BALD KNOB -- Episcopal Collegiate gave away most of its fourth-quarter lead to Paris on Friday but never gave it all up, holding off the Eagles 52-48 to advance to today's championship round at the Class 3A state tournament.
Episcopal will play top-seeded Riverside in the 1:30 p.m. boys semifinal game. Riverside advanced by turning back Charleston 65-60 in Thursday's late quarterfinal game.
The Episcopal Wildcats, with 3A state titles under their belts in 2014 and 2015, are searching for their school's third championship in four seasons after missing the state finals a year ago, losing to Osceola in the quarterfinals.
Paris outscored the Wildcats 21 to 10 in the fourth quarter after Episcopal had built a 15-point lead, 42-27, after three quarters.
The Wildcats managed just one point in the first three minutes of the final quarter as Paris put together a 9-to-1 run to get within 43-36 with 3:11 left to play.
Not only were Episcopal's shots from the floor not falling their way, the Wildcats were only 8 of 20 from the foul line, as Paris cut the lead to 48-45 with 1:45 to play on a long three by senior Race Taylor.
Two free throws by Kamron Brasfield put Episcopal back in front at 50-45 and Khalen Robinson dropped in the final two free throws to put the Wildcats up 52-45 before Paris struck for one last three to slice the Wildcats lead to 52-48 with 19 seconds showing.
Episcopal survived two Paris shots in the final 10 seconds for the victory.
Robinson finished with 22 points to lead the Wildcats, who opened the state tournament on Tuesday with a first-round victory over Clinton.
Brasfield added 15 points for the Wildcats, who improved to 27-7 overall.
"When you get to this point in a season, every team you face will be a tough battle," first-year Wildcats Coach Brandon Friedel said. "We knew we had to do our best to keep Paris out of the paint and off the glass. They are known for crashing the boards. When we had the opportunities, we pushed the speed of the game, hoping to get some points of transition."
Episcopal led 12-11 after one quarter and led by seven points, 25-18, at the half, after working through three ties and two Paris leads.
Leading by 11 points in the third quarter at 30-19, the Wildcats began to create some separation on their way to a 17-point cushion at 40-23 with 1:06 to play in the third. Brasfield led the way with six consecutive points and the Wildcats settled for the 42-27 lead to begin the fourth.
Paris got 15 points from junior guard Kris Graham, while Talik Robinson added 12 points and Taylor added 11.
From the foul line, Paris was just 10 of 16.
Paris defeated McGehee in Wednesday's first round game.
LAMAR 59, MANILA 45
The top-seeded Lamar Warriors beat Manila on Friday to punch their semifinal round ticket by rolling past the Lions 59-45 at the Class 3A state tournament at Bald Knob.
Lamar will face either Jessieville or Tuckerman today in the 7:30 p.m. boys semifinal game.
Lamar, eliminated a year ago in the state quarterfinals, ousted Drew-Central in a first-round game played Tuesday, while Manila slammed the state tournment door on Marianna Lee on Thursday.
Brock Birmingham led Manila with 16 points while teammate Bradey Woodall finished with 10 points.
Christian Beeman poured in 22 points to pace Lamar and got scoring help from Porter Anderson with 16 and Zederick Lee with 10.
Lamar led 22-10 after one quarter, 36-20 at the half and 49-27 to start the fourth quarter.
CLASS 1A
SHIRLEY 47, KIRBY 44
MOUNT IDA -- The Shirley Blue Devils withstood an 11-0 run by the Kirby Trojans in the second half, rallying from five down in the fourth to post a victory in the quarterfinals of the Class 1A state tournament at Jeanne Smith Arena.
Spencer Jones opened the fourth with two free throws for a 38-33 Kirby lead, its biggest of the second half.
The Blue Devils responded with a 7-0 run, taking a 40-38 lead when Sam Spurlin converted a three-point play with 5:27 left. The score was tied two more times, the last at 44-44 when Shirley converted two free throws with 2:38 left.Shirley's Michael Fuller hit one of two free throws with 1:04 left to put the Blue Devils up 45-44.
With 35.4 seconds left, Kirby committed a turnover and had to foul Joseph Owen, who hit both free throws with 33.9 seconds left. Kirby's Carson Smith got off a three-point attempt that clanged off the back of the rim just before the final buzzer.
Jed Previtt led Shirley (33-10) with 19 points while Owen finished with 13.
Hagen Cimino led Kirby (33-5) with 14 points.
Guy-Perkins 71,
County Line 50
The Thunderbirds (35-4) drained 10 three-pointers, seven by Tre Minton, to knock off the Indians.
Minton finished with a game-high 27 points. He hit 5 of 7 three-pointers in the first half when he scored 20 points. Despite that, County Line (34-8) kept the game close as Guy-Perkins led 18-16 after one quarter, 37-27 at the half and 47-40 after three. The Thunderbirds put the game away with a 24-10 run in the fourth.
Wyatt Spires scored 16 points and Josh Bullard added 12 for Guy-Perkins.
Gage Gattis and Pacyn Reames each scored 15 points, and Evan Johnson added nine for County Line.
Izard County 67,
Bradley 50
The Cougars (35-9) outscored the Bears (25-16) 35-19 over the last 11:30 of the game to advance to the semifinals for the first time since winning it all in 2007.
Taylor Reynolds scored 26 points to lead Izard County. Justus Cooper tallied 17 and Tanner Brooks added 12.
Jaylen Ikegulu led Bradley with 20 points.
-- Scott McDonald
Sports on 03/04/2017