By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
“Absent strong and well-reasoned objection” from the Joshua Intervenors within 10 days, U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. will make the Jacksonville-North Pulaski School District a party to the desegregation lawsuit, he said Wednesday in court.
That means that district and the Pulaski County Special School District from which it is splitting could be considered individually for unitary status in various areas of concern, such as monitoring, facilities and staffing. “It’s possible that one might get unitary before the other,” he said.
Until now, JNPSD has operated as what Marshall termed “a hybrid” district with PCSSD. But, as of July 1 — after two years — it will no longer be a subsidiary and will be fully independent like nearly every other school district.
JNP attorney Scott Richardson said his client had long wanted to be a party to the desegregation suit and welcomed that status, and PCSSD attorney Allen Roberts said that district has no objection.
That leaves only the Joshua Intervenors as possible objectors. Other parties to the suit — the state and Little Rock and North Little Rock school districts — have been excused from the case, those two school districts because the judge has ruled they have achieved unitary status.
HIRES WOOD’S FRIENDS
In the quarterly status hearing, Joshua Intervenors lawyer John Walker challenged the new district’s hiring mechanism and its master facilities plan. Marshall told all parties that those issues would be revisited after the new district’s first year of operation.
Walker charged that “the people running JNPSD are all (Superintendent Tony) Wood’s friends” and predominantly white but did note half of the principals hired are black.
“Requirements of law must be obeyed,” Walker said.
Walker also said JNPSD’s hiring of certified and classified workers was proceeding too slowly for him to evaluate whether it complied with terms of the desegregation agreement Plan 2000.
Virtually all persons employed by PCSSD this year at schools that will be part of JNPSD have been notified that PCSSD will not rehire them next year — that they will have to apply for positions through JNPSD.
POSITIONS ELIMINATED
With nearly 4,000 students leaving the district and expected to attend schools in the new district, PCSSD needs about 300 fewer certified personnel, who have already been told they aren’t rehired. And, on Wednesday, 187 more PCSSD positions have been eliminated, which will have the net effect of laying off 100 contract workers and others who were not working on an annual contract.
Walker has consistently held that the new district is discriminating against blacks by not immediately replacing all elementary schools with new buildings.
The district’s current long-term facilities master plan calls for one new elementary school to replace two, Arnold Drive and Tolleson, west of state Hwy. 67/167.
The plan also calls for a new high school to be built at the site of the old Jacksonville Middle School on Main Street, and rehabilitating North Pulaski High School — currently in its final year as a high school — to serve as the new district’s middle school.
The other schools, many of which are located in minority neighborhoods, will receive some expedited renovations and a new multi-purpose building each.
Both the court’s desegregation monitor Marge Powell and Marshall have agreed the plan is not discriminatory, but Marshall has said he wants new buildings for those elementary schools as soon as possible.
NEW SCHOOLS
Richardson, a JNPSD attorney, told the court that even with the newly passed millage — one of the highest in the state — the district could not afford to build all new schools now. He said the state would not participate in funding new construction for those schools because they aren’t in bad enough condition.
Because one site is on Little Rock Air Force Base, the Defense Department is expected to pay for a lot of the new elementary school.
Marshall warned JNPSD that, when the facilities issue is revisited in a year, he expects to see plans for replacing Dupree, Bayou Meto, Pinewood and Taylor elementary schools. But he “doesn’t contemplate the impossible,” he said.
EQUALITY
Richardson told the court that there are two bases for determining if facilities are equal. The desegregation agreement requires “equality” between schools, while the Constitution requires “substantial equality,” he said.
He said equality, which would require construction of all new schools, would stretch out the time needed to comply, while “substantial equality,” which would allow remodeling plus some new construction to new-school standards, would be achieved much more quickly — a lower bar to achieve.
“Well let’s chin that bar,” Marshall said.
“I think the new district has made big strides but incomplete,” Marshall said. “Elementary schools are addressed only at the margins.”
CHALLENGES
But equitable school facilities now “does require the impossible,” he said.
Another difference is in what standard to use in determining whether or not staffing meets unitary standards.
Walker said JNPSD is using the labor-market standard. If only 8 percent of the labor market were black, by way of example, then only 8 percent of teaching, administrative and classified positions would need to be filled by black people. “Our position is that (racial) balance must be maintained,” he said.
He accused Wood and the board of exercising nepotism and favoritism in hiring.
Walker threatened to take his concerns to the Justice Department if he doesn’t get satisfaction, but seemed to agree that a year is needed to make determination of efforts to unitary status.
Walker and Richardson remain at odds on many issues.
Walker told the judge that, when he needs information from PCSSD, he goes to the appropriate department, asks for and receives the information, but that — with JNPSD — all roads seem to lead through Richardson.
“Mr. Richardson’s approach is different than the others. We are prevented from getting the information,” Walker said.
GRUMPINESS
“I see grumpiness about things being done differently by the new district,” Marshall said, but no evidence that it’s being done improperly, he noted.
Marshall told Walker that JNPSD was not bound to communicate in the same manner that PCSSD had chosen and said he should direct his requests for information to Richardson.
Richardson said that, until a couple of weeks ago, there were only three central office administrators trying to comply with information requests at the same time they are hiring and trying to get ready for their first year running a standalone school district.
Marshall said both districts are going through changes this year — JNPSD is starting to educate students for the first time and PCSSD is escaping state control for the first time since 2011 and needing to elect and train a new school board.
He said the JNPSD administrators need to be focused on getting school started and to see how staffing shapes up between now and early fall.
He said discovery for the evidentiary hearing Walker seeks could be set for late fall, with the hearing on staffing the following summer.
Friday, March 18, 2016
SPORTS STORY >> Devils trample on War Eagles
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
The Jacksonville baseball team opened 5A-Central Conference play Tuesday with a doubleheader at Dupree Park. Both games against J.A. Fair were huge wins for the Red Devils, as they beat the visiting War Eagles 20-1 in the first game before winning the nightcap 16-1.
Both games ended after three innings because of the sportsmanship rule. Fair scored its only run of each game in the first inning. In game one, the Red Devils scored four runs in the first inning before adding 16 in the bottom of the second to set the final score.
Wesley Williams threw all three innings of that game, finishing with six strikeouts. The Red Devils only had five base hits in the first game, with senior Brandon Hickingbotham leading the offense with two hits. Jacksonville walked 12 times and reached base after being hit by a pitch on five occasions.
Left-hander Cody Savage threw all of game two, finishing with six strikeouts. The Devils led 2-1 after the first inning before adding three more runs in the second to push their lead to 5-1.
Gabe Helsley and Quentin Stallard scored runs three and four for Jacksonville on passed balls. Helsley walked to lead off the bottom of the second before Stallard roped a single to left field. Jonathan Smith was then hit by a pitch and he later scored on a sacrifice fly to right field off the bat of Caden Sample.
After holding Fair scoreless again in the top of the third, Jacksonville scored the rest of its 11 runs in the bottom half of the inning – all with two outs. Williams scored the first run of the two-out rally, and runs seven and eight were driven in on a two-RBI single by Kameron Whitmore.
Javan Wakefield came in to run for Whitmore, and he later scored on a bases-loaded walk by Savage. That put Jacksonville up 9-1, and Tyson Flowers scored the next run on a passed ball.
Sample scored Jacksonville’s 11th run from third base, because of an errant throw from the Fair catcher that got by the pitcher after a pitch. Williams drove in the next run with a single to shallow center field that scored Caleb McMunn.
The next two runs were walked in before Whitmore was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, which scored Helsley and gave the Red Devils a 15-1 lead. Stallard, who walked earlier in the inning, then scored on a passed ball to end the game.
Fair used five different pitchers in the third inning alone, but the result was the same. Jacksonville had four hits in the second game, one each by Stallard, Williams, Joseph Cummings and Whitmore. The Red Devils walked 10 times and had seven hit batters.
With the pair of wins Tuesday, Jacksonville will head into spring break 2-0 in conference play. The Red Devils will take part in the Gulf Coast Classic in Gulf Shores, Ala., next week and their next conference doubleheader will be March 29 at Beebe.
Leader sportswriter
The Jacksonville baseball team opened 5A-Central Conference play Tuesday with a doubleheader at Dupree Park. Both games against J.A. Fair were huge wins for the Red Devils, as they beat the visiting War Eagles 20-1 in the first game before winning the nightcap 16-1.
Both games ended after three innings because of the sportsmanship rule. Fair scored its only run of each game in the first inning. In game one, the Red Devils scored four runs in the first inning before adding 16 in the bottom of the second to set the final score.
Wesley Williams threw all three innings of that game, finishing with six strikeouts. The Red Devils only had five base hits in the first game, with senior Brandon Hickingbotham leading the offense with two hits. Jacksonville walked 12 times and reached base after being hit by a pitch on five occasions.
Left-hander Cody Savage threw all of game two, finishing with six strikeouts. The Devils led 2-1 after the first inning before adding three more runs in the second to push their lead to 5-1.
Gabe Helsley and Quentin Stallard scored runs three and four for Jacksonville on passed balls. Helsley walked to lead off the bottom of the second before Stallard roped a single to left field. Jonathan Smith was then hit by a pitch and he later scored on a sacrifice fly to right field off the bat of Caden Sample.
After holding Fair scoreless again in the top of the third, Jacksonville scored the rest of its 11 runs in the bottom half of the inning – all with two outs. Williams scored the first run of the two-out rally, and runs seven and eight were driven in on a two-RBI single by Kameron Whitmore.
Javan Wakefield came in to run for Whitmore, and he later scored on a bases-loaded walk by Savage. That put Jacksonville up 9-1, and Tyson Flowers scored the next run on a passed ball.
Sample scored Jacksonville’s 11th run from third base, because of an errant throw from the Fair catcher that got by the pitcher after a pitch. Williams drove in the next run with a single to shallow center field that scored Caleb McMunn.
The next two runs were walked in before Whitmore was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, which scored Helsley and gave the Red Devils a 15-1 lead. Stallard, who walked earlier in the inning, then scored on a passed ball to end the game.
Fair used five different pitchers in the third inning alone, but the result was the same. Jacksonville had four hits in the second game, one each by Stallard, Williams, Joseph Cummings and Whitmore. The Red Devils walked 10 times and had seven hit batters.
With the pair of wins Tuesday, Jacksonville will head into spring break 2-0 in conference play. The Red Devils will take part in the Gulf Coast Classic in Gulf Shores, Ala., next week and their next conference doubleheader will be March 29 at Beebe.
SPORTS STORY >> Lady Panthers dominate Lions
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Panther soccer teams earned a boys and girls sweep of perennial powerhouse Searcy on Thursday at SHS.
It was the second time in less than a week the teams had met. Cabot teams also beat Searcy in Cabot’s short-game tournament on March 12, but Thursday’s matches counted in conference standings and Cabot dominated.
The Lady Panthers hammered the Lady Lions 5-1, while the boys scored the game’s first three goals in a 3-1 victory.
Despite the lopsided final score, Cabot girls’ coach Kerry Castillo appeared frustrated most of the game.
“Just because we’re not playing to our potential,” said Castillo. “I thought we played much better in the second half. We made much better decisions with the ball, even though we scored fewer goals.”
The Lady Panthers (9-1, 1-0) took a 3-1 lead into halftime, despite taking far fewer shots than the home team. Most of the first half was played on Searcy’s end of the field. Cabot held Searcy scoreless last Saturday in a 1-0 game, and the Lady Lions came out Thursday going all in on offense. But when the goals didn’t come, it left openings for Cabot to create quick scoring opportunities.
Searcy (4-2, 0-1) got a clear shot from the middle of the field about 15 yards out, but it careened off the top bar of the goal. Cabot cleared on the rebound, and Tristyn Edgar found herself with the ball behind the entire Searcy defense.
She scored easily in the one-on-one situation against the Lion goalie and gave Cabot a 1-0 lead six minutes into the game. It was the first of four goals for Edgar, who had a hat trick by halftime.
“They were bringing everyone up to force the issue on offense,” Castillo said. “That left things open for us. Tristyn is so fast they couldn’t recover, and she’s going to win that one-on-one nine times out of 10 at least.”
Searcy tied the score on a penalty kick with 19:02 left in the half.
Edgar beat Searcy back again less than two minutes later but was called off sides. A minute later Gracen Turner missed a shot wide left.
With 9:20 to go in the first half, Edgar took a pass from Hadley Dickinson, split two defenders and dribbled past a third before scoring her second goal.
With three minutes left in the half, Cabot goalie Maggie Martin made a diving save to keep the Lions from tying the game, and Edgar got behind the defense one more time with 36 seconds left in the half. She again beat the goalie easily to complete the hat trick and give the Lady Panthers a 3-1 lead.
No one scored for nearly 30 minutes of the second half. Dickinson finally broke the drought with a hard shot from 20 yards out right into the middle of the goal for a 4-1 Cabot lead. Dickinson also got another assists in delivering a perfect pass to Edgar to set up her fourth and final goal with 3:25 remaining to set the final margin.
The boys’ game was scoreless until nine minutes left in the first half. Cabot (2-4-2, 1-0) got a great opportunity with 10:30 to go, but Dylan Wagnon’s shot caromed off the cross bar. Just 88 seconds later, however, Abi Brown scored from a harsh angle on the left side of the goal, squeezing the ball into the upper right corner for a 1-0 Cabot lead with 9:02 left in the first half.
That was the only goal of the first half, but it didn’t take Cabot long to add to the lead in the second. Wagnon scorched a shot hard enough from about 25 yards out that went in despite hitting the Searcy goalie’s forearms.
The Panthers made it 3-0 with 13:55 to go on a mistake by the Lions. Searcy was only trying to clear after a Cabot threat, but cleared the wrong way, hitting an approaching Cameron Sherman in the legs and caroming into the goal.
“Searcy has won like six state championships, but they’re down this year,” said Cabot coach Steve Porter. “That was just a simple mistake. He tried to clear inside and you can’t do that. So that was just a lucky goal for us, but overall I think we played a good game.”
Searcy (2-4, 0-1) scored with six minutes remaining after Porter began freely substituting.
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Panther soccer teams earned a boys and girls sweep of perennial powerhouse Searcy on Thursday at SHS.
It was the second time in less than a week the teams had met. Cabot teams also beat Searcy in Cabot’s short-game tournament on March 12, but Thursday’s matches counted in conference standings and Cabot dominated.
The Lady Panthers hammered the Lady Lions 5-1, while the boys scored the game’s first three goals in a 3-1 victory.
Despite the lopsided final score, Cabot girls’ coach Kerry Castillo appeared frustrated most of the game.
“Just because we’re not playing to our potential,” said Castillo. “I thought we played much better in the second half. We made much better decisions with the ball, even though we scored fewer goals.”
The Lady Panthers (9-1, 1-0) took a 3-1 lead into halftime, despite taking far fewer shots than the home team. Most of the first half was played on Searcy’s end of the field. Cabot held Searcy scoreless last Saturday in a 1-0 game, and the Lady Lions came out Thursday going all in on offense. But when the goals didn’t come, it left openings for Cabot to create quick scoring opportunities.
Searcy (4-2, 0-1) got a clear shot from the middle of the field about 15 yards out, but it careened off the top bar of the goal. Cabot cleared on the rebound, and Tristyn Edgar found herself with the ball behind the entire Searcy defense.
She scored easily in the one-on-one situation against the Lion goalie and gave Cabot a 1-0 lead six minutes into the game. It was the first of four goals for Edgar, who had a hat trick by halftime.
“They were bringing everyone up to force the issue on offense,” Castillo said. “That left things open for us. Tristyn is so fast they couldn’t recover, and she’s going to win that one-on-one nine times out of 10 at least.”
Searcy tied the score on a penalty kick with 19:02 left in the half.
Edgar beat Searcy back again less than two minutes later but was called off sides. A minute later Gracen Turner missed a shot wide left.
With 9:20 to go in the first half, Edgar took a pass from Hadley Dickinson, split two defenders and dribbled past a third before scoring her second goal.
With three minutes left in the half, Cabot goalie Maggie Martin made a diving save to keep the Lions from tying the game, and Edgar got behind the defense one more time with 36 seconds left in the half. She again beat the goalie easily to complete the hat trick and give the Lady Panthers a 3-1 lead.
No one scored for nearly 30 minutes of the second half. Dickinson finally broke the drought with a hard shot from 20 yards out right into the middle of the goal for a 4-1 Cabot lead. Dickinson also got another assists in delivering a perfect pass to Edgar to set up her fourth and final goal with 3:25 remaining to set the final margin.
