By JASON KING
Leader sports writer
The Beebe Badgers suffered their fifth loss of the season at the hands of the Vilonia Eagles Tuesday night 56-42. The Badgers stayed close through the first half, trailing 27-21 at the intermission.
Vilonia was able to pull away in the second half, due mostly to the struggles of Beebe’s shooting game. There were only 12 turnovers in the entire game by the Badgers, but a dismal 15 of 54 from the floor meant several missed scoring opportunities.
The battle on the boards was a tight one, but missed second and third shot attempts for Beebe allowed the Eagles to hold a steady advantage throughout the final two frames.
The margin stayed at six points for most of the game, but Beebe was forced to foul in the closing moments in an attempt to close the deficit. A number of three-point attempts from the Badgers in the last two minutes fell short, and Vilonia took advantage. The Eagles were strong at the charity stripe in the fourth quarter, and padded their advantage going away.
Beebe head coach Chris Ellis did not make any excuses for his team’s performance against Vilonia. He says an increase in shooting accuracy is badly needed in order for the Badgers to be competitive in the tough 5A-East Conference.
“We just have to shoot better, that’s the bottom line,” Ellis said. “When you have 66 possessions in a game and only score 42 points, that’s just not going to cut it.” Ellis says he hopes that his football-player-heavy squad will improve from the floor as the season continues, but also knows that the competition will most likely do the same.
“I hope it would improve with more time that they spend in the gym,” Ellis said. “But the quality of competition will also improve as the season goes on.”
Sophomore Zack Kersey led the Badgers with 12 points. Charlie Spakes added 10 points for Beebe.
The loss gives the Badgers a 1-5 record. Beebe played Cabot last night after Leader deadlines, and will begin hosting the First Security White County Medical Classic on Dec. 28.
