Jonesboro breezes, just as planned

JONESBORO -- Jonesboro Coach Wes Swift was hoping for an uneventful first-round game against the Searcy Lions in the first round of the 6A-East Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon.

His wish came true.

Swift's top-ranked Hurricane (27-0) wasted no time disposing of Searcy 68-19. Jonesboro opened with a pair of three-pointers from Tony Hutson for a 6-0 lead, and it was 15-2 with less than three minutes left in the quarter.

The first quarter ended 20-4 as Searcy (6-17) finished the quarter 1 of 11 from the field and with as many turnovers as points.

"We were hoping for that,'' Swift said. "We were hoping for an uneventful day, and what we meant by that was we got to play a lot of players, there are no injuries, and we come out with a win. Those three things all took place today."

Jonesboro led 41-8 at the half, and the Lions had just two field goals in the first 16 minutes.

"We usually go about nine deep, and we usually play all nine in the first half,'' Swift said. "We don't always play all nine in the second half.''

Swift played 11 of the 12 players on the roster with Ben Harvey sitting out with an injury.

Point guard Marquis Eaton led Jonesboro with 13 points and Hutson scored 11. Jonathan Adams had nine points and Arkansas Razorbacks commit Desi Sills scored eight for the Hurricane.

"We watched film, and we had not seen them live at all,'' Swift said. "It is tough on film to see how athletic or how physical someone actually is. They have a really quick point guard [Malik Branch] that we were impressed with, and we did not want him in the paint. I don't know if he got in the paint where he was under control, so I was really happy with that."

It was the Jonesboro defense that fueled the romp. Through three quarters, Searcy was 5 of 29 from the field and had 16 turnovers. Jonesboro, which hit its first nine shots of the third quarter, was 26 of 45 with its regulars on the floor.

SEARCY (19)

Williams 0 0-0 0, Hicks 1 0-0 2, Oliver 0 0-0 0, Branch 1 0-0 2, Money 1 0-0 2, Franklin 0 1-2 1, Wright 1 0-0 2, Money 0 0-0 0, Griffin 0 0-0 0, Young 0 2-2 2, Ramey 0 0-2 0, Cooperwood 0 2-2 2, Hamm 1 0-0 2, Harrelson 2 0-0 4. Totals 7 5-8 19.

JONESBORO (68)

Hutson 4 0-0 11, Sills 3 0-0 8, Stafford 1 0-0 3, Washington 1 0-0 3, Andrews 2 0-0 5, Yahaya 4 0-0 8, Adams 3 2-2 9, Eaton 5 2-2 13, Sandlin 0 1-2 1. Aycock 1 0-0 2, Rodgers 0 0-0 0, Moore 2 1-4 5. Totals 26 6-10 68.

Searcy (6-17) 4 4 6 5 -- 19

Jonesboro (27-0) 20 21 21 7 -- 68

Three-point goals -- Jonesboro 9 (Hutson 3, Sills 2, Stafford, Washington, Andrews, Eaton), Searcy 0. Team fouls -- Jonesboro 6, Searcy 12.

Sports on 02/19/2017

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