The boys’ game was scoreless until nine minutes left in the first half. Cabot (2-4-2, 1-0) got a great opportunity with 10:30 to go, but Dylan Wagnon’s shot caromed off the cross bar. Just 88 seconds later, however, Abi Brown scored from a harsh angle on the left side of the goal, squeezing the ball into the upper right corner for a 1-0 Cabot lead with 9:02 left in the first half.
That was the only goal of the first half, but it didn’t take Cabot long to add to the lead in the second. Wagnon scorched a shot hard enough from about 25 yards out that went in despite hitting the Searcy goalie’s forearms.
The Panthers made it 3-0 with 13:55 to go on a mistake by the Lions. Searcy was only trying to clear after a Cabot threat, but cleared the wrong way, hitting an approaching Cameron Sherman in the legs and caroming into the goal.
“Searcy has won like six state championships, but they’re down this year,” said Cabot coach Steve Porter. “That was just a simple mistake. He tried to clear inside and you can’t do that. So that was just a lucky goal for us, but overall I think we played a good game.”
Searcy (2-4, 0-1) scored with six minutes remaining after Porter began freely substituting.
SPORTS STORY >> JLC sprinters win at Bryant
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Conway, Bryant and Parkview swept the top three spots, in that order, in the boys’ and girls’ division of the Bryant Hornet Relays on Tuesday, but the Cabot boys made an impressive showing with 65.5 points and a fourth-place finish. Conway won the boys’ division with 85 points, Bryant had 73 and Parkview 71. Lake Hamilton finished with 60 to round out the top five, while Beebe and Jacksonville Lighthouse Charter School tied for 10th place out of 23 teams with 30 points each.
Jacksonville Lighthouse Charter dominated the boys’ shortest race. Senior Wolf Jordan McNair did what he’s done numerous times in his career and won the 100-meter dash. He ran it in 11.04 seconds, and was just 4/100s of a second faster than his sophomore teammate Robert Whitfield.
McNair also finished third in the 200-meter dash, a race crowded with several local athletes. Malvern’s Andre Jones won the event with a time of 22.70 and North Little Rock’s Kennedy Lightner was second at 22.91. McNair was the only other competitor to finish under 23 seconds at 22.98. Russellville’s Josiah Woodard was fourth and Parkview’s Bryce Brown took fifth. Whitfield took sixth for Lighthouse while Cabot’s Britton Alley was seventh and Beebe’s Keishun Davidson rounded out the top eight.
Despite having the top two individual times in the 100-meter dash, the Wolves could only manage sixth place in the4x100-meter relay. Hamburg won the event with a time of 43.08. Parkview was second and Cabot took third.
The Panthers won the 4x400 relay by more than two seconds with a time of 3:31.08. Beebe was sixth, posting a 3:36.86. Cabot and Beebe teams placed third and fifth respectively in the 4x800.
Beebe senior Connor Patrom won the 400-meter race. His time of 49.84 was 6/100s ahead of Marquez Rushing of Hamburg. Alley took fifth in that event with a 51.46.
Cabot senior Mark Odom finished second in the 300-meter hurdles. His time of 40.63 was just behind Hamburg’s Lorenzo Watkins’ 40.55. Odom was also third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.16.
Amari James of Parkview and Watkins, both also seniors, finished ahead of Odom at 14.82 and 14.86. Odom also finished seventh in the high jump with a leap of 5-10. Andre Jones, the defending Class 5A state champion who transferred from McClellan to Malvern, won the event with a jump of 6-5.
Gardner Howze, a sophomore, finished fourth in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:46.30. Defending 7A champion Toler Freyaldenhoven of Conway finished first at 4:28.41 while Conway Christian’s Bennett Pascoe was second and Charlie Terry of Bryant was third.
In the 3,200-meter race, 5A-Central cross-country champion Gus McCoy finished third overall behind a pair of Bryant runners. John Carder and Cole Watson were first and second at 10:43.01 and 10:46.42.
McCoy was one second behind Watson while Cabot sophomore Blake Scott took seventh at 11:01.58.
Freyaldenhoven also won the 800 meters by five seconds while Beebe’s John Paul Savage took seventh place with a 2:09.00.
Cabot’s Brandon Jones was fourth in the discus throw while Beebe’s Reese Anders was fifth.
Rocky Burke and Braxton Burton of Cabot finished third and fifth respectively in the pole vault. Nick Johnson of Lake Hamilton and Matthew Standridge of Caddo Hills were well ahead of the field, jumping 15-6 and 15-0 respectively. Burke cleared 12-6 Burton 11-6.
No local girls’ team finished in the top 10. Cabot finished 11th of 23 teams with 26 points. Sylvan Hills finished 13th with 14 points.
Cabot’s Tristyn Edgar was eighth in the 100-meter dash behind defending 6A and Meet of Champs champion Jada Baylark of Parkview.
Cabot sophomore Casey Gore took second in the 1,600 with a time of 5:27.65. Erin Woodward, a Little Rock Christian Academy senior, won with a time of 5:21.23.
The Sylvan Hills relay teams showed well. The 4x100 team finished fourth, the 4x400 team finished fifth and the 4x800 team took seventh.
Cabot didn’t place in the 4x100, but the 4x400 team was fourth and the 4x800 team finished second behind Lake Hamilton.
Sylvan Hills junior Chloe George was sixth in the 800.
Cabot’s Caytee Wright finished seventh in the shot put and Ashley Odom was eighth in the pole vault.
Leader sports editor
Conway, Bryant and Parkview swept the top three spots, in that order, in the boys’ and girls’ division of the Bryant Hornet Relays on Tuesday, but the Cabot boys made an impressive showing with 65.5 points and a fourth-place finish. Conway won the boys’ division with 85 points, Bryant had 73 and Parkview 71. Lake Hamilton finished with 60 to round out the top five, while Beebe and Jacksonville Lighthouse Charter School tied for 10th place out of 23 teams with 30 points each.
Jacksonville Lighthouse Charter dominated the boys’ shortest race. Senior Wolf Jordan McNair did what he’s done numerous times in his career and won the 100-meter dash. He ran it in 11.04 seconds, and was just 4/100s of a second faster than his sophomore teammate Robert Whitfield.
McNair also finished third in the 200-meter dash, a race crowded with several local athletes. Malvern’s Andre Jones won the event with a time of 22.70 and North Little Rock’s Kennedy Lightner was second at 22.91. McNair was the only other competitor to finish under 23 seconds at 22.98. Russellville’s Josiah Woodard was fourth and Parkview’s Bryce Brown took fifth. Whitfield took sixth for Lighthouse while Cabot’s Britton Alley was seventh and Beebe’s Keishun Davidson rounded out the top eight.
Despite having the top two individual times in the 100-meter dash, the Wolves could only manage sixth place in the4x100-meter relay. Hamburg won the event with a time of 43.08. Parkview was second and Cabot took third.
The Panthers won the 4x400 relay by more than two seconds with a time of 3:31.08. Beebe was sixth, posting a 3:36.86. Cabot and Beebe teams placed third and fifth respectively in the 4x800.
Beebe senior Connor Patrom won the 400-meter race. His time of 49.84 was 6/100s ahead of Marquez Rushing of Hamburg. Alley took fifth in that event with a 51.46.
Cabot senior Mark Odom finished second in the 300-meter hurdles. His time of 40.63 was just behind Hamburg’s Lorenzo Watkins’ 40.55. Odom was also third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.16.
Amari James of Parkview and Watkins, both also seniors, finished ahead of Odom at 14.82 and 14.86. Odom also finished seventh in the high jump with a leap of 5-10. Andre Jones, the defending Class 5A state champion who transferred from McClellan to Malvern, won the event with a jump of 6-5.
Gardner Howze, a sophomore, finished fourth in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:46.30. Defending 7A champion Toler Freyaldenhoven of Conway finished first at 4:28.41 while Conway Christian’s Bennett Pascoe was second and Charlie Terry of Bryant was third.
In the 3,200-meter race, 5A-Central cross-country champion Gus McCoy finished third overall behind a pair of Bryant runners. John Carder and Cole Watson were first and second at 10:43.01 and 10:46.42.
McCoy was one second behind Watson while Cabot sophomore Blake Scott took seventh at 11:01.58.
Freyaldenhoven also won the 800 meters by five seconds while Beebe’s John Paul Savage took seventh place with a 2:09.00.
Cabot’s Brandon Jones was fourth in the discus throw while Beebe’s Reese Anders was fifth.
Rocky Burke and Braxton Burton of Cabot finished third and fifth respectively in the pole vault. Nick Johnson of Lake Hamilton and Matthew Standridge of Caddo Hills were well ahead of the field, jumping 15-6 and 15-0 respectively. Burke cleared 12-6 Burton 11-6.
No local girls’ team finished in the top 10. Cabot finished 11th of 23 teams with 26 points. Sylvan Hills finished 13th with 14 points.
Cabot’s Tristyn Edgar was eighth in the 100-meter dash behind defending 6A and Meet of Champs champion Jada Baylark of Parkview.
Cabot sophomore Casey Gore took second in the 1,600 with a time of 5:27.65. Erin Woodward, a Little Rock Christian Academy senior, won with a time of 5:21.23.
The Sylvan Hills relay teams showed well. The 4x100 team finished fourth, the 4x400 team finished fifth and the 4x800 team took seventh.
Cabot didn’t place in the 4x100, but the 4x400 team was fourth and the 4x800 team finished second behind Lake Hamilton.
Sylvan Hills junior Chloe George was sixth in the 800.
Cabot’s Caytee Wright finished seventh in the shot put and Ashley Odom was eighth in the pole vault.
SPORTS STORY >> Cabot splits with Searcy
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot Panther baseball team split with Searcy in the first 7A/6A-East Conference doubleheader of the season Thursday at Brian Wade Conrade Memorial Field in Cabot. The Panthers lost the first game of the twin bill 6-4 before breaking a 3-3 tie with four unanswered runs in the seventh inning of game two to win 7-3.
In game one, Cabot (4-2, 1-1) couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start. The Panthers scored all four of their runs in the first inning and led 4-0 until the top of the fourth, when the Lions scored five runs to take the lead for good. Searcy (5-1, 1-1) added an insurance run in the top of the sixth to set the final score of game one.
It was a competitive game, and that competitiveness carried over to game two. The Panthers, playing as the visiting team on the scoreboard, trailed 2-1 heading into the fifth inning.
Cabot loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fifth with Eric Larsen at the plate. Larsen came through with a clutch two-RBI single that scored teammates Jake Slunder and Blake McCutchen and gave the hosts a 3-2 lead.
Searcy answered with the game-tying run in the bottom half of the inning to make it 3-3 entering the sixth. Neither team scored until the top of the seventh, when Cabot scored the remainder of its runs.
Catcher and three-hole hitter Denver Mullins hit a one-out double to right-center field to start the rally, and on the same play, Mullins advanced to third base because of an errant throw to second from the outfield.
Brian Tillery came in to run for the Panther catcher, and Larsen was intentionally walked the following at-bat. Second baseman Bobby Joe Duncan then came to the plate, and with runners at the corners, Larsen stole second.
Searcy catcher Andrew Stanley came up throwing to second, and as he did so, Tillery took off for home. Stanley’s throw to second was a bit high and to the right of second base, and the ball deflected off of shortstop Hayden Bowman’s glove and rolled into shallow right field.
Tillery scored on the play to give Cabot a 4-3 lead and Larsen went to third on the same play. Duncan then hit into a 4-3 groundout for the second out of the inning, but the hit drove in Larsen to give the Panthers a two-run lead.
Dylan Thomas reached on an error at shortstop the next at-bat, and Braden Jarnigan singled to right center the next at-bat. With runners at the corners and two strikes on Logan Kirkendoll, Jarnigan purposely got caught in a rundown. As the Searcy infielders were trying to get Jarnigan out, Logan Edmondson, Thomas’ courtesy runner, took off for home.
The Searcy second baseman turned to throw for home, but lost his balance trying to make the transition from focusing on Jarnigan to Edmondson, and as he fell to the dirt, Edmondson crossed home plate to give Cabot a 6-3 cushion.
“That is a first and third play that we run,” said Cabot coach Ronnie Goodwin of that play. “With two strikes on the hitter, the odds of him getting a hit obviously decrease significantly. It’s a play we call force balk early break.
“We hope the pitcher balks. If he doesn’t balk, it’s his job to stay in the rundown as long as he can and hopefully this guy (at third) can score when we get all of the attention on that base runner between first and second.
“I’ve run that play for four years in high school baseball and I think that’s the first time we’ve actually called it and run it to perfection. But yeah, it was a designed play. With a lead, you just try to put a little pressure on them and see if, you know, they’ll give you another one. Just trying to steal one there with two strikes on the hitter is all we were doing.”
After that play, Jarnigan stole second base, and then Kirkendoll hit a routine ground ball to shortstop, but the throw to first was dropped, and Jarnigan scored on the play to up the Cabot lead to 7-3.
In the bottom of the seventh, pitcher Michael Shepherd, who took to the hill in the sixth inning in relief of Brett Brockinton, struck out the first two batters he faced, looking. He then plunked Lion leadoff hitter Luke Dixon before two-hole hitter Jacob Rose hit into a 4-3 groundout to end the game in Cabot’s favor.
Shepherd didn’t give up a hit (just the hit batter) in the two innings pitched, walked just one Searcy batter and finished with two strikeouts in the winning effort.
“Michael Shepherd was huge in the game,” Goodwin said, “coming into a tight game right there. He came in in a tie game and kept it tied for us to take advantage of opportunities in the seventh inning. Brockinton pitched well, got us through five innings.
“Our pitching was outstanding. We made a couple of 0-2 mistakes we shouldn’t make, but everything that happened today I feel is fixable, and it’s only five, six games into the season. It’s about playing your best in May and that’s what we’re shooting for.”
Each team had five hits in game one. McCutchen, Kirkendoll, Larsen, Duncan and Brockinton combined for Cabot’s five hits. Searcy’s Austin Allen earned the win on the mound in that game. He threw the first six innings of game one, finishing with a game-high six strikeouts.
In game two, Larsen, Caleb Harpole, Mullins and Jarnigan each had a hit for the Panthers, with Larsen adding two RBIs.
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot Panther baseball team split with Searcy in the first 7A/6A-East Conference doubleheader of the season Thursday at Brian Wade Conrade Memorial Field in Cabot. The Panthers lost the first game of the twin bill 6-4 before breaking a 3-3 tie with four unanswered runs in the seventh inning of game two to win 7-3.
In game one, Cabot (4-2, 1-1) couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start. The Panthers scored all four of their runs in the first inning and led 4-0 until the top of the fourth, when the Lions scored five runs to take the lead for good. Searcy (5-1, 1-1) added an insurance run in the top of the sixth to set the final score of game one.
It was a competitive game, and that competitiveness carried over to game two. The Panthers, playing as the visiting team on the scoreboard, trailed 2-1 heading into the fifth inning.
Cabot loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fifth with Eric Larsen at the plate. Larsen came through with a clutch two-RBI single that scored teammates Jake Slunder and Blake McCutchen and gave the hosts a 3-2 lead.
Searcy answered with the game-tying run in the bottom half of the inning to make it 3-3 entering the sixth. Neither team scored until the top of the seventh, when Cabot scored the remainder of its runs.
Catcher and three-hole hitter Denver Mullins hit a one-out double to right-center field to start the rally, and on the same play, Mullins advanced to third base because of an errant throw to second from the outfield.
Brian Tillery came in to run for the Panther catcher, and Larsen was intentionally walked the following at-bat. Second baseman Bobby Joe Duncan then came to the plate, and with runners at the corners, Larsen stole second.
Searcy catcher Andrew Stanley came up throwing to second, and as he did so, Tillery took off for home. Stanley’s throw to second was a bit high and to the right of second base, and the ball deflected off of shortstop Hayden Bowman’s glove and rolled into shallow right field.
Tillery scored on the play to give Cabot a 4-3 lead and Larsen went to third on the same play. Duncan then hit into a 4-3 groundout for the second out of the inning, but the hit drove in Larsen to give the Panthers a two-run lead.
Dylan Thomas reached on an error at shortstop the next at-bat, and Braden Jarnigan singled to right center the next at-bat. With runners at the corners and two strikes on Logan Kirkendoll, Jarnigan purposely got caught in a rundown. As the Searcy infielders were trying to get Jarnigan out, Logan Edmondson, Thomas’ courtesy runner, took off for home.
