By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville Lighthouse aided central Arkansas’ cause in the annual Battle of the Border event that took place Saturday between teams from central Arkansas and the Memphis area. The Wolves knocked off Power Center Academy of Memphis 72-58 at Hall High School’s Cerk Arena.
Playing in the event’s opening game at 11 a.m., JLC coach Kelvin Parker tried his best to rest his starters as much as possible because of a 5 p.m. game that same day at the Conway Regional Tournament at Conway Christian.
But it didn’t happen. Despite once leading by as much as 24 points, the starters were forced back onto the floor when the margin dwindled to 60-50, and got to as little as 60-55 after the starters re-entered.
“We just didn’t try to play any team defense with these guys,” said Parker. “We haven’t learned to put anybody away yet. We’ve got to do better than this.”
Power Center Academy had not won a game coming into the event, and had lost its most recent game 115-64. JLC was able to expose why early in the first quarter when it took advantage of numerous wild shots and turnovers to race out to a 15-5 lead with three minutes left in the opening period.
Freshman Gerald Doakes had 11 of those, including three-straight 3-pointers.
The Wolves then started playing just as sloppily, and by the 6:50 mark of the second quarter, the Knights had tied the game at 15-15.
Parker called a timeout and said something to recharge his squad. The Wolves came out of the break in a fullcourt press, and went on a 20-4 run over the next six minutes, including an 11-point outburst in 70 seconds.
Zack Bobo made 1 of 2 free throws with 5:55 left in the half for the first JLC points since the three-minute mark of the first quarter. After a turnover, Bobo hit a 3-pointer with 5:38 to go in the second quarter.
Doakes then got a steal and finished the transition with a one-handed slam dunk. Bobo followed suit with his own steal and dunk before another turnover turned into another Doakes 3-pointers. With 4:45 left in the half, JLC led 26-15.
The Knight’s hit a 3-pointer in the waning seconds to send the game into intermission with JLC leading 35-22.
The lead reached its peak at 59-35 late in the third quarter before Parker pulled all his key players and tried to finish the game with the JV team.
The starters went back into the game at the 5:33 mark with a 60-50 lead. At 5:08 it was 60-55 before the Wolves regained control and finished on a 12-3 run.
Doakes led all scorers and had a phenomenal game from the outside. He finished with 28 points, including six 3-pointers in nine attempts. Bobo turned in a double-double. He had 17 points and 10 rebounds to go with four steals and three assists. Chris Mims added 10 points for the Wolves.
Later that day, The Wolves held off Glen Rose for a 58-55 first-round win in the Conway Regional Tournament. Mims led all players in that game with 19 points while Bobo added 15.
The Wolves (7-1) will host Marvell on Tuesday before returning to the Conway tournament on Thursday.
