LONOKE - Monticello Coach Wayne Sherrer wasn’t thrilled with his team’s execution down the stretch against Pine Bluff Dollarway on Saturday, but he can take solace in the way it ended.

The Billies used a late basket to send the game into overtime, then held the Cardinals scoreless in the extra session to come away with a 51-49 victory in the second round of the Class 4A state tournament.

“It was simply a war all the way through,” Sherrer said. “I thought we let it get away from us a couple of times, but we kept fighting to the end. I told the kids we’re going to do this twice next year because they’re coming over to the conference.

“This win was a good, tough one for us.”

D.J. Franklin and Deshawn McGowan scored 11 points apiece to lead Monticello (24-4) into a rematch with Brookland on Monday at 5:30 p.m. in the semifinals. The Billies beat the Bearcats 35-31 in November.

Christian Robertson finished with nine points. As a team, Monticello shot just 19 of 53 from the floor but out rebounded Dollarway 40-34 and had 17 blocks in the game.

Kabion Ento had 11 points to lead Dollarway (19-5), which shot 17 of 51 from the floor. Travon King finished with 10, and Joshua Liddell had nine.

The teams exchanged leads three times over the final minute of regulation, with both wasting opportunities late. King missed a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left that would have snapped a 49-49 tie and given Dollarway the lead. Monticello’s Sadaeys Miller later missed a three-pointer at the buzzer that would have won it for the Billies.

“There were a few times where we’d go up and they’d come back,” Sherrer said. “We shot free throws so poorly, and that kept them within striking distance. It was truly a battle that went down to the final possession.”

Both teams got after the other from the tip and played at such a feverish pace that each had nearly used its entire rosters by the midway point of the second quarter.

Monticello ran out to an 8-0 lead following Robertson’s dunk and never trailed in the first half. The Billies pushed their lead to 22-10 midway through the second quarter, but King’s basket ignited a quick seven-point run for the Cardinals, who cut their deficit to 26-19 by halftime.

BROOKLAND 48, LINCOLN 25

Brookland (26-6) gave up just two field goals in the second half and limited Lincoln to two points in the fourth quarter in rolling to its 19th consecutive victory.

Reece Gramling scored 13 points for the Bearcats.

Dylan McConnell scored seven points to lead Lincoln (22-6), which didn’t get its first points in the fourth quarter until Alec Pitts hit two free throws with 47 seconds left.

Sports, Pages 24 on 03/09/2014