The Searcy second baseman turned to throw for home, but lost his balance trying to make the transition from focusing on Jarnigan to Edmondson, and as he fell to the dirt, Edmondson crossed home plate to give Cabot a 6-3 cushion.
“That is a first and third play that we run,” said Cabot coach Ronnie Goodwin of that play. “With two strikes on the hitter, the odds of him getting a hit obviously decrease significantly. It’s a play we call force balk early break.
“We hope the pitcher balks. If he doesn’t balk, it’s his job to stay in the rundown as long as he can and hopefully this guy (at third) can score when we get all of the attention on that base runner between first and second.
“I’ve run that play for four years in high school baseball and I think that’s the first time we’ve actually called it and run it to perfection. But yeah, it was a designed play. With a lead, you just try to put a little pressure on them and see if, you know, they’ll give you another one. Just trying to steal one there with two strikes on the hitter is all we were doing.”
After that play, Jarnigan stole second base, and then Kirkendoll hit a routine ground ball to shortstop, but the throw to first was dropped, and Jarnigan scored on the play to up the Cabot lead to 7-3.
In the bottom of the seventh, pitcher Michael Shepherd, who took to the hill in the sixth inning in relief of Brett Brockinton, struck out the first two batters he faced, looking. He then plunked Lion leadoff hitter Luke Dixon before two-hole hitter Jacob Rose hit into a 4-3 groundout to end the game in Cabot’s favor.
Shepherd didn’t give up a hit (just the hit batter) in the two innings pitched, walked just one Searcy batter and finished with two strikeouts in the winning effort.
“Michael Shepherd was huge in the game,” Goodwin said, “coming into a tight game right there. He came in in a tie game and kept it tied for us to take advantage of opportunities in the seventh inning. Brockinton pitched well, got us through five innings.
“Our pitching was outstanding. We made a couple of 0-2 mistakes we shouldn’t make, but everything that happened today I feel is fixable, and it’s only five, six games into the season. It’s about playing your best in May and that’s what we’re shooting for.”
Each team had five hits in game one. McCutchen, Kirkendoll, Larsen, Duncan and Brockinton combined for Cabot’s five hits. Searcy’s Austin Allen earned the win on the mound in that game. He threw the first six innings of game one, finishing with a game-high six strikeouts.
In game two, Larsen, Caleb Harpole, Mullins and Jarnigan each had a hit for the Panthers, with Larsen adding two RBIs.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
SPORTS STORY >> Panthers prove them all wrong
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
People continue to call the Cabot Panthers’ 59-49 win over Bentonville in the Class 7A state championship game last Friday an upset, and rightly so, in a certain sense. No one gave the Panthers much of a chance against the Tigers, who boast one of the nation’s top recruits in senior sensation Malik Monk. There’s little debate about Monk being the best high school player in Arkansas, but neither should there be any doubt that Cabot is a better team than Bentonville.
But the Cabot doubters didn’t come along for the state championship game. Not many gave the Panthers much of a chance to beat Springdale. Along press row at Panther Arena, at least two reporters declared Cabot’s season finished when the Bulldogs went on a second-quarter run that gave them an 11-point halftime lead.
One person leaned over to the local sports editor and declared, “welcome to the 7A-West.”
Confused and wanting clarification, it was explained to the local sports editor that the 7A-West was much, much stronger than the Central and East, and that Springdale’s blowout of Cabot, which seemed to be underway, was always and predictably inevitable.
Not only did Cabot surprise the 7A-West admirers, but so did Bryant. The Hornets beat Fayetteville in the other quarterfinal game, leaving Bentonville as the only 7A-West team in the semifinals. And Bentonville itself got all it could handle from West Memphis in its quarterfinal game after the Blue Devils beat Springdale Har-Ber in the first round.
That same local sports editor ran into an old acquaintance he hadn’t seen in a few years, a radio analyst and message board owner, and was told, very matter of factly, “y’all (as if the reporter was part of the Cabot program) are going to get killed.”
It was further iterated that the 7A boys’ game was a complete mismatch and that Cabot had no one who could possibly matchup with, and/or stop Monk.
No one person did stop Monk, but the Panthers collectively guarded and frustrated the 6-foot-4 Kentucky Wildcat to-be into his worst performance this season, and proved all the cocksure prognosticators dead wrong.
Before the game, Cabot coach Jerry Bridges said he hoped to hold Monk to his average while holding every other Tiger below theirs. That’s what had worked for Fayetteville and that was the advice Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams gave Bridges.
Monk’s average was 30-plus. He scored 19. He went 0 for 11 from 3-point range and 2 for 12 from the floor in the fourth quarter, primarily because he rarely took an open shot.
Cabot defenders were picking him up 25-30 feet from the basket, and sometimes more than one. Monk regularly dribbled by the first man out on him, but always found another defender or two, or more, cutting off his pathways to the basket.
After the game, Monk, to his credit, was gracious and accommodating, and even upbeat, to the throngs of media and fans vying for a moment of his time. He told reporters that Cabot didn’t do anything his team had not seen before, but credited the Panthers with executing their plan better than the Tigers did theirs.
He was right.
It’s said so often it sounds like a cliché, but Cabot’s victory was indeed a total team effort.
In the first few moments of the game, it looked like the radio host might be right. Cabot turned the ball over three times before it got a shot off. Monk’s first two baskets were huge two-handed dunks; one in transition off a turnover and one off dribble penetration in the halfcourt set. Just like that, Cabot was behind 13-2 five minutes into the game. But Logan Gilbertson and Jarrod Barnes came off the bench to provide a huge spark for the Panthers.
They combined for five-straight points and Matt Stanley added another basket to quickly cut the deficit to 13-9.
Bentonville was an overall taller team than Cabot, but the Panthers’ inside game was stronger. The Tigers’ shortest player is listed at 6-feet, but most, even the 6-foot-6 Asa Hutchinson (grandson and namesake of the governor) rarely battled inside.
Bentonville’s 6-5 center Ty Robinson was effective enough offensively, but he could not defend the 6-8 Stanley, and the junior transfer from Vilonia led the Panthers offensively in the second quarter when they turned the game around for the first time.
Stanley scored eight of his 13 points in the second as Cabot turned a 15-9 deficit at the start of the quarter into a 25-22 lead at halftime.
But Stanley was hit with three quick fouls in the third quarter and was taken out of the game as Bentonville reestablished control. Stanley wasn’t the only Panther to pick up fouls quickly in the third. The first six fouls of the quarter, and eight of the first nine, were called on Cabot, and Bentonville was in the bonus less than halfway through the period, before Cabot had shot a single free throw.
Bentonville took the lead back, 36-33, by the end of the third, and scored the first four points of the fourth to take a 40-33 lead with about seven minutes remaining.
With Stanley stuck on the bench, Cabot had to find a different way to turn things around in the fourth quarter than it did in the second.
Despite giving up four straight to start the fourth, Cabot began to find its way again in the waning moments of the third. Gilbertson took a charge with about a minute left in the third, but Cabot didn’t capitalize. Bentonville tried to hold for the last shot, but Sebastian Zulch came off the bench for only a few seconds at the end of the third, and made a huge play. He perfectly timed and executed his double team as he and Barnes harassed Monk into a backcourt violation that led to a free throw by Stanley to end the quarter.
Once Cabot got down seven with seven minutes to go, things changed dramatically. Cabot got hot from the floor. Barnes hit two 3-pointers and Hunter Southerland made one, and the Panthers went 5 of 6 from two-point range the rest of the way.
The fourth quarter can only be called a rout. Cabot outscored Bentonville 26-13, but the Tigers’ last seven points were basically after the winner had been determined.
From seven down, Cabot went on an 18-2 run, including 15 in a row to take a 51-42 lead with three minutes left.
No one at the time would’ve said the game was over at that point, but in retrospect, it was. Bentonville was gassed. Most of the team appeared to be waiting for Monk to do something, and Monk was primarily relying on, or perhaps settling for, long jump shots.
Fatigue was setting in and after being kept out of the lane all game; it was almost all he could rely on. He did crash the boards hard and it got him a couple of offensive rebounds and putbacks late in the game, but that wasn’t going to be enough to mount a comeback.
The better team had prevailed.
Leader sports editor
People continue to call the Cabot Panthers’ 59-49 win over Bentonville in the Class 7A state championship game last Friday an upset, and rightly so, in a certain sense. No one gave the Panthers much of a chance against the Tigers, who boast one of the nation’s top recruits in senior sensation Malik Monk. There’s little debate about Monk being the best high school player in Arkansas, but neither should there be any doubt that Cabot is a better team than Bentonville.
But the Cabot doubters didn’t come along for the state championship game. Not many gave the Panthers much of a chance to beat Springdale. Along press row at Panther Arena, at least two reporters declared Cabot’s season finished when the Bulldogs went on a second-quarter run that gave them an 11-point halftime lead.
One person leaned over to the local sports editor and declared, “welcome to the 7A-West.”
Confused and wanting clarification, it was explained to the local sports editor that the 7A-West was much, much stronger than the Central and East, and that Springdale’s blowout of Cabot, which seemed to be underway, was always and predictably inevitable.
Not only did Cabot surprise the 7A-West admirers, but so did Bryant. The Hornets beat Fayetteville in the other quarterfinal game, leaving Bentonville as the only 7A-West team in the semifinals. And Bentonville itself got all it could handle from West Memphis in its quarterfinal game after the Blue Devils beat Springdale Har-Ber in the first round.
That same local sports editor ran into an old acquaintance he hadn’t seen in a few years, a radio analyst and message board owner, and was told, very matter of factly, “y’all (as if the reporter was part of the Cabot program) are going to get killed.”
It was further iterated that the 7A boys’ game was a complete mismatch and that Cabot had no one who could possibly matchup with, and/or stop Monk.
No one person did stop Monk, but the Panthers collectively guarded and frustrated the 6-foot-4 Kentucky Wildcat to-be into his worst performance this season, and proved all the cocksure prognosticators dead wrong.
Before the game, Cabot coach Jerry Bridges said he hoped to hold Monk to his average while holding every other Tiger below theirs. That’s what had worked for Fayetteville and that was the advice Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams gave Bridges.
Monk’s average was 30-plus. He scored 19. He went 0 for 11 from 3-point range and 2 for 12 from the floor in the fourth quarter, primarily because he rarely took an open shot.
Cabot defenders were picking him up 25-30 feet from the basket, and sometimes more than one. Monk regularly dribbled by the first man out on him, but always found another defender or two, or more, cutting off his pathways to the basket.
After the game, Monk, to his credit, was gracious and accommodating, and even upbeat, to the throngs of media and fans vying for a moment of his time. He told reporters that Cabot didn’t do anything his team had not seen before, but credited the Panthers with executing their plan better than the Tigers did theirs.
He was right.
It’s said so often it sounds like a cliché, but Cabot’s victory was indeed a total team effort.
In the first few moments of the game, it looked like the radio host might be right. Cabot turned the ball over three times before it got a shot off. Monk’s first two baskets were huge two-handed dunks; one in transition off a turnover and one off dribble penetration in the halfcourt set. Just like that, Cabot was behind 13-2 five minutes into the game. But Logan Gilbertson and Jarrod Barnes came off the bench to provide a huge spark for the Panthers.
They combined for five-straight points and Matt Stanley added another basket to quickly cut the deficit to 13-9.
Bentonville was an overall taller team than Cabot, but the Panthers’ inside game was stronger. The Tigers’ shortest player is listed at 6-feet, but most, even the 6-foot-6 Asa Hutchinson (grandson and namesake of the governor) rarely battled inside.
Bentonville’s 6-5 center Ty Robinson was effective enough offensively, but he could not defend the 6-8 Stanley, and the junior transfer from Vilonia led the Panthers offensively in the second quarter when they turned the game around for the first time.
Stanley scored eight of his 13 points in the second as Cabot turned a 15-9 deficit at the start of the quarter into a 25-22 lead at halftime.
But Stanley was hit with three quick fouls in the third quarter and was taken out of the game as Bentonville reestablished control. Stanley wasn’t the only Panther to pick up fouls quickly in the third. The first six fouls of the quarter, and eight of the first nine, were called on Cabot, and Bentonville was in the bonus less than halfway through the period, before Cabot had shot a single free throw.
Bentonville took the lead back, 36-33, by the end of the third, and scored the first four points of the fourth to take a 40-33 lead with about seven minutes remaining.
With Stanley stuck on the bench, Cabot had to find a different way to turn things around in the fourth quarter than it did in the second.
Despite giving up four straight to start the fourth, Cabot began to find its way again in the waning moments of the third. Gilbertson took a charge with about a minute left in the third, but Cabot didn’t capitalize. Bentonville tried to hold for the last shot, but Sebastian Zulch came off the bench for only a few seconds at the end of the third, and made a huge play. He perfectly timed and executed his double team as he and Barnes harassed Monk into a backcourt violation that led to a free throw by Stanley to end the quarter.
Once Cabot got down seven with seven minutes to go, things changed dramatically. Cabot got hot from the floor. Barnes hit two 3-pointers and Hunter Southerland made one, and the Panthers went 5 of 6 from two-point range the rest of the way.
The fourth quarter can only be called a rout. Cabot outscored Bentonville 26-13, but the Tigers’ last seven points were basically after the winner had been determined.
From seven down, Cabot went on an 18-2 run, including 15 in a row to take a 51-42 lead with three minutes left.
No one at the time would’ve said the game was over at that point, but in retrospect, it was. Bentonville was gassed. Most of the team appeared to be waiting for Monk to do something, and Monk was primarily relying on, or perhaps settling for, long jump shots.
Fatigue was setting in and after being kept out of the lane all game; it was almost all he could rely on. He did crash the boards hard and it got him a couple of offensive rebounds and putbacks late in the game, but that wasn’t going to be enough to mount a comeback.
The better team had prevailed.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
EDITORIAL >> Runoff voting is underway
Early voting is underway for three runoffs in Lonoke County and will continue through Friday and Monday with Election Day on Tuesday.
We previously reported that early voting would be open Saturday, but Lonoke County Election Commissioner Chuck Eick said Tuesday state law does not allow early voting on Saturdays for runoffs.
People who voted in the Republican primary, used a nonpartisan ballot or didn’t vote can vote in the coroner race between Carla Horton and Karl E. (Eddie) Pennington, who cannot accept the job even if he wins because he dropped out of the race, though not soon enough for ballots to be changed.
If Pennington, who did not campaign at all but earned the most votes in the March 1 primary, comes out on top in the runoff, the current coroner, Cheryl Thomas, will serve for another two years until a regular election is held.
Thomas was appointed to fill the term of her husband, who died while in office. Appointees are ineligible to run.
Horton has worked for the State Crime Lab and several funeral homes.
Bob Morris and Kenny Ridgeway are in a runoff for the Dist. 13 justice of the peace seat, which was held by the late Larry Odom, who died last year. Both are solid candidates who will bring a lot of experience to the quorum court.
Morris almost got the 50 percent of the vote in the primary that’s needed to avoid a runoff. He netted about 46 percent. He’s a successful business owner and is known for his work with the Community Theatre of Cabot.
“I’m elated at the opportunity to be of service to the county — all the citizens of the county,” he told The Leader after the primary.
Ridgeway is also well known in the community. He said he’s confident that, no matter who wins, residents will be well served. They’ll be “in good hands,” and Morris is “a good man.”
Claud E. Irvin and John Howard are also facing off for the Dist. 4 JP seat.
Early voting sites are ReNew Community Church at 1122 S. Second St. in Cabot and the Lonoke County Courthouse Annex on North Center Street in Lonoke.
The early voting polls will be open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today through Friday and on Monday.
We previously reported that early voting would be open Saturday, but Lonoke County Election Commissioner Chuck Eick said Tuesday state law does not allow early voting on Saturdays for runoffs.
People who voted in the Republican primary, used a nonpartisan ballot or didn’t vote can vote in the coroner race between Carla Horton and Karl E. (Eddie) Pennington, who cannot accept the job even if he wins because he dropped out of the race, though not soon enough for ballots to be changed.
If Pennington, who did not campaign at all but earned the most votes in the March 1 primary, comes out on top in the runoff, the current coroner, Cheryl Thomas, will serve for another two years until a regular election is held.
Thomas was appointed to fill the term of her husband, who died while in office. Appointees are ineligible to run.
