Basketball: Allen leads Berryville past Valley Springs

Lady Bobcats win eighth-straight game

BERRYVILLE -- Ty Allen was just hoping he put enough air under the basketball for it to have a chance. Allen launched the shot 10 feet behind the half-court line, and the third quarter buzzer sounded as the ball reached its highest point.

Valley Springs 17 20 22 21 -- 80

Berryville 18 26 25 23 -- 92

Valley Springs (22-7, 6-2): Jenkins 36, Flud 17, Garvin 13, Audeoud 7, Saunier 4, James 3.

Berryville (18-6, 7-1): T. Allen 35, Ray 19, Webb 16, Kendrick 10, Cisco 5, Lucas 5, C. Allen 2.

It swished cleanly through the net, sending a packed Bobcat Arena crowd into a frenzy. Allen raised both arms as teammates mobbed him. It was just one of many highlights Friday night for Allen and his Berryville Bobcats.

"I just had to get it up," Allen said. "That's honestly it. I knew the time was running down and I just kind of threw it up there and said my prayer and it went in."

Allen scored 35 points, and the red-hot Bobcats continued their late-season run in a 92-80 win against Valley Springs. Berryville (18-6, 8-0 3A/4A District 4) has won five of its last six games and earned a little revenge after falling to the Tigers 83-81 earlier this month.

"I knew this was going to be a high-scoring game," Berryville coach Brent Compton said. "They got us in double-overtime over at their place. We had three starters foul out. But our guys played a lot smarter tonight. This was a fun game to watch."

The anticipated scoring battle with Allen and Valley Springs sophomore Lawson Jenkins lived up to its hype. Jenkins, a 6-foot-5 combo guard, scored a game-high 36 in the loss. The difference was Allen had plenty of help as the Bobcats had four players in double-figures.

In addition to Allen, the Bobcats got major point production from Jarrett Ray, who had 19 and Zach Webb, who finished with 16.

"That's the thing about our team. We've got four guys shooting over 40 percent from 3-point land," Compton said. "We have a lot of weapons when we show up to play. And our kids really share the ball well."

The 92 points scored is impressive, but even more so considering Berryville made just four 3-point shots with Ray and Allen hitting two apiece. The Bobcats did most of their damage by simply beating Valley Springs (22-7, 6-2) back down the court time and again for easy layups.

A close game early turned in Berryville's favor late in the second quarter when the Bobcats turned a 31-29 lead into a 44-37 halftime lead by outscoring Valley Springs 13-8 in the final 2 minutes, 27 seconds.

Then Allen opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 10-point lead and Berryville was really never threatened the rest of the way. The Tigers managed to get within seven a couple of times, the last at 66-59 in the third quarter when Jenkins converted off a steal that came just seconds before Allen launched his three-quarter shot.

Girls

Berryville 55, Valley Springs 36

Valley Springs 8 9 12 7 -- 36

Berryville 14 13 13 13 -- 55

Valley Springs (21-9, 6-2): Graddy 15, Patrick 9, Bryant 4, Moore 3, Kilgore 3, Karr 2.

Berryville (22-1, 8-0): B. Smith 17, Hooper 15, Anderson 10, Morrell 5, Hussey 3, Estepp 4, K. Smith 2, Steele 1.

The Lady Bobcats seized control early and won their eighth-straight game as three players scored in double figures.

Berryville (22-1, 8-0 3A/4A District 4) dominated this rematch after winning by just two the first time these two teams met on Jan. 2

"Our post players got in some foul trouble early tonight, but we were able to overcome that," Berryville coach Daniel Cornelison said. "We had a really tough third quarter the last time we played them. We had a 10-point lead at halftime, but we played sloppy in the third quarter. We really focused on taking care of business in the third quarter tonight."

The Lady Bobcats pulled away in the second half, doing most of their damage at the free-throw line.

Baylea Smith scored a game-high 17 points to lead Berryville. Kelcee Hooper added 15 points and sophomore point guard Lexy Anderson scored 10.

Valley Springs (21-9, 6-2) had its five-game winning streak snapped with the loss. Brylee Graddy led the Lady Tigers with 15 points.

Preps Basketball on 01/27/2018

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