By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Sylvan Hills beat the Searcy Lions for the second time this season, 59-
43 Tuesday night in Sherwood, and secured sole possession of fourth
place in the AAAAA-East standings. The Bears held Lions senior post
player Chris Brown to only 16 points in the contest, one of his lowest totals
all season. The Bears held off Searcy for the entire second half to claim the
win.
“We had lost about three (games),” Sylvan Hills coach Kevin Davis said. “We knew coming back
after the Mountain Home game we wanted to try to keep the winning ways. In this conference,
we knew it was going to take a solid team effort.” Searcy jumped out to the early lead with a threepoint shot from Cody Wilmath, followed by a put-back from Brown to put them up 5-0 at the 5:26 mark of
the first quarter. The Bears came back quickly with shots from senior postman
Robert McKinney and senior guard Victor Roy to pull within one less than a minute
later.
U.S. Robinson made his first appearance in the game for Sylvan Hills with 2:17 left in the opening
frame, and made his presence known immediately. Robinson hit a jumper on the
next Bears’ possession to tie the game at 8-8, then swished a three
pointer moments later to give Sylvan Hills the lead. McKinney added two
more points before the end of the quarter, giving the Bears a 13-8 lead
after one.
Sylvan Hills slowly added to their lead in the second quarter, holding
the momentum for the entire period. Another inside shot from McKinney
with 42 seconds left in the half gave the Bears a double-digit lead for the
first time in the contest at 27-17. Darrell Crenshaw added a three at the buzzer to give
Sylvan Hills a 30-17 lead at the half. The Lions reeled Sylvan Hills
back in during the third quarter.
Cabot struggled through another game of missed shots. The looks were there, but the
shots haven’t been falling for the Panthers in recent games. Starting forward Shawn Tramel
found a quick seat on the bench after picking up his second foul just 1:30 into the game, and the
Panthers struggled for six points in the first quarter.
Jacksonville opened the second quarter quickly, turning a 12-6 lead into a 23-10 advantage. Two blocks
by Credit sparked the run. He also got a bucket, and his assist to Hughes ended the half
with the Devils leading 25-14. Another fast start in the third buried the Panthers under a nearly
insurmountable lead. Credit opened the half with a layup from a penetrate-and-dish assist by
Lavar Neely.
Cabot post player Alex Sharp responded with a pull-up jumper to make it 27-26, but Jacksonville
scored the next seven points. Neely hit a three pointer, Bryan Owens hit two free throws and Airic
Hughes got a steal and layup to put the Devils up 33-16 with 5:25 left in the quarter.
Cabot junior Justin Haas ended the run with a three pointer and Chad Glover added a free throw to
cut the margin to 33-20, but Jacksonville responded with an 8-0 run to take its biggest lead of the
game. The Panther bench got Cabot back to within striking distance in the fourth quarter, but it was too
late to mount a serious threat. Guards Jacob Trammell and Brett Beam scored 10 points each,
all in the second half, while Alex Sharp came off the bench to post nine points in the game.
The trio accounted for 25 of Cabot’s 35 second-half points. Conversely, Jacksonville got
just one point the entire game from the six players that came off the bench. The Red Devils starting
five accounted for all but one free throw of their 59 points. Neely led all scorers with 18
points.
He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists. Hughes finished 16 while Credit posted 11
points, seven boards and six blocked shots. Cabot is now 15-8 overall while Jacksonville improved to 16-8.
The game’s result, combined with Forrest City’s win over West Memphis, and Sylvan Hills’ victory
over Searcy last night, leaves Cabot tied with the Blue Devils for fifth place in the league race.
Jonesboro is still unbeaten at 10-0. Forrest City is 8-2, Jacksonville is third at 6-4. Sylvan
Hills is 5-5 while Cabot and West Memphis are 4-6. Searcy comes in at 3-7 and
Mountain Home is still winless in 10 league games. The Lady Panthers sat two
starters for injury and illness, but still had little trouble with the Lady Red Devils, who also sat an injured
starter.
Cabot won the game 65-31 and improved to 21-3 on the season and 10-0 in conference play.
Jacksonville hung tough early, playing to a 14-6 score by the end of the first.
Cabot stepped up the defensive pressure in the second quarter and held a 33-13 lead by halftime.
It was all over in the third as Cabot, which missed all six of its three-point attempts in the first
half, began hitting from outside. Jacksonville had no answer. The Lady Panthers led 60-23 by the
end of the frame.
Twelve Lady Panthers scored in the game. They were led by Kim Sitzmann’s 20 points and eight
rebounds. Tarneshia Scott led Jacksonville with 18 points and 11 boards. The Lady Devils fell to 2-18 and
0-10.
Jacksonville hosts Jonesboro Friday while Cabot will entertain Mountain Home. The Lady Bombers are 8-2 and
in second place in the AAAAAEast.