Horton has worked for the State Crime Lab and several funeral homes.
Bob Morris and Kenny Ridgeway are in a runoff for the Dist. 13 justice of the peace seat, which was held by the late Larry Odom, who died last year. Both are solid candidates who will bring a lot of experience to the quorum court.
Morris almost got the 50 percent of the vote in the primary that’s needed to avoid a runoff. He netted about 46 percent. He’s a successful business owner and is known for his work with the Community Theatre of Cabot.
“I’m elated at the opportunity to be of service to the county — all the citizens of the county,” he told The Leader after the primary.
Ridgeway is also well known in the community. He said he’s confident that, no matter who wins, residents will be well served. They’ll be “in good hands,” and Morris is “a good man.”
Claud E. Irvin and John Howard are also facing off for the Dist. 4 JP seat.
Early voting sites are ReNew Community Church at 1122 S. Second St. in Cabot and the Lonoke County Courthouse Annex on North Center Street in Lonoke.
The early voting polls will be open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today through Friday and on Monday.
TOP STORY >> U.S. Senate hopeful stops in Jacksonville
By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
About 20 people listened to Conner Eldridge, who is running as a Democrat against Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) in November, outline his platform during a fundraising reception Tuesday at Chopsticks Inter-national Center in Jacksonville.
Eldridge grew up working on a family farm in Lonoke, off Hwy. 70. He graduated from Lonoke High School, then Davidson College in North Carolina and the University of Arkansas Law School in Fayetteville.
He was U.S attorney for the state’s Western District for five years and, before that, worked for Summit Bank in Arkadelphia from 2004-2010.
Tuesday was his 13th wedding anniversary, and he has three sons, ages 3, 5 and 8.
The candidate compared the actions of those in Washington to his youngest boys, fighting over a toy and pretending to agree on who could play with it first.
Eldridge said senators are supposed to listen to their constituents and represent them.
Washington is broken by partisanship, the candidate argued. “Our politics are completely messed up, and we’ve got to do something different, and that’s why I got in this race,” he continued. “Everybody’s supposed to sit down and work together to solve problems.”
Eldridge also pointed out that this is his first time running and the incumbent has been in Congress 16 years and passed four pieces of legislations, to rename post offices.
The candidate says he’ll be “a stronger voice for our state, work hard every day to get things done for people in Arkansas, to be passionate, to be full of conviction and to go really make a difference on real issues that matter.”
Eldridge said the amount of money in politics should change because it’s buying things that shouldn’t be bought.
The candidate was asked whether he would support raising the federal highway tax. He said the government needs to spend money on infrastructure but needs to find a way to do that while dealing with long-term budgeting issues.
There is no perfect solution, he noted, but those from both parties should pick the best one for any situation, he noted.
Eldridge was asked what he would do about lobbyists and answered that he’d tell them “no.”
The candidate also ex-pressed confidence in his chances of winning the race because, he says, people are frustrated, want change and the presidential election will bring more voters to the polls.
Leader staff writer
About 20 people listened to Conner Eldridge, who is running as a Democrat against Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) in November, outline his platform during a fundraising reception Tuesday at Chopsticks Inter-national Center in Jacksonville.
Eldridge grew up working on a family farm in Lonoke, off Hwy. 70. He graduated from Lonoke High School, then Davidson College in North Carolina and the University of Arkansas Law School in Fayetteville.
He was U.S attorney for the state’s Western District for five years and, before that, worked for Summit Bank in Arkadelphia from 2004-2010.
Tuesday was his 13th wedding anniversary, and he has three sons, ages 3, 5 and 8.
The candidate compared the actions of those in Washington to his youngest boys, fighting over a toy and pretending to agree on who could play with it first.
Eldridge said senators are supposed to listen to their constituents and represent them.
Washington is broken by partisanship, the candidate argued. “Our politics are completely messed up, and we’ve got to do something different, and that’s why I got in this race,” he continued. “Everybody’s supposed to sit down and work together to solve problems.”
Eldridge also pointed out that this is his first time running and the incumbent has been in Congress 16 years and passed four pieces of legislations, to rename post offices.
The candidate says he’ll be “a stronger voice for our state, work hard every day to get things done for people in Arkansas, to be passionate, to be full of conviction and to go really make a difference on real issues that matter.”
Eldridge said the amount of money in politics should change because it’s buying things that shouldn’t be bought.
The candidate was asked whether he would support raising the federal highway tax. He said the government needs to spend money on infrastructure but needs to find a way to do that while dealing with long-term budgeting issues.
There is no perfect solution, he noted, but those from both parties should pick the best one for any situation, he noted.
Eldridge was asked what he would do about lobbyists and answered that he’d tell them “no.”
The candidate also ex-pressed confidence in his chances of winning the race because, he says, people are frustrated, want change and the presidential election will bring more voters to the polls.
TOP STORY >> Military museum annual banquet
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
The Jacksonville Museum of Military History’s annual fundraiser and auction netted $15,000 for the beloved nonprofit.
It was held Saturday at the community center.
Museum Chairwoman Joan Zumwalt said, “The Night at the Victory Canteen” banquet is the museum’s biggest fundraiser of the year. It enables the museum to pay its basic bills. A golf tournament is held in the fall. There are things the museum cannot spend Jacksonville Advertising and Promotions money on.
“It is a big boost for the museum. The community has always been very supportive. We are very appreciative of our supporters and the community at large,” she continued.
“We are having more visitors at the museum. They are amazed at the collection and exhibits we have. We can compare with any other museum of its kind. It is also a history of Jacksonville too,” Zumwalt noted.
Museum Director Danna-Kay Duggar said the fundraiser keeps the lights on and the doors to the museum open.
The museum receives some money from the city, but the fundraiser dinner and auction are still necessary.
The nonprofit has one full-time employee and one part-time employee. The rest are volunteers.
“We are grateful for the money from the city. We always wanted to stand on our own. It will always be a goal for us,” Duggar said. “We still have exhibits that we are building.”
The fundraiser had a silent auction and a live auction with auctioneer Larry Biernacki.
The evening wrapped up with musical entertainment. The Bombers performed Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” with Miss Greater Jacksonville Kelli Collins singing with the group.
Collins and Mayor Gary Fletcher sang Johnny Cash and June Carter’s
“Jackson(ville).” Fletcher also sang Kenny Rogers’ “Don’t Take Your Love to Town” and Roy Orbinson’s “Pretty Woman.”
Alderman James Bolden belted out Al Green’s “Take Me to the River.”
The group’s finale was “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” by McFadden and Whitehead. It was described as an anthem that sums up Jacksonville and its new school district.
The museum, 100 Veterans Circle, opened in May 2005. It is located on the site of the old Jacksonville Ordnance Plant.
The museum is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Special arrangements can be made for groups of 10 or more.
Leader staff writer
The Jacksonville Museum of Military History’s annual fundraiser and auction netted $15,000 for the beloved nonprofit.
It was held Saturday at the community center.
Museum Chairwoman Joan Zumwalt said, “The Night at the Victory Canteen” banquet is the museum’s biggest fundraiser of the year. It enables the museum to pay its basic bills. A golf tournament is held in the fall. There are things the museum cannot spend Jacksonville Advertising and Promotions money on.
“It is a big boost for the museum. The community has always been very supportive. We are very appreciative of our supporters and the community at large,” she continued.
“We are having more visitors at the museum. They are amazed at the collection and exhibits we have. We can compare with any other museum of its kind. It is also a history of Jacksonville too,” Zumwalt noted.
Museum Director Danna-Kay Duggar said the fundraiser keeps the lights on and the doors to the museum open.
The museum receives some money from the city, but the fundraiser dinner and auction are still necessary.
The nonprofit has one full-time employee and one part-time employee. The rest are volunteers.
“We are grateful for the money from the city. We always wanted to stand on our own. It will always be a goal for us,” Duggar said. “We still have exhibits that we are building.”
The fundraiser had a silent auction and a live auction with auctioneer Larry Biernacki.
The evening wrapped up with musical entertainment. The Bombers performed Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” with Miss Greater Jacksonville Kelli Collins singing with the group.
Collins and Mayor Gary Fletcher sang Johnny Cash and June Carter’s
“Jackson(ville).” Fletcher also sang Kenny Rogers’ “Don’t Take Your Love to Town” and Roy Orbinson’s “Pretty Woman.”
Alderman James Bolden belted out Al Green’s “Take Me to the River.”
The group’s finale was “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” by McFadden and Whitehead. It was described as an anthem that sums up Jacksonville and its new school district.
The museum, 100 Veterans Circle, opened in May 2005. It is located on the site of the old Jacksonville Ordnance Plant.
The museum is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Special arrangements can be made for groups of 10 or more.
TOP STORY >> Fifth graders perform Shakespeare
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
To be or not to be…outstanding.
That was the challenge posed to a group of fifth graders from Warren Dupree Elementary who participated in the Shakespeare Scene Festival at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Thursday.
Their response was outstanding, according to the director of the two-day event, Kim McAbee.
“The goal of the Shakespeare Scene Festival is to demystify the study of Shakespeare. Shakespeare often intimidates people, and theater can all too often seem stuffy or unapproachable. We want to make performance fun for all audiences in the hopes that the event inspires a love of both Shakespearean literature and the theater,” the professor explained.
The Warren Dupree youngsters spent more than a month reading “Julius Caesar” and another month developing and practicing their own version – “The Politically Incorrect Julius Caesar.”
Among the changes to Shakespeare’s version, the conspirators, including Brutus, were women. Darth Vader made an appearance, as did political candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
McAbee said, “The fifth-grade performers are always a highlight of the festival. In addition to being a fantastically engaging and funny performance on its own, these young students managed to serve as models for the middle and high school students at the festival, setting a high bar for all in attendance.”
Michaelle Malvin, 11, who played Brutus, said, “It was fun. I was a little nervous at first when we got on that big stage at the university, but I got used to it.” She said she loved playing Brutus but wouldn’t want be him in real life because “bad karma caught up with him.”
Grainger Pearson, 11, loved his role as Caesar. “I was the star,” he quipped. He said he was nervous when the class first arrived at the theater. “But then I got nervous and then not so.”
Pearson said, when he and his classmates first started reading “Julius Caesar,” he was not really interested in it. “But I got hooked quickly and wanted to read the whole thing.”
Tristyn Armstrong, 10, had multiple parts, including the street cobbler, Brutus’ house-husband Porter and Darth Vader. He enjoyed his roles, saying, “I got to be angry, to show different emotions. It was very exciting.”
Armstrong said he came to understand the relationship between Brutus and Portia in the real Shakespeare.
“I get it now. Portia wasn’t good under pressure. If she was she might have been able to stop Brutus,” he noted.
Andrew Bauer, 10, also had a number of roles — from playing the prince from “Romeo and Juliet” to Decius, who was in the gang that attacks Caesar, and the soothsayer who tries to warn Caesar.
The fifth graders decided to open the play with a scene from “Romeo and Juliet” where the Montagues and Capulets are fighting and the prince has to give them a warning. “Instead of Capulets and Montagues, we had Trump and Hillary supporters,” explained Bauer, who admitted the group forgot a line or two “but the audience gave us an A.”
Rachel Crow, 10, played one of two students who were “color commentators” during the play.
She dressed in a Thing One outfit saluting Dr. Seuss and Read Across America Week. In reading the play, Crow thought, “This will be exciting but also a little hard and Brutus seems to have a lot of parts.”
She really liked the garden scene in the fifth-grade version where Brutus is talking aloud, deciding whether or not to help kill Caesar. “We had Darth Vader come in and bring Brutus to the dark side. It was cool,” Crow said.
Ciara Greene, who played Thing Two and was the other commentator, said it best with one of her lines from the play and about the play, “It’s all about warnings. You know, where things, especially bad things, happen in threes. There’s murder, blood and guts.”
The fifth graders were the third group to perform Thursday, following Horace Mann Middle School and the Episcopal Collegiate School.
Like Warren Dupree, Horace Mann developed their own play using select lines from nearly all the Shakespeare plays.
“But they had scripts,” said Pearson, “We knew all of our lines without scripts or cue cards.”
The Episcopal group stayed true to the Shakespeare form, performing selected portions of Act 1 of “Much Ado about Nothing.”
“It was good to watch them before we performed,” said Crow. “We picked up some tips of what to do and not to do from watching them.”
All the young actors agreed that speaking loudly and clearly were the key to their outstanding performance.
McAbee said the Warren Dupree troupe “wonderfully tied together the themes of Julius Caesar with the current presidential election, making Shakespeare’s Roman play especially timely. Most impressive of all, the class was beautifully prepared: they had mastered their lines, projected their voices and made excellent use of the stage space.”
Professor Roslyn L. Knutson of UALR’s English department, started the Shakespeare Scene Festival in imitation of a program at the Folger Shakespeare Library. The festival got fully underway on the UALR campus in 1998 with classes from three high schools, one junior high and one elementary school.
Leader staff writer
To be or not to be…outstanding.
That was the challenge posed to a group of fifth graders from Warren Dupree Elementary who participated in the Shakespeare Scene Festival at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Thursday.
Their response was outstanding, according to the director of the two-day event, Kim McAbee.
“The goal of the Shakespeare Scene Festival is to demystify the study of Shakespeare. Shakespeare often intimidates people, and theater can all too often seem stuffy or unapproachable. We want to make performance fun for all audiences in the hopes that the event inspires a love of both Shakespearean literature and the theater,” the professor explained.
The Warren Dupree youngsters spent more than a month reading “Julius Caesar” and another month developing and practicing their own version – “The Politically Incorrect Julius Caesar.”
Among the changes to Shakespeare’s version, the conspirators, including Brutus, were women. Darth Vader made an appearance, as did political candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
McAbee said, “The fifth-grade performers are always a highlight of the festival. In addition to being a fantastically engaging and funny performance on its own, these young students managed to serve as models for the middle and high school students at the festival, setting a high bar for all in attendance.”
Michaelle Malvin, 11, who played Brutus, said, “It was fun. I was a little nervous at first when we got on that big stage at the university, but I got used to it.” She said she loved playing Brutus but wouldn’t want be him in real life because “bad karma caught up with him.”
Grainger Pearson, 11, loved his role as Caesar. “I was the star,” he quipped. He said he was nervous when the class first arrived at the theater. “But then I got nervous and then not so.”
Pearson said, when he and his classmates first started reading “Julius Caesar,” he was not really interested in it. “But I got hooked quickly and wanted to read the whole thing.”
Tristyn Armstrong, 10, had multiple parts, including the street cobbler, Brutus’ house-husband Porter and Darth Vader. He enjoyed his roles, saying, “I got to be angry, to show different emotions. It was very exciting.”
Armstrong said he came to understand the relationship between Brutus and Portia in the real Shakespeare.
“I get it now. Portia wasn’t good under pressure. If she was she might have been able to stop Brutus,” he noted.
Andrew Bauer, 10, also had a number of roles — from playing the prince from “Romeo and Juliet” to Decius, who was in the gang that attacks Caesar, and the soothsayer who tries to warn Caesar.
The fifth graders decided to open the play with a scene from “Romeo and Juliet” where the Montagues and Capulets are fighting and the prince has to give them a warning. “Instead of Capulets and Montagues, we had Trump and Hillary supporters,” explained Bauer, who admitted the group forgot a line or two “but the audience gave us an A.”
Rachel Crow, 10, played one of two students who were “color commentators” during the play.
She dressed in a Thing One outfit saluting Dr. Seuss and Read Across America Week. In reading the play, Crow thought, “This will be exciting but also a little hard and Brutus seems to have a lot of parts.”
She really liked the garden scene in the fifth-grade version where Brutus is talking aloud, deciding whether or not to help kill Caesar. “We had Darth Vader come in and bring Brutus to the dark side. It was cool,” Crow said.
Ciara Greene, who played Thing Two and was the other commentator, said it best with one of her lines from the play and about the play, “It’s all about warnings. You know, where things, especially bad things, happen in threes. There’s murder, blood and guts.”
The fifth graders were the third group to perform Thursday, following Horace Mann Middle School and the Episcopal Collegiate School.
Like Warren Dupree, Horace Mann developed their own play using select lines from nearly all the Shakespeare plays.
“But they had scripts,” said Pearson, “We knew all of our lines without scripts or cue cards.”
The Episcopal group stayed true to the Shakespeare form, performing selected portions of Act 1 of “Much Ado about Nothing.”
“It was good to watch them before we performed,” said Crow. “We picked up some tips of what to do and not to do from watching them.”
