By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
HOT SPRINGS – Exper-ience was the deciding factor in Alma’s 80-64 victory over Sylvan Hills in the 5A championship game at Summit Arena on Friday.
Airedales’ senior guard Isaac McCoy earned MVP honors with a record-setting night that included 39 points and 20 rebounds. He tied with Bears junior standout Archie Goodwin for most free throws attempted in a game with 22, and his 20 rebounds tied the state record for a championship game.
McCoy’s numbers were part of a poised, senior-led Airedales effort contrasted to the youthful Bears. McCoy’s classmate and post player Austin Duerr added 11 points for the Airedales, and was often overlooked by the junior-laden Bears defense that focused much of its attention on McCoy.
“This young team that we have has really grown up,” Sylvan Hills coach Kevin Davis said. “Certainly with Alma, I think experience could have been a factor. I thought our guys battled all the way through, which they always do for us.
“Sometimes you just need a bounce or a break to go your way, but it didn’t happen.”
The Airedales (24-6) dominated the second half, and pulled away from the Bears rather quickly in the last five minutes. McCoy took over in that time, using his speed to catch the Bears (25-5) out of position.
He drove the length of the floor for an inside basket with 6:37 left to play to give the Airedales a 57-51 lead before extending the lead on a pair of free throws.
He then made it 61-53 when he ducked into the lane for two points after grabbing a defensive rebound.
Foul trouble set in for the Bears in the final three minutes, as post player Devin Pearson fouled out with 2:23 to play and Larry Ziegler followed him to the bench with 1:36 remaining. Ziegler finished with 11 points, as did Sylvan Hills guard Trey Smith, while Goodwin led with 25 points and seven rebounds. The bulk of Goodwin’s points came from his 17-of-22 showing at the free-throw line.
Trey Smith added 13 points for the Bears, while Pearson led in rebounding with 10.
For Alma, Jenson added 10 points. The Airedales shot 43.4 percent from the floor (23-53) compared to 30.6 (19-62) for Sylvan Hills.
McCoy hit his first three-pointer with 7:33 left in the first quarter to give Alma a 3-2 lead, and Austin Duerr got a defensive rebound and brought it down for another three-pointer to extend the Airedales’ advantage to 6-2.
Goodwin fought back from the free-throw line, going 3 for 4 on back-to-back trips. That closed the gap to 6-5, but McCoy answered with a free throw, followed by an inside drive for two points that gave Alma a 9-5 lead with 4:50 left in the first quarter.
Smith cut it to one with a basket and free throw, and Goodwin gave the Bears their first lead of the game at 10-9 with a steal he took for a layup wit 4:23 left in the first quarter.
Alma retook the lead on a basket by Brock Widders and a free throw by Jenson Gage, but Pearson tied the game at 12 with a putback and Smith gave the lead back to Sylvan Hills, 15-12 with a three-point basket with 53 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Jake Martin pulled Alma to within a point before the close of the period with an inside basket.
The Airedales jumped back out to the lead and began to grow the margin midway through the second quarter.
McCoy scored in the lane to make it 24-21 and Gage grabbed the rebound off a missed three-point attempt by Goodwin. He got the ball on the other side and drove in the paint, putting a body to Ziegler to score and give the Airedales a 28-21 lead.
Goodwin broke a scoring drought of nearly two minutes for the Bears with a putback that cut it to 28-23, but Jason Hensley answered for the Airedales with a shot assisted by Gage. Smith then hit another three pointer, this one with 54 seconds left until the half to cut Alma’s lead to 30-26.
Widders came back with a basket for Alma before Goodwin hit a free throw and Patton added two more with nine seconds left in the second quarter to make it 32-29 Alma. But Gage got the last word for the Airedales when he drove the length of the floor and laid it in at the buzzer to set the halftime margin at 34-29.
