Community College in the fall, added 12 points and a team-high six rebounds as the East pulled away in the second half for an 80-58 win.
Stats show the West's inside strength as it out-rebounded the East 50-47 and Summers and Montgomery were a combined 10-of-12 from the floor.
The West was also 0-for-13 from beyond the 3-point line, while the East was 9-of-27 from long range.
--PAUL BOYD•@NWAPAULB
Soccer
Weather Forces Quick Decision
A spur-of-the-moment decision concerning the All-Star soccer games turned out to be the best decision Wednesday night.
The girls match already had a lightning delay of almost 90 minutes, and more storms appeared on the horizon when play resumed at the Stephens Track and Soccer Complex. Officials with the Arkansas High School Coaches Association then decided to shorten the girls match to 40 minutes, half of its normal time, then allow the boys to play a 40-minute match.
"We had a situation in 2007 where some of men's players didn't hit the field at all," said Debbie Sharp of Siloam Springs, who serves as the organization's second vice-president. "We wanted to try to look ahead on that and try to make the best decision we could. We're hoping we made the right call, and we believe it is."
The second storm system never made its way to the area that night, although the boys match was completed as a light rain fell. Both teams ended regulation in scoreless ties, then the East girls and West boys were victorious in their shootouts.
Boys Basketball
Pierce Finds Shooting Groove
Terence Pierce did what many of the All-Star basketball players did during Thursday night's warmups -- by going up and dunking the ball a couple of times.
It was a little different when the former Gravette standout entered the game. Pierce, the Lions' all-time leading scorer and 3-point shooter, hit three shots from beyond the arc during the third quarter and helped the West team get within striking distance of the East.
"They were getting me the ball in the right places, and the shots were falling," Pierce said.
That turned out to be all the scoring he would get. East defenders kept a close eye on Pierce throughout the second half, and he finished with the nine points he scored in the first half.
"I didn't get as many touches in the second half because they were pressing and got us in a hurry," he said. "We weren't moving the ball around as much as we did, but I'm still proud of how we played. Everybody expected us to lose by 30-plus points."
Softball
Lowrey Adjusts To Position Change
Alicia Lowrey of Bentonville assumed her normal third-base position for the West All-Stars during the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader, but that wasn't the case in the second game.
When the West girls took the field, Lowery was the starter at shortstop for the first time in her career.
"I practiced there a little bit as a second position, and after that they allowed me to play some short," she said. "It was fun, and I really enjoyed it."
Lowrey made the transition with no trouble. She drifted out to shallow center field to catch a pop fly, then she cleanly fielded a grounder and made a success throw to first for the out during the West's 3-1 victory in the second game.
"The turf made it easier because at third, the balls come to you a lot harder," Lowrey said. "The ball skipped off the turf and came hard, just like it would at third base. I was a lot farther back than I thought I was on the grounder, so I had to throw the ball a lot harder."
-- HENRY APPLE • @NWAHenry
Sports on 06/30/2014