All the young actors agreed that speaking loudly and clearly were the key to their outstanding performance.
McAbee said the Warren Dupree troupe “wonderfully tied together the themes of Julius Caesar with the current presidential election, making Shakespeare’s Roman play especially timely. Most impressive of all, the class was beautifully prepared: they had mastered their lines, projected their voices and made excellent use of the stage space.”
Professor Roslyn L. Knutson of UALR’s English department, started the Shakespeare Scene Festival in imitation of a program at the Folger Shakespeare Library. The festival got fully underway on the UALR campus in 1998 with classes from three high schools, one junior high and one elementary school.
TOP STORY >> Huckabee, Rubio — now what?
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader executive editor
Donald Trump, the billionaire real-estate developer and entrepreneur with a checkered past and raucous political rallies, is rapidly moving toward the Republican presidential nomination with a string of primary victories yesterday and on Super Tuesday.
As expected, Trump knocked Sen. Marco Rubio out of the race after a humiliating loss in Florida. Hillary Clinton should now cruise to her nomination after defeating Sen. Bernie Sanders in five states Tuesday. He, too, must be thinking about quitting.
Arkansas politicians who endorsed Rubio for president are rethinking their preferences again after favorite son Mike Huckabee fell flat even before the first round of primaries.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way for Republicans when the presidential season kicked off last summer. State officials had hoped Huckabee would win Arkansas’ Super Tuesday primary — the date was moved up long ago in hopes it would benefit the former governor — but Huckabee’s ill-fated run faded quickly as Trump scooped up evangelical voters in the early primaries and had no trouble winning in Arkansas.
Huckabee’s carefully worded endorsement of Trump in Arkansas may have helped the frontrunner, who is said to have Huckabee on a short list of possible running mates, along with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (Sen. John McCain’s running mate in 2008) and Dr. Ben Carson, who has dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson was among the first to endorse Rubio after Huckabee dropped out. Other Arkansas officials who endorsed Rubio include Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin; state Auditor Andrea Lea; U.S. Reps. Steve Womack (R-Rogers) and Rick Crawford (R-Jonesboro), along with the Republican leaders of the state House and Senate.
Rep. French Hill (R-Little Rock) has not made an early endorsement, maybe because he’s a former banker and knows how to count: Trump has had a huge lead in the polls for months and is well ahead in the race for delegates.
Arkansas officials must now decide if they want a brokered convention to stop Trump from getting the nomination. They could endorse either Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or Ohio Gov. John Kasich, although it’s probably too late, or throw their support behind the flamboyant businessman, who is remaking the party into a white nationalist movement 36 years after Ronald Reagan insisted the party would thrive only if it became more inclusive.
No wonder traditional Republicans, including those in Arkansas, are nervous as they watch Trump’s often-rowdy rallies turn violent, which are certain to drive black and Hispanic voters from the party and into the arms of the Democratic nominee.
Rubio, once the future hope of the Republican Party, called it quits only weeks after former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush abandoned his misbegotten campaign. Bush and Rubio will probably rally around Kasich, who easily won his home state yesterday. But the race is now down to Clinton and Trump.
Prominent Republicans around the country are saying they will not support Trump. Many of them have said they’re no longer Republicans.
Mike Jackson, chairman of AutoNation, the large chain of car dealerships based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., sounded downbeat just hours before his state’s primary.
“The unthinkable is about to happen in the home state of a very popular former governor, Jeb Bush, who is now out of the race,” Jackson said. “A sitting senator who won election with very strong numbers is about to be defeated by Donald Trump for winner take all, 99 delegates.”
The fight will continue perhaps until the Republican convention in Cleveland, but long after the presidential election is over, GOP elders will ask themselves who stole their party and how will they ever get it back.
Leader executive editor
Donald Trump, the billionaire real-estate developer and entrepreneur with a checkered past and raucous political rallies, is rapidly moving toward the Republican presidential nomination with a string of primary victories yesterday and on Super Tuesday.
As expected, Trump knocked Sen. Marco Rubio out of the race after a humiliating loss in Florida. Hillary Clinton should now cruise to her nomination after defeating Sen. Bernie Sanders in five states Tuesday. He, too, must be thinking about quitting.
Arkansas politicians who endorsed Rubio for president are rethinking their preferences again after favorite son Mike Huckabee fell flat even before the first round of primaries.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way for Republicans when the presidential season kicked off last summer. State officials had hoped Huckabee would win Arkansas’ Super Tuesday primary — the date was moved up long ago in hopes it would benefit the former governor — but Huckabee’s ill-fated run faded quickly as Trump scooped up evangelical voters in the early primaries and had no trouble winning in Arkansas.
Huckabee’s carefully worded endorsement of Trump in Arkansas may have helped the frontrunner, who is said to have Huckabee on a short list of possible running mates, along with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (Sen. John McCain’s running mate in 2008) and Dr. Ben Carson, who has dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson was among the first to endorse Rubio after Huckabee dropped out. Other Arkansas officials who endorsed Rubio include Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin; state Auditor Andrea Lea; U.S. Reps. Steve Womack (R-Rogers) and Rick Crawford (R-Jonesboro), along with the Republican leaders of the state House and Senate.
Rep. French Hill (R-Little Rock) has not made an early endorsement, maybe because he’s a former banker and knows how to count: Trump has had a huge lead in the polls for months and is well ahead in the race for delegates.
Arkansas officials must now decide if they want a brokered convention to stop Trump from getting the nomination. They could endorse either Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or Ohio Gov. John Kasich, although it’s probably too late, or throw their support behind the flamboyant businessman, who is remaking the party into a white nationalist movement 36 years after Ronald Reagan insisted the party would thrive only if it became more inclusive.
No wonder traditional Republicans, including those in Arkansas, are nervous as they watch Trump’s often-rowdy rallies turn violent, which are certain to drive black and Hispanic voters from the party and into the arms of the Democratic nominee.
Rubio, once the future hope of the Republican Party, called it quits only weeks after former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush abandoned his misbegotten campaign. Bush and Rubio will probably rally around Kasich, who easily won his home state yesterday. But the race is now down to Clinton and Trump.
Prominent Republicans around the country are saying they will not support Trump. Many of them have said they’re no longer Republicans.
Mike Jackson, chairman of AutoNation, the large chain of car dealerships based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., sounded downbeat just hours before his state’s primary.
“The unthinkable is about to happen in the home state of a very popular former governor, Jeb Bush, who is now out of the race,” Jackson said. “A sitting senator who won election with very strong numbers is about to be defeated by Donald Trump for winner take all, 99 delegates.”
The fight will continue perhaps until the Republican convention in Cleveland, but long after the presidential election is over, GOP elders will ask themselves who stole their party and how will they ever get it back.
SPORTS STORY >> Weeks is first freshman champ
 |
| Lexi Weeks became the first freshman ever to win an NCAA pole vault championship. |
Special to The Leader
FAYETTEVILLE – Though their indoor track and field teams finished No. 2, there is nothing second best about how Arkansas Men’s coach Chris Bucknam and Arkansas Women’s coach Lance Harter regard their Razorbacks.
For Harter’s women, freshman Lexi Weeks of Cabot became the first freshman to win the NCAA Indoor pole vault, clearing a personal record 15-2 1-4.
Doubtless, the Weeks twin sisters, Tori Weeks vaulted 14-1 1-2 and scored three sixth-place team points in addition to Lexi’s 10 for first, become the first freshman twins scoring All-American points in the women’s vault.
Lexi Weeks becomes the fourth vaulter coached by Arkansas’ women’s vault coach Bryan Compton that vaulted to a NCAA championship.
Sandi Morris, the best known of Compton’s national champions and now vaulting professionally, vaulted 16-2 to win at the USATF national championship and will represent the U.S. at the World Indoor Championships.
“You have two freshman pole vaulters that’s always kind of a wild card,” Harter said. “But the Weeks sisters, they acted like they were fifth-year seniors. ‘What’s the big deal? Let’s do what we have been doing all season.’ They and coach Compton have such a great bond. For Lexi to win it as a freshman was just incredible.”
Harter’s SEC Indoor champion women, nationally ranked No. 4 behind Oregon and the Florida and Georgia teams they defeated at the SEC Indoor in Fayetteville, finished second with 50 points, just three behind the Oregon Ducks they outpointed to win last year’s NCAA Indoor in Fayetteville, while Georgia was third with 45 points.
Those exceeding expectations in supporting roles were as highly praised by their coaches as were their champions.
“I think every kid got back a lifetime best,” Harter said. “It was absolutely amazing. To have that many entries and each one hit a lifetime best that’s a tribute to the athlete and also a tribute to the coaching progressions that you always want to be at the top of your game for the most important meet of the year. I was really proud of that. We just kept scoring across the board.”
Harter said Arkansas established the momentum the first day with Taliyah Brooks, Payton Stumbaugh, scoring an All-American seventh in Saturday’s 60-meter hurdles and Alex Gochenour placing second, fifth and sixth in Friday’s pentathlon to become a team’s first trio of pentathletes to score at the NCAA meet, Harter said.
Also Taylor Ellis-Watson doubled brilliantly with a 51.51 second-place 400-meter dash time and anchoring Arkansas’ second-place 4 x 400 relay and Arkansas’ 11th-seeded distance medley relay, anchored by Jessica Kamilos for the mile, placed fifth.
Among his men, Bucknam lauded sprinter Kenzo Cotton placing in both the 60 and 200-meter dashes, Andreas Trajovski netting fifth in the long jump and freshman Carlton Orange netting sixth in the 800.
“Absolutely our guys gave it everything they had,” Bucknam said. “Obviously as a coach I am really proud of that. Last year indoors we were second in the SEC and third at the NCAA, so it feels awfully good to have won that SEC championship and have that national runner-up trophy.”
SPORTS STORY >> Jumping Jeff takes second, also sprinting
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Sylvan Hills graduate Jeff Henderson fell well short of his best effort, but still finished second in the long jump in the United States Track and Field Indoor Championships this past weekend in Eugene, Ore.
Henderson, who has also been spending time this year doing private workouts for NFL teams interested in giving the speedster a chance to prove his mettle on the gridiron, competed in two events at the elite level for the first time in his career.
The 5-foot-10 Pan-Am games winner in the long jump, jumped 8.05 meters, or 26-feet, 5-inches for second place. The jump was more than a foot and a half from his personal best of 8.54 meters (28-feet, 1/4 inches) and 14 inches short of Marcus Dendy’s winning jump.
Henderson only used four of his six allowed attempts, deciding to pass on his final jumps in order to focus on the 60-meter dash, which he was running for the first time at a national championship event.
Henderson turned in the fourth-fastest time in the event with a 6.58-second run, but it was in his preliminary race.
That time qualified him for the semifinals, where he ran a 6.70 and failed to qualify for the finals.
Marvin Bracy won the finals with a time of 6.54. Henderson’s 6.58 would have been good for second place in the finals.
Leader sports editor
Sylvan Hills graduate Jeff Henderson fell well short of his best effort, but still finished second in the long jump in the United States Track and Field Indoor Championships this past weekend in Eugene, Ore.
Henderson, who has also been spending time this year doing private workouts for NFL teams interested in giving the speedster a chance to prove his mettle on the gridiron, competed in two events at the elite level for the first time in his career.
The 5-foot-10 Pan-Am games winner in the long jump, jumped 8.05 meters, or 26-feet, 5-inches for second place. The jump was more than a foot and a half from his personal best of 8.54 meters (28-feet, 1/4 inches) and 14 inches short of Marcus Dendy’s winning jump.
Henderson only used four of his six allowed attempts, deciding to pass on his final jumps in order to focus on the 60-meter dash, which he was running for the first time at a national championship event.
Henderson turned in the fourth-fastest time in the event with a 6.58-second run, but it was in his preliminary race.
That time qualified him for the semifinals, where he ran a 6.70 and failed to qualify for the finals.
Marvin Bracy won the finals with a time of 6.54. Henderson’s 6.58 would have been good for second place in the finals.
SPORTS STORY >> JHS ladies beat Pioneers
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Catcher Allison Seats scored the game’s first run and then drove in the next three to help lead the Jacksonville Lady Red Devils to a 6-1 road victory over Batesville on Monday in Independence County. The game was originally scheduled for Dupree Park in Jacksonville, but weekend weather made the home field unplayable. Jacksonville showed no negative signs of traveling in beating the traditional 5A-East power.
“From top to bottom we had a solid hitting lineup,” said Jacksonville coach Hank Hawk. “The effort overall was very good throughout the whole lineup.”
Seats drew a leadoff walk to start the game in the top of the first inning, and Batesville’s pitching didn’t improve much from there. Zylah Richardson followed with another walk before Kinley Burrows sacrificed the runners into scoring position. Mackenzie Rodgers then walked to load the bases and Kym House hit a sac fly to right field to score Seats.
Conversely, House took the circle for JHS in the bottom of the first inning and struck out the first batter she faced. She then got two pop ups to set the Lady Pioneers down in order.
A pitch hit Jacksonville’s Brianna Loyd with one out in the second tostart a four-run rally. Emily Lovercheck got the game’s first base hit with a single to left field, bringing Seats back to the plate. She fell behind 0-2 in the count before stroking a three-run home run over the fence in left field to put the Lady Red Devils up 4-0.
Richardson followed with a single and stole second base. She moved to third on a passed ball and scored on an RBI groundout by Burrows.
Rodgers and House got two-out singles to follow, but the rally ended with a deep fly ball out to center field by Payton Mullen.
After a scoreless third, Batesville got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning on two base hits, a single by Destiny Keister and an RBI double by Ashley Gould.
Jacksonville (3-1) added the final run in the top of the sixth. Loyd hit a leadoff single to center field, and advanced to second with an error at the same position. She moved to third on a groundout to second base by Lovercheck, and scored on a groundout to the same spot by Seats.
Seats went 2 for 3 with a home run, a walk and four runs batted in. House went 2 for 4 and Jacksonville compiled nine base hits.
House blew through the Batesville lineup. After one strikeout in the first, she fanned two in the second and the side in order in the third. She finished with a four-hitter that included 10 strikeouts and zero walks.
Jacksonville hosted its conference opener yesterday with a doubleheader against J.A. Fair, and will host Maumelle on Thursday in a nonconference matchup.
Leader sports editor
Catcher Allison Seats scored the game’s first run and then drove in the next three to help lead the Jacksonville Lady Red Devils to a 6-1 road victory over Batesville on Monday in Independence County. The game was originally scheduled for Dupree Park in Jacksonville, but weekend weather made the home field unplayable. Jacksonville showed no negative signs of traveling in beating the traditional 5A-East power.
“From top to bottom we had a solid hitting lineup,” said Jacksonville coach Hank Hawk. “The effort overall was very good throughout the whole lineup.”
Seats drew a leadoff walk to start the game in the top of the first inning, and Batesville’s pitching didn’t improve much from there. Zylah Richardson followed with another walk before Kinley Burrows sacrificed the runners into scoring position. Mackenzie Rodgers then walked to load the bases and Kym House hit a sac fly to right field to score Seats.
Conversely, House took the circle for JHS in the bottom of the first inning and struck out the first batter she faced. She then got two pop ups to set the Lady Pioneers down in order.
A pitch hit Jacksonville’s Brianna Loyd with one out in the second tostart a four-run rally. Emily Lovercheck got the game’s first base hit with a single to left field, bringing Seats back to the plate. She fell behind 0-2 in the count before stroking a three-run home run over the fence in left field to put the Lady Red Devils up 4-0.
Richardson followed with a single and stole second base. She moved to third on a passed ball and scored on an RBI groundout by Burrows.
Rodgers and House got two-out singles to follow, but the rally ended with a deep fly ball out to center field by Payton Mullen.
After a scoreless third, Batesville got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning on two base hits, a single by Destiny Keister and an RBI double by Ashley Gould.
Jacksonville (3-1) added the final run in the top of the sixth. Loyd hit a leadoff single to center field, and advanced to second with an error at the same position. She moved to third on a groundout to second base by Lovercheck, and scored on a groundout to the same spot by Seats.
Seats went 2 for 3 with a home run, a walk and four runs batted in. House went 2 for 4 and Jacksonville compiled nine base hits.
House blew through the Batesville lineup. After one strikeout in the first, she fanned two in the second and the side in order in the third. She finished with a four-hitter that included 10 strikeouts and zero walks.
Jacksonville hosted its conference opener yesterday with a doubleheader against J.A. Fair, and will host Maumelle on Thursday in a nonconference matchup.
