NLR Outguns Springdale For State Championship

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette RICK MCFARLAND Treyshawn Lackey-Gause of Springdale High drives past North Little Rock’s Jawan Eldridge on Thursday at the state Class 7A boys championship game in Hot Springs.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette RICK MCFARLAND Treyshawn Lackey-Gause of Springdale High drives past North Little Rock’s Jawan Eldridge on Thursday at the state Class 7A boys championship game in Hot Springs.

HOT SPRINGS -- North Little Rock junior KeVaughn Allen swished a 3-pointer, was fouled and completed the four-point play late in the first quarter of the Class 7A state boys basketball championship game Thursday.

Springdale High's Chris Owens answered with a four-point play of his own early in the second quarter.

How They Scored

Boys

North Little Rock 89

Springdale 81

North Little Rock^28^16^19^26^—^89

Springdale^16^23^14^28^—^81

NLR (26-2): Beard 29, Allen 28, Hill 12, Gulley 6, Moore 5, Ekeh 5, Eldridge 4.

Springdale (22-6): Owens 30, Evans 22, Eckwood 14, J. Wymer 9, Cook 4, D. Wymer 2.

But the Bulldogs' response didn't come soon enough.

Springdale dug itself a 28-16 hole after the first quarter and couldn't recover, rallying several times but coming up short as North Little Rock won 89-81 to claim the state title.

"You spot a good team like we did in the first quarter, it's hard," Springdale coach Brad Stamps said. "You put all the energy into getting back into the game. And you can't get over the hump."

Springdale (22-6) shot 55 percent from the field and outrebounded North Little Rock 33-29 but couldn't overcome the slow start as the Charging Wildcats (26-2) won their second consecutive state title.

"This year was completely different," North Little Rock coach Johnny Rice said. "You've got big X's on your back. You're everybody's Super Bowl. You're going to get everybody's best game. And you have to be a different type of tough."

Arkansas signee Anton Beard scored a team-high 29 points, and Allen added 28 as the Charging Wildcats went on an early 14-0 run to take a 16-4 lead. Springdale tried but couldn't come all the way back despite outscoring North Little Rock 65-61 the final three quarters.

"We wanted to get in transition, and we were making shots," Rice said of the start. "It's just that we didn't do a very good job of keeping them from making shots from that point on. I wasn't really worried about the offensive end. We were just trying to keep them out of the paint and off the boards. We did just enough to win the game."

Owens didn't make it easy for North Little Rock.

He single-handedly kept the Bulldogs in it at times, scoring a game- and career-high 30 points on 12-of-16 shooting. He had 17 in the first half as Springdale cut the big deficit to three and trailed just 44-39 at the break.

"We were running some stuff for him late," Stamps said. "These guys believe in Chris. Everyone in our locker room believes in Chris. And he's been scoring for us. ... Thirty points against the defense he saw tonight shows what he's capable of and the kind of player he is."

The Bulldogs never got closer than five points in the second half. Beard scored 16 in the second half as the Charging Wildcats answered every Springdale threat, keeping pace with the Bulldogs as Springdale tried to rally, led by Owens and D.J. Evans, who scored 22 points in the loss.

"It all came down to defensive stops," Owens said. "We couldn't get enough."

Springdale cut it to 63-56 on Owens' 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter, but that was as close as it got down the stretch, losing in the high-scoring showdown with the defending champs.

"It seemed like every time we got it in the second half where we felt like we were making a run and got within striking distance and needed that one stop, we couldn't get one," Stamps said. "And the credit goes to them. Our kids fought. I couldn't be more proud of them."

Sports on 03/14/2014

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