CLASS 1A BOYS

Crain big trouble for Alpena

Wonderview’s John Beck drives to the basket between Justin Hope (12) and Ashton Parduh of Acorn on Tuesday at the Class 1A boys state tournament in Nashville. Acorn won 67-63 in overtime.
Wonderview’s John Beck drives to the basket between Justin Hope (12) and Ashton Parduh of Acorn on Tuesday at the Class 1A boys state tournament in Nashville. Acorn won 67-63 in overtime.

NASHVILLE -- Jonathan Crain made a big difference early in the game Tuesday as Bay jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a 78-32 victory over Alpena in the opening round of the Class 1A boys basketball state tournament at Scrapper Arena.

Crain scored six points off three offensive rebounds, and the play of the 6-5 junior center helped Bay (36-5) jump out to a 22-7 lead against the Leopards (29-13) in the first quarter.

The big lead helped the Yellowjackets, the top seed from Region 2, avoid any threat of an upset like they witnessed earlier in the day when Acorn, the No. 4 seed from the 4A region, knocked off Wonderview, the top seed from Region 3.

"We've been talking about that," Bay Coach Brad Brannon said. "Everybody here is good. One and four, two and three, it doesn't matter. You've got to play your best game."

Colton Jackson scored 22 points to lead Bay, while Taylor Lane chipped in 19 points and Crain finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.

"I thought Jonathan Crain played really big tonight, and Taylor Lane really stepped up," Brannon said. "Those are two guys we've had all year saying they've got to be the X-factor. They've got to be that guy that gets us through the tough times."

There didn't have to worry about any tough times Tuesday.

Alpena, the fourth seed from Region 1, never really got into the game despite senior Brett Bartlett's 14 points. Bay led 40-16 going into halftime and went up 67-27 on Steven Pritchett's layup, steal and three-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer.

Both teams emptied their benches in the fourth quarter.

ACORN 67, WONDERVIEW 63 (OT)

Morgan Hair's quick hands helped Acorn grab control in overtime as the Tigers knocked off Wonderview in overtime.

Hair came up with two steals and two layups as Acorn (20-15) advanced to the second-round where it will face either Izard County or Western Grove on Thursday.

Hair's first steal led to a conventional layup, and his second steal and a layup -- which he finished off with the left hand -- gave Acorn a 58-54 lead with 2:55 to play. Sky Jackson followed with another steal and layup for a 60-54 lead, and Wonderview never recovered.

Jackson paced Acorn with 21 points, while Hair added 15, Justin Hogan had 15 and Ashton Pardum chipped in 11.

Wonderview trailed entering the fourth quarter but John Beck, who had a game-high 22 points, scored his team's first nine points of the quarter to give the Daredevils a 54-52 lead with 3:06 to play.

Hogan's layup with 1:05 to play tied the game, but Beck's shot to win it from 15 feet with three seconds left fell short and sent the game to overtime.

SCRANTON 46, ARMOREL 37

Scranton’s Coner Roby scored 20 points and hit 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to lead the Rockets (31-6). Nash Winters’ basket gave Armorel (14-16) a 37-36 lead with 5:15 left, but the Tigers would not score again. Seth Siebenmorgen’s 10-foot jumper gave Scranton the lead for good.

Siebenmorgen added 19 for the Rockets. Winters scored 18 paced Armorel.

Sports on 03/04/2015

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