Saturday, March 12, 2016
SPORTS STORY >> Jacksonville loses big to Greenbrier
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
The Jacksonville baseball team struggled to find the strike zone in the first two innings of Monday’s second round of the Red Devil Classic against Greenbrier, and the visiting Panthers used that to their advantage and cruised to a 14-4 win over the tournament hosts at Dupree Park.
Greenbrier scored the game’s first 11 runs, seven of which came in the first inning. The Panthers started the game with a leadoff blooper to shallow right field, and the next four batters walked.
The third of those four walks gave Greenbrier cleanup hitter Wyatt Brewer an easy RBI and scored the game’s first run. After the fourth-consecutive walk, Jacksonville changed pitchers, but the next batter reached base after getting hit by a pitch.
That gave Greenbrier a 3-0 lead, and the fourth run came on an infield single to second base. Another hit batter with the bases loaded and an infield single to shortstop gave the Panthers a 6-0 lead, with the top of the order coming up.
A sacrifice fly to right field resulted in the first out of the inning, but the Panthers scored on the play to up their lead to 7-0. Two more walks were issued in the inning, but the Red Devils didn’t give up any more runs.
After a scoreless first inning for Jacksonville, the Panthers added four more to their side of the board to further their lead to 11-0. The Red Devils answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning – all with two outs.
Wesley Williams got the two-out rally started with a walk, and went to second base thanks to an errant pickoff throw to first base. Caleb Smith singled to the left-field gap the next at-bat and drove in Williams for the Red Devils’ first run.
That brought leadoff hitter Tyson Flowers to the plate, and he came through with a bloop single down the right-field line and Smith scored all the way from first base. Mike Havard then singled to the gap in right-center.
Flowers scored on the play, but Havard was thrown out at second trying to stretch the single into a double, which resulted in the third out of the inning. Each team scored a run in the third inning.
Catcher Javan Wakefield scored Jacksonville’s run in the third. He reached base after being hit by a pitch with one out. He then advanced to second base on a passed ball before stealing third.
First baseman Brandon Hickingbotham walked before Wakefield scored on a sac fly to center field off the bat of second baseman Trent Toney. Toney’s sacrifice was the second out of the inning, and Caden Sample flew out to left the following at-bat to end the third.
Greenbrier added two more runs to its side of the board in the top of the fourth before holding Jacksonville scoreless in the bottom half of the inning, and the game ended at the end of the fourth.
The Panthers outhit the Red Devils 9-4. Jacksonville gave up eight walks and hit four other Greenbrier batters. Greenbrier gave up three walks and hit one JHS batter. Jacksonville also had four errors in the game, while Greenbrier had one in the four innings played.
Six different Panthers got at least one base hit Thursday. Flowers led Jacksonville (1-3) with two hits – both singles. Havard and Smith also singled for the Red Devils.
Leader sportswriter
The Jacksonville baseball team struggled to find the strike zone in the first two innings of Monday’s second round of the Red Devil Classic against Greenbrier, and the visiting Panthers used that to their advantage and cruised to a 14-4 win over the tournament hosts at Dupree Park.
Greenbrier scored the game’s first 11 runs, seven of which came in the first inning. The Panthers started the game with a leadoff blooper to shallow right field, and the next four batters walked.
The third of those four walks gave Greenbrier cleanup hitter Wyatt Brewer an easy RBI and scored the game’s first run. After the fourth-consecutive walk, Jacksonville changed pitchers, but the next batter reached base after getting hit by a pitch.
That gave Greenbrier a 3-0 lead, and the fourth run came on an infield single to second base. Another hit batter with the bases loaded and an infield single to shortstop gave the Panthers a 6-0 lead, with the top of the order coming up.
A sacrifice fly to right field resulted in the first out of the inning, but the Panthers scored on the play to up their lead to 7-0. Two more walks were issued in the inning, but the Red Devils didn’t give up any more runs.
After a scoreless first inning for Jacksonville, the Panthers added four more to their side of the board to further their lead to 11-0. The Red Devils answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning – all with two outs.
Wesley Williams got the two-out rally started with a walk, and went to second base thanks to an errant pickoff throw to first base. Caleb Smith singled to the left-field gap the next at-bat and drove in Williams for the Red Devils’ first run.
That brought leadoff hitter Tyson Flowers to the plate, and he came through with a bloop single down the right-field line and Smith scored all the way from first base. Mike Havard then singled to the gap in right-center.
Flowers scored on the play, but Havard was thrown out at second trying to stretch the single into a double, which resulted in the third out of the inning. Each team scored a run in the third inning.
Catcher Javan Wakefield scored Jacksonville’s run in the third. He reached base after being hit by a pitch with one out. He then advanced to second base on a passed ball before stealing third.
First baseman Brandon Hickingbotham walked before Wakefield scored on a sac fly to center field off the bat of second baseman Trent Toney. Toney’s sacrifice was the second out of the inning, and Caden Sample flew out to left the following at-bat to end the third.
Greenbrier added two more runs to its side of the board in the top of the fourth before holding Jacksonville scoreless in the bottom half of the inning, and the game ended at the end of the fourth.
The Panthers outhit the Red Devils 9-4. Jacksonville gave up eight walks and hit four other Greenbrier batters. Greenbrier gave up three walks and hit one JHS batter. Jacksonville also had four errors in the game, while Greenbrier had one in the four innings played.
Six different Panthers got at least one base hit Thursday. Flowers led Jacksonville (1-3) with two hits – both singles. Havard and Smith also singled for the Red Devils.
SPORTS STORY >> Lady Bears win final two at own tournament
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Sylvan Hills softball team went 2-1 in the Taylor Roark Memorial Tournament it hosted last weekend at Sherwood Sports Complex. After opening the tournament on Friday with a 4-2 loss to Texas High from Texarkana, Texas, the Lady Bears beat Maumelle 4-2 and beat conference rival Beebe 7-5 to close the tournament on Saturday.
The tournament was played on a strict time limit, which didn’t allow many games to go the full seven innings, and Sylvan Hills posted a four-run fourth inning to earn a comeback win over Maumelle on Saturday morning.
The Lady Bears got four of their six base hits in the game in the decisive fourth, starting with a leadoff double by Storm Ellis. Taylor Yeoman then singled to center field to score Ellis. Joy Franco then doubled to score Yeoman and tie the game.
Maumelle did much of the rest of the work for the tournament hosts. Lady Bears Damo’Nique Hunt and Lynlee Broadway reached on back-to-back errors, with Franco scoring when Broadway’s shot to left field was dropped.
After a strikeout, Broadway was replaced on the base paths by Anna Snyder. Anna Sigler put down a perfect bunt for a base hit that loaded the bases. Cara Pozza reached on a 5-2 fielder’s choice that got Hunt thrown out at home.
Tristen Goodson then walked on four pitches to score Snyder and set the final margin.
Maumelle made it interesting in its last at-bat. A one-out single and a two-out double was followed by a bases-loading walk, but Broadway got the next batter to pop up to left field to get out of the jam and preserve the victory for SHHS.
Franco was Sylvan Hills’ only player with multiple base hits. She went 2 for 2 with two RBIs.
Broadway gave up five hits and four walks in four innings of work. She struck out one and both runs allowed were unearned.
Roles were reversed against Beebe. Sylvan Hills posed a six-run first inning and had to hold off a Beebe comeback attempt.
After Beebe scored a single run in the top of the first, Sylvan Hills exploded in the bottom half. Pozza started the rally with a leadoff double to center field. Goodson singled to put two runners in scoring position.
Ellis then singled to right field to score Pozza and Goodson and give the Lady Bears a lead they would not relinquish.
Franco singled and Hunt reached on a Beebe error at shortstop that also allowed a run.
Broadway made the first out on a pop up to short. Sigler then walked to load the bases.
Another Beebe error off the bat of Snyder allowed all three base runners to score and left Snyder safe at second with a 6-1 SH lead.
A third Beebe error left Pozza and Snyder safe at first and third, but Goodson flew out to center field to end the rally.
Beebe scored one run in the second and three more in the third to pull within one run. Beebe scored three runs in the top of the third on one hit, two walks and three Sylvan Hills errors to make the score 6-5.
That’s how it stayed until the bottom of the fifth when the Lady Bears got a leadoff single by Goodson, a sacrifice by Ellis that advanced the runner, and a base hit by Yeoman.
Sylvan Hills won despite eight errors. Beebe committed five. Only four of the game’s 12 runs were earned.
Ellis pitched for Sylvan Hills. She gave up four hits and one earned run with one strikeout and two walks in five innings of work.
Faith Rose was in the circle for Beebe. She allowed eight hits and three earned runs with one strikeout and one walk.
Leader sports editor
The Sylvan Hills softball team went 2-1 in the Taylor Roark Memorial Tournament it hosted last weekend at Sherwood Sports Complex. After opening the tournament on Friday with a 4-2 loss to Texas High from Texarkana, Texas, the Lady Bears beat Maumelle 4-2 and beat conference rival Beebe 7-5 to close the tournament on Saturday.
The tournament was played on a strict time limit, which didn’t allow many games to go the full seven innings, and Sylvan Hills posted a four-run fourth inning to earn a comeback win over Maumelle on Saturday morning.
The Lady Bears got four of their six base hits in the game in the decisive fourth, starting with a leadoff double by Storm Ellis. Taylor Yeoman then singled to center field to score Ellis. Joy Franco then doubled to score Yeoman and tie the game.
Maumelle did much of the rest of the work for the tournament hosts. Lady Bears Damo’Nique Hunt and Lynlee Broadway reached on back-to-back errors, with Franco scoring when Broadway’s shot to left field was dropped.
After a strikeout, Broadway was replaced on the base paths by Anna Snyder. Anna Sigler put down a perfect bunt for a base hit that loaded the bases. Cara Pozza reached on a 5-2 fielder’s choice that got Hunt thrown out at home.
Tristen Goodson then walked on four pitches to score Snyder and set the final margin.
Maumelle made it interesting in its last at-bat. A one-out single and a two-out double was followed by a bases-loading walk, but Broadway got the next batter to pop up to left field to get out of the jam and preserve the victory for SHHS.
Franco was Sylvan Hills’ only player with multiple base hits. She went 2 for 2 with two RBIs.
Broadway gave up five hits and four walks in four innings of work. She struck out one and both runs allowed were unearned.
Roles were reversed against Beebe. Sylvan Hills posed a six-run first inning and had to hold off a Beebe comeback attempt.
After Beebe scored a single run in the top of the first, Sylvan Hills exploded in the bottom half. Pozza started the rally with a leadoff double to center field. Goodson singled to put two runners in scoring position.
Ellis then singled to right field to score Pozza and Goodson and give the Lady Bears a lead they would not relinquish.
Franco singled and Hunt reached on a Beebe error at shortstop that also allowed a run.
Broadway made the first out on a pop up to short. Sigler then walked to load the bases.
Another Beebe error off the bat of Snyder allowed all three base runners to score and left Snyder safe at second with a 6-1 SH lead.
A third Beebe error left Pozza and Snyder safe at first and third, but Goodson flew out to center field to end the rally.
Beebe scored one run in the second and three more in the third to pull within one run. Beebe scored three runs in the top of the third on one hit, two walks and three Sylvan Hills errors to make the score 6-5.
That’s how it stayed until the bottom of the fifth when the Lady Bears got a leadoff single by Goodson, a sacrifice by Ellis that advanced the runner, and a base hit by Yeoman.
Sylvan Hills won despite eight errors. Beebe committed five. Only four of the game’s 12 runs were earned.
Ellis pitched for Sylvan Hills. She gave up four hits and one earned run with one strikeout and two walks in five innings of work.
Faith Rose was in the circle for Beebe. She allowed eight hits and three earned runs with one strikeout and one walk.
SPORTS STORY >> Panthers upset Tigers for first title
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
HOT SPRINGS – Hardly anyone gave them a chance, but the Cabot Panthers proved them all wrong Friday at Bank of the Ozarks Arena. That’s where the Panthers upset heavily-favored Bentonville 59-49 to win the Class 7A state championship.
Bentonville scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to take a 40-33 lead with seven minutes left in the game, and Cabot dominated the rest of the way.
From seven down, the Panthers exploded for an 18-2 run over the next 3:44. Cabot junior Jarrod Barnes started and ended the run. His old-fashioned 3-point play pulled Cabot (21-9) to within four with 6:34 remaining. His 3-pointer gave the Panthers a 51-42 lead with 3:16 to go.
“He’s an athlete,” said Cabot coach Jerry Bridges. “We bring him off the bench but we really consider him a starter. He had a phenomenal night.”
Cabot also did a number on the Tigers’ senior and Kentucky signee Malik Monk, holding Monk, who averaged more than 30 points per game, to just 19. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard went 0 for 11 from 3-point range, and 2 for 12 overall in the fourth quarter.
“The game was won in the second and fourth quarters,” Bridges said. “I think in the second quarter they wore down. They got tired. I think our guys believed that, that they weren’t in as good a shape as us. And I just told them in the fourth quarter, just turn it up. Step it up. This thing ain’t over. We can do this, and they responded.”
After Barnes’ 3-pointer that pulled Cabot to within 40-36, Monk dished to post player Ty Robinson to put the Tigers back up 42-36. Cabot then reeled off 15-straight points. Hunter Southerland hit a 3-pointer and Monk missed at the other end. Barnes then drained a 3-pointer to tie the game and force a Bentonville timeout with 5:19 to play. The break failed to stem the Panther tide.
After another Bentonville miss, Barnes got two offensive rebounds after misses and scored on the third attempt to put the Panthers up 44-42. Southerland then stripped Jordan Hemphill and hit Bobby Joe Duncan for a layup.
Monk missed a long 3-pointer and Garrett Rowe came down with the rebound. After starting the transition, Rowe also finished it, taking Duncan’s pass in the paint and dropping it in for a six-point Cabot lead with 3:57 remaining.
Bentonville (21-10) turned it over and that’s when Barnes’ three put the Panthers up by nine.
The lead reached as much as 11 and Bentonville was never closer than seven the rest of the way.
Things didn’t go well for Cabot from the opening tip-off. The Panthers had three turnovers before they had a shot attempt, and Bentonville scored the game’s first nine points.
But Cabot didn’t panic and the bench came through big in the last half of the opening quarter. Chandler Casteel came off the bench and provided a spark on the boards, and Logan Gilbertson hit a big 3-pointer after five Cabot misses. Gilbertson’s shot pulled Cabot to within 13-5, and the Panthers closed the quarter on a 7-2 run to trail 15-9 at the end of the frame.
“That was a lot like our Springdale game a week ago when we were down 11 at the half,” Bridges said of his team’s poor start. “I just wanted them to keep playing and keep grinding through. It’s these guys and a little bit about what we do in the offseason. These guys work hard.”
The Panthers controlled the action in the second quarter. Matt Stanley opened the frame with a bucket on the inside, and Cabot made an effort from that point to feed the 6-foot-8 forward.
Barnes blocked a Hemphill shot and Gilbertson scored at the other end to make it a two-point game 91 seconds into the second quarter. Bentonville then scored five-straight to go back up by seven, but Cabot answered with a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the game.
The run started with a 3-pointer by Barnes that made it 20-16. After a stop, Stanley put back a Duncan miss, and Bentonville turned it over leading by two.
The two teams traded two turnovers each before Duncan fed Stanley inside, and he tied the game with 2:50 remaining in the half.
Monk fired from about 28 feet on the next possession and missed, and Gilbertson nailed his second 3-pointer of the game to put Cabot ahead for the first time, 23-20 with 2:20 on the clock.
Each team scored just once from that point. Hemphill went the length of the court and scored just seconds after Gilbertson’s three, and Stanley got another bucket off an assist by Duncan to send the Panthers into intermission with a 25-22 lead.
Monk’s 19 led all scorers. Robinson added 13 for the Tigers.
Barnes led Cabot with 17 points while Stanley finished with 13. Both Panthers had a team-high six rebounds. Duncan had six points and 10 assists.
Leader sports editor
HOT SPRINGS – Hardly anyone gave them a chance, but the Cabot Panthers proved them all wrong Friday at Bank of the Ozarks Arena. That’s where the Panthers upset heavily-favored Bentonville 59-49 to win the Class 7A state championship.
Bentonville scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to take a 40-33 lead with seven minutes left in the game, and Cabot dominated the rest of the way.
