High school basketball report

Malvern wanting '90 repeat

Little Rock McClellan's Karson Hayes, left, MVP Andre Jones (1) center, and coach Chris Threatt, right, celebrate after defeating Maumelle during the Class 5A Boys State High School Basketball Championships in Hot Springs, Ark. Saturday March 14, 2015.
Little Rock McClellan's Karson Hayes, left, MVP Andre Jones (1) center, and coach Chris Threatt, right, celebrate after defeating Maumelle during the Class 5A Boys State High School Basketball Championships in Hot Springs, Ark. Saturday March 14, 2015.

The Malvern Leopards earned their first basketball conference title in 26 years with their 60-28 victory over Nashville on Tuesday night.

And it may be a good omen for the Leopards (23-2, 12-1 4A-7). Malvern not only won a conference title in 1990 but the Leopards also won a state title that season.

"It's been so long, I don't think you can even call it a drought," Malvern Coach Chris Meske said.

Andre Jones, a 6-4 senior guard who helped Little Rock McClellan earn a Class 5A state title last season, led the Leopards on Tuesday with 14 points. Junior guard Chase Goshien added 13.

Jones is averaging 25.6 points a game and has topped 30 points seven times this season. His season high is 44.

One of Malvern's losses was by one point to Providence Academy of Rogers, and the other was an overtime setback at Waldron.

"This group has worked through some kinks," Meske said. "They've figured out their roles, and they're playing well with each other."

Tuesday's victory extended the Leopards' winning streak to eight games and stopped Nashville's winning streak at six.

"We've guarded teams well," Meske said. "We're at our best when we're able to make defensive stops and get into our transition game. We want to continue what we've been doing. We've played well but there's still room for improvement. We need to shore up the small details to take our game to the next level."

Malvern plays its final regular-season game Friday at Mena. The Leopards will be the No. 1 seed for the 4A-7 District Tournament in Ashdown next week and already have qualified for the Class 4A South Regional, which starts in two weeks at Dumas.

MORRILTON

Pace of the game

Morrilton Coach Keith Zackery said controlling the pace of Friday's 5A-West Conference game with Maumelle will be the key to staying on top in the league standings.

"We want to play fast, and they want to play faster," said Zackery, whose team has won eight of its past nine games. "Maumelle is so hard to guard because it has so many weapons. We're just going to try to contain their two best players and hopefully hold them to about half of what they normally score. We won't do anything special against them. We just want to play tough defense and force them to shoot tough shots."

Morrilton (14-9) is coming off a 70-44 victory at Clarksville. Senior point guard Chave Zackery scored 17 points in Tuesday's game, while senior Anthony Donald had 13 and juniors Juwan Moore and Quan Richardson each added nine points.

"We've been playing at a high level, both offensively and defensively," Coach Zackery said. "We've been digging in on the defensive end and that's led to a good transition offensively."

Maumelle (17-3) has put up big offensive numbers this season. The Hornets have topped 90 points five times, including Tuesday's 95-90 overtime victory over Vilonia. Senior guard Shawn Williams poured in 42 points.

In its previous meeting with Maumelle, Morrilton picked up 16 points and 12 rebounds from junior Keiondre Jefferson and 24 points and 9 rebounds from Richardson.

Neither team has been able to win on its home court against each other the past two seasons.

"I don't think there is a home-court advantage in our league," Zackery said. "Every team has a great player and the coaches are so good that they put the ball in their best player's hands and let them do the work."

SMACKOVER

Rebounding nicely

Smackover suffered a 3A-8 Conference loss Jan. 12, but the Buckaroos have not been on the losing end of a game since that time.

The Buckaroos extended their winning streak to nine games Tuesday night with a 57-53 victory over Fordyce. That victory also allowed Smackover to secure a conference title and earn the No. 1 seed for next week's district tournament at McGehee.

"We let Drew Central get out to a 20-8 lead on us after the first quarter," Smackover Coach David Preston said of the Buckaroos' 66-63 loss to the Pirates earlier this year. "We actually outscored them in every other quarter, but we were so far behind, we just couldn't catch them. We've made some adjustments since then, especially on defense."

Smackover started the season by winning eight of its first 13 games, but the Bucaroos have been boosted by the play of 6-2 junior Charles Manning, who was added to the roster in January. In his 10 games, Manning is averaging 18 points a contest, including a 20-point effort Tuesday.

Khalil Lowery, a 6-3 senior, provided one of the most impressive performances Tuesday night by grabbing 20 rebounds.

"He has a nose for the ball," Preston said of Lowery, who is averaging 10.3 points and 9.8 rebounds a game this season. "He's a guy who's fairly strong and he's got a good sense of where the ball is going to go once it's shot. He does an excellent job of getting to the ball."

Preston said his team has a good chance to advance to the Class 3A state tournament in Jessieville if it will continue to play well defensively.

"I want us to continue to play aggressively on defense," Preston said. "If we do that, the offense will take care of itself."

MOUNTAIN VIEW

Freshman's impressive start

Mountain View freshman Kaley Shipman scored 20 points in the first quarter of Tuesday's 70-36 nonconference victory over Calico Rock.

The 5-6 guard hit 7 of 9 three-pointers and finished with 27 points.

Mountain View led 30-12 after one quarter and 47-23 at the half.

Junior Montana Lane finished with 13 points for the Lady Yellowjackets.

LAST-SECOND SHOTS

The All-Metro Game, an all-star game for seniors who play for schools in Pulaski County , will be played March 15 at Arkansas Baptist College. The girls game will tip off at 6 p.m., while the boys game is set for 7:45 p.m. ... El Dorado's Daniel Gafford posted 15 points, 19 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in the Wildcats' 86-52 victory over Texarkana on Tuesday. Gafford is a University of Arkansas commitment. El Dorado had 15 three-pointers in the victory. Seven of those came from Ryu Unice. ... Rose Bud girls Coach Mandy Goodwin earned her 300th career victory Tuesday night in the Lady Ramblers' 48-43 victory over Mount Vernon-Enola. Goodwin is in her 14th year at the school and the Lady Ramblers are 24-2 this season. ... Central Arkansas Christian 5-8 sophomore Kamryn Vick scored 33 points in Tuesday's 59-56 victory over Stuttgart. ... Cave City senior Jacob Patterson hit 14 of 15 field-goal attempts in the Cavemen's 68-58 victory over Highland on Tuesday. The 6-8 center finished with 31 points and also handed out five assists for Cave City (15-8). ... Paragould senior guard Brandon Clifford scored 31 points in the Rams' 69-53 victory over Blytheville on Tuesday night. The Rams (17-3, 8-1 5A-East) are attempting to keep pace with Forrest City (17-3, 9-0), which got 17 points and seven assists from senior guard R.J. Glasper in a 78-46 victory at Wynne. Those two teams will play at Forrest City on Friday. ... Kelon Booker hit seven three-pointers in Trumann's 78-74 victory over Gosnell. The 6-1 sophomore led his team with 33 points. ... Charleston junior Brandon Fenner scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the Tigers' 67-36 victory over Booneville. ... Cedarville's Bailee Murphy hit 15 of 19 free-throw attempts in the Lady Pirates' 65-40 victory over Elkins. Murphy, a 5-11 senior forward, finished with 31 points.

Sports on 02/11/2016

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