From seven down, the Panthers exploded for an 18-2 run over the next 3:44. Cabot junior Jarrod Barnes started and ended the run. His old-fashioned 3-point play pulled Cabot (21-9) to within four with 6:34 remaining. His 3-pointer gave the Panthers a 51-42 lead with 3:16 to go.
“He’s an athlete,” said Cabot coach Jerry Bridges. “We bring him off the bench but we really consider him a starter. He had a phenomenal night.”
Cabot also did a number on the Tigers’ senior and Kentucky signee Malik Monk, holding Monk, who averaged more than 30 points per game, to just 19. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard went 0 for 11 from 3-point range, and 2 for 12 overall in the fourth quarter.
“The game was won in the second and fourth quarters,” Bridges said. “I think in the second quarter they wore down. They got tired. I think our guys believed that, that they weren’t in as good a shape as us. And I just told them in the fourth quarter, just turn it up. Step it up. This thing ain’t over. We can do this, and they responded.”
After Barnes’ 3-pointer that pulled Cabot to within 40-36, Monk dished to post player Ty Robinson to put the Tigers back up 42-36. Cabot then reeled off 15-straight points. Hunter Southerland hit a 3-pointer and Monk missed at the other end. Barnes then drained a 3-pointer to tie the game and force a Bentonville timeout with 5:19 to play. The break failed to stem the Panther tide.
After another Bentonville miss, Barnes got two offensive rebounds after misses and scored on the third attempt to put the Panthers up 44-42. Southerland then stripped Jordan Hemphill and hit Bobby Joe Duncan for a layup.
Monk missed a long 3-pointer and Garrett Rowe came down with the rebound. After starting the transition, Rowe also finished it, taking Duncan’s pass in the paint and dropping it in for a six-point Cabot lead with 3:57 remaining.
Bentonville (21-10) turned it over and that’s when Barnes’ three put the Panthers up by nine.
The lead reached as much as 11 and Bentonville was never closer than seven the rest of the way.
Things didn’t go well for Cabot from the opening tip-off. The Panthers had three turnovers before they had a shot attempt, and Bentonville scored the game’s first nine points.
But Cabot didn’t panic and the bench came through big in the last half of the opening quarter. Chandler Casteel came off the bench and provided a spark on the boards, and Logan Gilbertson hit a big 3-pointer after five Cabot misses. Gilbertson’s shot pulled Cabot to within 13-5, and the Panthers closed the quarter on a 7-2 run to trail 15-9 at the end of the frame.
“That was a lot like our Springdale game a week ago when we were down 11 at the half,” Bridges said of his team’s poor start. “I just wanted them to keep playing and keep grinding through. It’s these guys and a little bit about what we do in the offseason. These guys work hard.”
The Panthers controlled the action in the second quarter. Matt Stanley opened the frame with a bucket on the inside, and Cabot made an effort from that point to feed the 6-foot-8 forward.
Barnes blocked a Hemphill shot and Gilbertson scored at the other end to make it a two-point game 91 seconds into the second quarter. Bentonville then scored five-straight to go back up by seven, but Cabot answered with a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the game.
The run started with a 3-pointer by Barnes that made it 20-16. After a stop, Stanley put back a Duncan miss, and Bentonville turned it over leading by two.
The two teams traded two turnovers each before Duncan fed Stanley inside, and he tied the game with 2:50 remaining in the half.
Monk fired from about 28 feet on the next possession and missed, and Gilbertson nailed his second 3-pointer of the game to put Cabot ahead for the first time, 23-20 with 2:20 on the clock.
Each team scored just once from that point. Hemphill went the length of the court and scored just seconds after Gilbertson’s three, and Stanley got another bucket off an assist by Duncan to send the Panthers into intermission with a 25-22 lead.
Monk’s 19 led all scorers. Robinson added 13 for the Tigers.
Barnes led Cabot with 17 points while Stanley finished with 13. Both Panthers had a team-high six rebounds. Duncan had six points and 10 assists.
Friday, March 11, 2016
EDITORIAL >> Districts free at last
The state Board of Education announced this week that it will release the Pulaski County Special School District from state supervision after five roller-coaster years. Patrons in PCSSD, including Sherwood, will elect their own school board later this year in hopes of rebuilding the district’s depleted resources following the departure of Jacksonville and much of north Pulaski County, where residents recently passed a millage increase that will pay for new schools and other improvements.
PCSSD will celebrate its release from state oversight with another try at a millage increase, which district voters have rejected for decades. Jacksonville residents approved the 7.6-mill increase only after they were allowed to split from the county district. Sherwood will now redouble its effort to leave PCSSD and one day put before the voters a similar package that Jacksonville passed last month.
Jacksonville now has the resources to purchase its old schools from PCSSD with the current 40.7 mills and plan for the future with the higher millage set to go into effect as soon as next year to pay for a new high school, elementary school and much more.
The Jacksonville-North Pulaski School Board on Monday voted to sell $15.365 million in construction and facilities bonds with the previous millage. Two-thirds of the proceeds will be used to purchase area school buildings from PCSSD by July 1, the official JNPSD detachment date, and also make needed improvements.
The $10.8 million purchase will include the Jacksonville and North Pulaski high school buildings, the old Jacksonville Middle School building and elementary buildings, including Arnold Drive, Tolleson, Murrell Taylor, Pinewood, Warren Dupree, Bayou Meto and Homer Adkins, as well as the bus barn.
The money to secure those bonds comes from JNP’s share of the annual September renewal of the current 40.7-mill property tax. The bonds to build the new high school and elementary school, secured by the 7.6-mill tax increase approved by Jacksonville-area voters Feb. 9, will be sold in May 2017.
That bond sale is expected to help fund the $80 million building program to the tune of about $46 million.
It’s anticipated that the state will pay about 55 percent of the cost of approved construction and repair of academic spaces.
The new district is also putting together an impressive management team, starting with Superintendent Tony Wood, Assistant Superintendent Jeremy Owoh, Chief of Staff Phyllis Stewart and the hiring this week of Bryan Duffie as the district’s assistant superintendent for support services and Kevin Martin as director of technology.
This is a school district PCSSD and perhaps Sherwood can one day emulate.
PCSSD will celebrate its release from state oversight with another try at a millage increase, which district voters have rejected for decades. Jacksonville residents approved the 7.6-mill increase only after they were allowed to split from the county district. Sherwood will now redouble its effort to leave PCSSD and one day put before the voters a similar package that Jacksonville passed last month.
Jacksonville now has the resources to purchase its old schools from PCSSD with the current 40.7 mills and plan for the future with the higher millage set to go into effect as soon as next year to pay for a new high school, elementary school and much more.
The Jacksonville-North Pulaski School Board on Monday voted to sell $15.365 million in construction and facilities bonds with the previous millage. Two-thirds of the proceeds will be used to purchase area school buildings from PCSSD by July 1, the official JNPSD detachment date, and also make needed improvements.
The $10.8 million purchase will include the Jacksonville and North Pulaski high school buildings, the old Jacksonville Middle School building and elementary buildings, including Arnold Drive, Tolleson, Murrell Taylor, Pinewood, Warren Dupree, Bayou Meto and Homer Adkins, as well as the bus barn.
The money to secure those bonds comes from JNP’s share of the annual September renewal of the current 40.7-mill property tax. The bonds to build the new high school and elementary school, secured by the 7.6-mill tax increase approved by Jacksonville-area voters Feb. 9, will be sold in May 2017.
That bond sale is expected to help fund the $80 million building program to the tune of about $46 million.
It’s anticipated that the state will pay about 55 percent of the cost of approved construction and repair of academic spaces.
The new district is also putting together an impressive management team, starting with Superintendent Tony Wood, Assistant Superintendent Jeremy Owoh, Chief of Staff Phyllis Stewart and the hiring this week of Bryan Duffie as the district’s assistant superintendent for support services and Kevin Martin as director of technology.
This is a school district PCSSD and perhaps Sherwood can one day emulate.
TOP STORY >> Early voting is underway
Early voting for three runoffs in Lonoke County begins Tuesday. The polls will be open through next Saturday and Monday, March 21.
March 22 is Election Day.
Those who cast Democratic ballots in the primary will not be eligible to vote in the Republican runoffs of coroner candidates Carla Horton and Karl E. (Eddie) Pennington, Dist. 4 justice of the peace candidates Claud E. Irvin and John Howard and Dist. 13 JP candidates Bob Morris and Kenny Ridgeway.
On the coroner race, voters should know Pennington dropped out because he took a new job in Little Rock that would keep him out of the county most of the time. His name appeared on the primary ballot because it had to by law, since he withdrew after the certified list was submitted to the Lonoke County Election Commission.
If he were to win the runoff, he couldn’t take the job.
Arkansas State Board of Election Commissioners Director Justin Clay and Legal Counsel Tim Humphries say a vacancy of nomination would exist and couldn’t be filled by the party unless the candidate had passed away, been inflicted with a serious illness, moved out of the county or filed for another office.
If there isn’t an election for coroner in November, the current coroner would “hold over pursuant to the (state) Constitution,” the officials told The Leader last week.
People eligible to vote in the three runoffs are those who cast Republican ballots, nonpartisan ballots or didn’t vote in the primary.
Early voting sites are ReNew Community Church at 1122 S. Second St. in Cabot and the Lonoke County Courthouse Annex on North Center Street in Lonoke.
The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. next Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. next Monday, March 21.
Residents can cast their ballots at every regular polling site on March 22.
March 22 is Election Day.
Those who cast Democratic ballots in the primary will not be eligible to vote in the Republican runoffs of coroner candidates Carla Horton and Karl E. (Eddie) Pennington, Dist. 4 justice of the peace candidates Claud E. Irvin and John Howard and Dist. 13 JP candidates Bob Morris and Kenny Ridgeway.
On the coroner race, voters should know Pennington dropped out because he took a new job in Little Rock that would keep him out of the county most of the time. His name appeared on the primary ballot because it had to by law, since he withdrew after the certified list was submitted to the Lonoke County Election Commission.
If he were to win the runoff, he couldn’t take the job.
Arkansas State Board of Election Commissioners Director Justin Clay and Legal Counsel Tim Humphries say a vacancy of nomination would exist and couldn’t be filled by the party unless the candidate had passed away, been inflicted with a serious illness, moved out of the county or filed for another office.
If there isn’t an election for coroner in November, the current coroner would “hold over pursuant to the (state) Constitution,” the officials told The Leader last week.
People eligible to vote in the three runoffs are those who cast Republican ballots, nonpartisan ballots or didn’t vote in the primary.
Early voting sites are ReNew Community Church at 1122 S. Second St. in Cabot and the Lonoke County Courthouse Annex on North Center Street in Lonoke.
The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. next Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. next Monday, March 21.
Residents can cast their ballots at every regular polling site on March 22.
TOP STORY >> Storms drench, do little damage
By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
Central Arkansas received more rain from the large storm system that wobbled through Arkansas Tuesday through Friday than the area received all through January and February.
For the first two months of the year, the area had received about 5.6 inches of rain, down about 1.5 inches from the 30-year average.
But rains over the last four days dropped more than 6 inches of rain, causing minor flooding, accidents and school delays.
The rainfall on Tuesday was record-breaking. The area received about 2.2 inches of rain, nearly one-third of an inch more than the 1990 record of 1.97.
As a safety precaution, Lonoke delayed school openings for an hour Wednesday. “We have so many low-lying roads in the area, we wanted our bus drivers to have more visibility to determine road safety,” explained Amanda Rather, the district coordinator. “Everyone arrive safe,” she said.
More than 10 inches of rain fell in parts of southwest Arkansas, resulting in significant flash flooding. Minor flooding is occurring on rivers, such as the lower White, Cache, Saline and Ouachita Rivers. While widespread heavy rain is over, another system will arrive from the Plains on Sunday and will more than likely trigger severe, but scattered, storms in the afternoon and evening. Large hail and damaging winds are expected when these storms flare up.
High-water issues (flooding of homes and roads) could continue for several days, and water will remain high for several weeks on area tributaries, mainly in the southeast half of the state.
Beebe Mayor Mike Robert-son, along with the city’s fire and police chiefs, posted this weather warning on the city’s website, “With the increasing water level due to continued heavy rain and runoff from other areas, and the very likely potential for additional heavy rains over the next several days, the City of Beebe recommends that residents in the Winwood Subdivision consider and make the necessary arrangements to evacuate the area should the need arise. Specifically, the areas of Tori Lane, Birchwood and April Lane, as these are prone to flooding.”
Beebe code enforcement officer Milton McCullar said Friday that flooding had not affected houses in the subdivision this week, but water covered Tori Lane on Thursday. It had receded by early Friday afternoon.
Cabot Police Sgt. Keith Graham said they hadn’t had an increase in accidents because of the weather. “It has been a really normal week, even with the rain.”
Cabot Director of Operations Eddie Cook said no roads had to be closed and touted the city’s drainage projects as the reason. He called this week’s record rainfall a “non-event.”
Supporting the “non-event” statement, Capt. Carl Minden of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office said there were 14 accidents this week compared to 25 during the same week in 2015. The county’s road department closed Sayles Road earlier in the week, and Valentine Road was still barricaded on Friday afternoon.
April Kiser of the Jacksonville Police Department forwarded an email from Capt. Joseph McCollough to The Leader. He wrote that there hadn’t been an abnormal number of accidents in the city, but “we have responded to assist the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office on a couple of vehicles submerged in ditches outside of the city limits off of Graham Road.”
Jacksonville had closed the one-lane bridge on West Main Street by the Tara Mount subdivision, but it was reopened Friday afternoon, and Dupree Park was flooded “as normal,” according to Public Works Director Jim Oakley.
Sherwood also closed its section of West Main Street leading to the one-lane bridge from Jacksonville Cutoff. Public Works Director Brian Galloway said the city fared pretty well. But crews did have to close Trammel Road under the railroad bridge near the Roundtop Filling Station and bring to one lane a section of Jacksonville-Cato Road in Gravel Ridge. All the water had receded by Friday afternoon though.
As for outages, there were none in The Leader’s coverage area Friday afternoon.
Sally Graham, with Entergy, said in an email, “The storm that came through on Tuesday night took out some poles in Lonoke and crews worked all day Wednesday to restore power, and we finished up with restoring power Thursday. We also had an outage at the air force base on Tuesday due to the storm, which we were able to restore.”
Also on Tuesday, a tree fell on an Entergy power line near North First Street in Jacksonville. It broke two poles.
Power was rerouted, as wires in 6 feet of water were de-energized. A post on Entergy’s Facebook page stated that the broken poles and four others would be replaced with stronger ones that will withstand impacts better in the future.
Tori Moss of First Electric Cooperative said the utility “experienced minimal outages in our Jacksonville district due to recent rain. We did not require additional crews to restore service to our members.”
Rick Kron contributed to this report.
Leader staff writer
Central Arkansas received more rain from the large storm system that wobbled through Arkansas Tuesday through Friday than the area received all through January and February.
For the first two months of the year, the area had received about 5.6 inches of rain, down about 1.5 inches from the 30-year average.
But rains over the last four days dropped more than 6 inches of rain, causing minor flooding, accidents and school delays.
The rainfall on Tuesday was record-breaking. The area received about 2.2 inches of rain, nearly one-third of an inch more than the 1990 record of 1.97.
As a safety precaution, Lonoke delayed school openings for an hour Wednesday. “We have so many low-lying roads in the area, we wanted our bus drivers to have more visibility to determine road safety,” explained Amanda Rather, the district coordinator. “Everyone arrive safe,” she said.
More than 10 inches of rain fell in parts of southwest Arkansas, resulting in significant flash flooding. Minor flooding is occurring on rivers, such as the lower White, Cache, Saline and Ouachita Rivers. While widespread heavy rain is over, another system will arrive from the Plains on Sunday and will more than likely trigger severe, but scattered, storms in the afternoon and evening. Large hail and damaging winds are expected when these storms flare up.
High-water issues (flooding of homes and roads) could continue for several days, and water will remain high for several weeks on area tributaries, mainly in the southeast half of the state.
Beebe Mayor Mike Robert-son, along with the city’s fire and police chiefs, posted this weather warning on the city’s website, “With the increasing water level due to continued heavy rain and runoff from other areas, and the very likely potential for additional heavy rains over the next several days, the City of Beebe recommends that residents in the Winwood Subdivision consider and make the necessary arrangements to evacuate the area should the need arise. Specifically, the areas of Tori Lane, Birchwood and April Lane, as these are prone to flooding.”
Beebe code enforcement officer Milton McCullar said Friday that flooding had not affected houses in the subdivision this week, but water covered Tori Lane on Thursday. It had receded by early Friday afternoon.
Cabot Police Sgt. Keith Graham said they hadn’t had an increase in accidents because of the weather. “It has been a really normal week, even with the rain.”
Cabot Director of Operations Eddie Cook said no roads had to be closed and touted the city’s drainage projects as the reason. He called this week’s record rainfall a “non-event.”
Supporting the “non-event” statement, Capt. Carl Minden of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office said there were 14 accidents this week compared to 25 during the same week in 2015. The county’s road department closed Sayles Road earlier in the week, and Valentine Road was still barricaded on Friday afternoon.
April Kiser of the Jacksonville Police Department forwarded an email from Capt. Joseph McCollough to The Leader. He wrote that there hadn’t been an abnormal number of accidents in the city, but “we have responded to assist the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office on a couple of vehicles submerged in ditches outside of the city limits off of Graham Road.”
Jacksonville had closed the one-lane bridge on West Main Street by the Tara Mount subdivision, but it was reopened Friday afternoon, and Dupree Park was flooded “as normal,” according to Public Works Director Jim Oakley.
Sherwood also closed its section of West Main Street leading to the one-lane bridge from Jacksonville Cutoff. Public Works Director Brian Galloway said the city fared pretty well. But crews did have to close Trammel Road under the railroad bridge near the Roundtop Filling Station and bring to one lane a section of Jacksonville-Cato Road in Gravel Ridge. All the water had receded by Friday afternoon though.
As for outages, there were none in The Leader’s coverage area Friday afternoon.
Sally Graham, with Entergy, said in an email, “The storm that came through on Tuesday night took out some poles in Lonoke and crews worked all day Wednesday to restore power, and we finished up with restoring power Thursday. We also had an outage at the air force base on Tuesday due to the storm, which we were able to restore.”
Also on Tuesday, a tree fell on an Entergy power line near North First Street in Jacksonville. It broke two poles.
Power was rerouted, as wires in 6 feet of water were de-energized. A post on Entergy’s Facebook page stated that the broken poles and four others would be replaced with stronger ones that will withstand impacts better in the future.
Tori Moss of First Electric Cooperative said the utility “experienced minimal outages in our Jacksonville district due to recent rain. We did not require additional crews to restore service to our members.”
Rick Kron contributed to this report.
TOP STORY >> Leader sweeps awards
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Not only is The Leader the best editorial newspaper in its category, it is also the best in advertising, too.
The paper won the general excellence Sweepstakes award Friday at the annual Arkansas Press Association Better News-paper Advertising banquet. The Leader garnered 17 awards in all: the Sweepstakes award, six first-place honors, three second-place awards, five third- place finishes and two honorable mentions.
General Manager John Henderson, who won a number of awards in the contest, said, “We are very proud to receive this honor from the APA. It just further shows that we are the best large non-daily newspaper in Arkansas. We have now won the general excellence, or sweepstakes award, eight out of the last nine years.”
Publisher Garrick Feldman said, “I’m proud of our outstanding team of award-winning professionals.”
The Nebraska Press Association judged the entries.
The Leader won first place in best use of spot color in its AR Care Customer Appreciation ad developed by graphic designer Clay Knupp and Henderson. “Sometimes less is best. The minimal use of the blue color makes this stand out,” said the judges.
The paper also took first in the adverting special section (general, newsprint) category with its LRAFB 60th Anniversary tab produced by Creative Editor Christy Hendricks, Knupp and the Leader sales staff. “Very nicely put together with lots of information and pictures. A great piece!” according to the judges.
Another first place award was won for best use of clip art in a Crafton’s We Feel Lucky ad by Knupp and sales representative Susan Swift. The judges said they really loved this one.
The Remax ad in the LRAFB 60th anniversary tab netted another top award. The ad was created by graphic designer Lisa Tigue and Henderson. “Love the layout, the great layers, the great cropping and placement,” the judges said.
The Leader took another first with the best Real Estate Classified Display ad created by Tigue and Publications Manager Matt Robinson. “Very clear headlines and easy to read,” commented the judges.
Another first place award won was in the employment classified display ad category with its Des Arc Nursing LPN ad. “Good use of a photo and boxes to keep it organized and simple,” the judges said.
The paper won second-place awards in the special section cover-magazine category with its Cabot library grand opening tab cover produced by Henderson, Hendricks and photographer David Scolli; and second for its Greystone Nursing Dietary Aide in the employment classified display ad. Tigue and Swift designed the ad.
Third-place honors went to Knupp and Swift for their Cabot Zonz Kidz Spotz in the best use of spot color category and for their Crafton’s Storewide Explosion ad in the best use of process color category.
Hendricks netted a third-place award for her 2015 Home, Lawn and Garden tab cover in the category of special section (magazine cover).
Knupp and Swift took third place in the most original idea competition with their Crafton’s “The Tax is on Us!” ad.
The pair took another third in the best single supplement category with their Michele Phillips ad.
Honorable mentions went to Henderson and Tigue for their Community Theater Costume Rentals in the Best Single Ad (10 inches and under).
Knupp and Feldman also received honorable mention in the Best Single Ad (half page and over) category with their Knights – 4th of July Sellathon.
Leader staff writer
Not only is The Leader the best editorial newspaper in its category, it is also the best in advertising, too.
The paper won the general excellence Sweepstakes award Friday at the annual Arkansas Press Association Better News-paper Advertising banquet. The Leader garnered 17 awards in all: the Sweepstakes award, six first-place honors, three second-place awards, five third- place finishes and two honorable mentions.
General Manager John Henderson, who won a number of awards in the contest, said, “We are very proud to receive this honor from the APA. It just further shows that we are the best large non-daily newspaper in Arkansas. We have now won the general excellence, or sweepstakes award, eight out of the last nine years.”
Publisher Garrick Feldman said, “I’m proud of our outstanding team of award-winning professionals.”
The Nebraska Press Association judged the entries.
The Leader won first place in best use of spot color in its AR Care Customer Appreciation ad developed by graphic designer Clay Knupp and Henderson. “Sometimes less is best. The minimal use of the blue color makes this stand out,” said the judges.
The paper also took first in the adverting special section (general, newsprint) category with its LRAFB 60th Anniversary tab produced by Creative Editor Christy Hendricks, Knupp and the Leader sales staff. “Very nicely put together with lots of information and pictures. A great piece!” according to the judges.
Another first place award was won for best use of clip art in a Crafton’s We Feel Lucky ad by Knupp and sales representative Susan Swift. The judges said they really loved this one.
The Remax ad in the LRAFB 60th anniversary tab netted another top award. The ad was created by graphic designer Lisa Tigue and Henderson. “Love the layout, the great layers, the great cropping and placement,” the judges said.
The Leader took another first with the best Real Estate Classified Display ad created by Tigue and Publications Manager Matt Robinson. “Very clear headlines and easy to read,” commented the judges.
Another first place award won was in the employment classified display ad category with its Des Arc Nursing LPN ad. “Good use of a photo and boxes to keep it organized and simple,” the judges said.
The paper won second-place awards in the special section cover-magazine category with its Cabot library grand opening tab cover produced by Henderson, Hendricks and photographer David Scolli; and second for its Greystone Nursing Dietary Aide in the employment classified display ad. Tigue and Swift designed the ad.
Third-place honors went to Knupp and Swift for their Cabot Zonz Kidz Spotz in the best use of spot color category and for their Crafton’s Storewide Explosion ad in the best use of process color category.
Hendricks netted a third-place award for her 2015 Home, Lawn and Garden tab cover in the category of special section (magazine cover).
Knupp and Swift took third place in the most original idea competition with their Crafton’s “The Tax is on Us!” ad.
The pair took another third in the best single supplement category with their Michele Phillips ad.
Honorable mentions went to Henderson and Tigue for their Community Theater Costume Rentals in the Best Single Ad (10 inches and under).
Knupp and Feldman also received honorable mention in the Best Single Ad (half page and over) category with their Knights – 4th of July Sellathon.
TOP STORY >> Fresh start in Jacksonville, PCSSD
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
The sudden release of the Pulaski County Special School District from fiscal distress and state control means that both the mother district and the fledgling Jacksonville-North Pulaski School District detaching from it will get a fresh start in the 2016-17 school year.
While JNPSD continues hiring, prepares to buy existing school buildings from PCSSD and works to blend two high schools into one by the start of school, the state Board of Education on Thursday unanimously approved Education Commissioner Johnny Key’s recommendations that PCSSD, along with the Helena-West Helena school district, be released from fiscal distress and take back control from the state.
The state board placed PCSSD in fiscal distress in 2011, in part for its declining end-of-year legal balance (carry over) and for lack of transparency and accountability on purchasing.
The state fired PCSSD Superintendent Charles Hopson and replaced him with Superintendent Jerry Guess. Guess, with the blessing of then-Commissioner Tom Kimbrell, disbanded the seven-member elected school board that, along with predecessors, ran the district into the ground.
From then until now, the state education commissioner has served as a one-man school board — first Kimbrell, then Tony Wood (now JNPSD superintendent) and now Key, Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s appointee.
PCSSD also has a citizens advisory board that makes recommendations to Key.
That will continue until after a new PCSSD school board is elected on Sept. 20 and that board receives school board training. Then PCSSD is again in charge of its own destiny.
With the departure of about 4,000 students from the Jacksonville-North Pulaski area, PCSSD adopted a seven-zone configuration from which to elect the seven-member board.
Guess said Thursday that running the district with the loss of income from taxes on property now in the JNP attendance area — as much as $40 million a year, he said — would create a big challenge, as would the negotiated loss of about $20 million a year in desegregation payments from the state after next school year.
About a month ago, Guess said those were big obstacles and he thought the state should control of PCSSD for another school year. After the vote Thursday, he said he works for Key and the board, and they had spoken.
Meanwhile, the JNPSD transition team is working to blend two existing high schools into one by the start of next school year.
The Jacksonville-North Pulaski high school transition team has received about 60 suggested combinations for school colors and 80 different mascot recommendations for the new school to form when Jacksonville High School and North Pulaski High School merge.
That merger will happen with the opening of the new district in August.
More than 300 community residents responded to the survey, according to Assistant Superintendent Jeremy Owoh.
Among the most popular colors so far are Jacksonville’s red and white, North Pulaski’s maroon and gold and a combination, red and gold, Owoh said.
North Pulaski’s falcon, Jacksonville’s red devil and the mythical phoenix are among the top mascot recommendations.
The principal of both high schools, students from each, parents and administrators comprise the transition team.
Owoh said the team would meet with business leaders before making a recommendation to the board, probably at the April meeting.
The two school bands have already been practicing together.
In addition to selecting school colors and mascots, the timeline for the switch is undecided. If it takes effect with the start of the new school year, the district must move quickly to order fall sports uniforms and select the mascot, according to Owoh.
Some have suggested leaving the changes and buying of new uniforms until the new high school opens for the 2019-20 school year, which would defer the cost as well. Others like the idea of making the change to coincide with the district’s new standalone status this coming school year.
The transition committee is reaching out to community and civic organizations for suggestions and ideas not only for new school colors and a new mascot but also for general ideas on how to make this transition smooth and successful.
Community members are encouraged to contact Owoh by email at jowoh@pcssd.org or by phone at 501-519-3648 or contact Jada Ellis by email at jellis@pcssd.org or by phone at 501-246-0621.
Leader senior staff writer
The sudden release of the Pulaski County Special School District from fiscal distress and state control means that both the mother district and the fledgling Jacksonville-North Pulaski School District detaching from it will get a fresh start in the 2016-17 school year.
While JNPSD continues hiring, prepares to buy existing school buildings from PCSSD and works to blend two high schools into one by the start of school, the state Board of Education on Thursday unanimously approved Education Commissioner Johnny Key’s recommendations that PCSSD, along with the Helena-West Helena school district, be released from fiscal distress and take back control from the state.
The state board placed PCSSD in fiscal distress in 2011, in part for its declining end-of-year legal balance (carry over) and for lack of transparency and accountability on purchasing.
The state fired PCSSD Superintendent Charles Hopson and replaced him with Superintendent Jerry Guess. Guess, with the blessing of then-Commissioner Tom Kimbrell, disbanded the seven-member elected school board that, along with predecessors, ran the district into the ground.
From then until now, the state education commissioner has served as a one-man school board — first Kimbrell, then Tony Wood (now JNPSD superintendent) and now Key, Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s appointee.
PCSSD also has a citizens advisory board that makes recommendations to Key.
That will continue until after a new PCSSD school board is elected on Sept. 20 and that board receives school board training. Then PCSSD is again in charge of its own destiny.
With the departure of about 4,000 students from the Jacksonville-North Pulaski area, PCSSD adopted a seven-zone configuration from which to elect the seven-member board.
Guess said Thursday that running the district with the loss of income from taxes on property now in the JNP attendance area — as much as $40 million a year, he said — would create a big challenge, as would the negotiated loss of about $20 million a year in desegregation payments from the state after next school year.
About a month ago, Guess said those were big obstacles and he thought the state should control of PCSSD for another school year. After the vote Thursday, he said he works for Key and the board, and they had spoken.
Meanwhile, the JNPSD transition team is working to blend two existing high schools into one by the start of next school year.
The Jacksonville-North Pulaski high school transition team has received about 60 suggested combinations for school colors and 80 different mascot recommendations for the new school to form when Jacksonville High School and North Pulaski High School merge.
That merger will happen with the opening of the new district in August.
More than 300 community residents responded to the survey, according to Assistant Superintendent Jeremy Owoh.
Among the most popular colors so far are Jacksonville’s red and white, North Pulaski’s maroon and gold and a combination, red and gold, Owoh said.
North Pulaski’s falcon, Jacksonville’s red devil and the mythical phoenix are among the top mascot recommendations.
The principal of both high schools, students from each, parents and administrators comprise the transition team.
Owoh said the team would meet with business leaders before making a recommendation to the board, probably at the April meeting.
The two school bands have already been practicing together.
In addition to selecting school colors and mascots, the timeline for the switch is undecided. If it takes effect with the start of the new school year, the district must move quickly to order fall sports uniforms and select the mascot, according to Owoh.
Some have suggested leaving the changes and buying of new uniforms until the new high school opens for the 2019-20 school year, which would defer the cost as well. Others like the idea of making the change to coincide with the district’s new standalone status this coming school year.
The transition committee is reaching out to community and civic organizations for suggestions and ideas not only for new school colors and a new mascot but also for general ideas on how to make this transition smooth and successful.
Community members are encouraged to contact Owoh by email at jowoh@pcssd.org or by phone at 501-519-3648 or contact Jada Ellis by email at jellis@pcssd.org or by phone at 501-246-0621.
Wednesday, March 09, 2016
SPORTS STORY >> Lady Red Devils run-rule Harding Academy
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
The Jacksonville softball team improved its record to 2-1 in dominant fashion Monday with a 14-4 mercy-rule win over Harding Academy in a nonconference game at Dupree Park.
Harding Academy’s Alexa Golden singled in the game’s first at-bat, and scored an unearned run on a pair of infield errors two batters later. But Jacksonville pitcher Kym House struck out the next three batters to get out of the top of the first, and the Lady Red Devils answered with seven runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 7-1 lead.
Jacksonville leadoff hitter Allison Seats was hit by a pitch to start things off and two-hole hitter Zylah Richardson singled the next at-bat.
Two batters later, cleanup hitter Mackenzie Rodgers was hit by a pitch and House walked the following at-bat. All four base runners eventually crossed home plate to give Jacksonville a 4-1 lead and the Lady Red Devils’ next three runs came with two outs.
Bailey Holt started the two-out rally with a double and advanced to third base on a passed ball. Brianna Lloyd singled to drive in Holt and Emily Lovercheck walked the next at-bat. That brought Seats back to the plate, and Seats gave the Lady Red Devils their 7-1 lead with a double.
House struck out the next three batters she faced in the top of the second – all looking, but Jacksonville went three up, three down in the bottom half of the inning.
Harding Academy went scoreless the next two innings, and Jacksonville added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth. The Lady Red Devils scored five runs that inning to take a commanding 12-1 lead.
Lovercheck reached base after being hit by a pitch to start the inning and she scored the next at-bat on a triple by Seats. Richardson then drove in Seats with a single and Rodgers hit a two-run home run two batters later.
House singled the next at-bat and Jacksonville’s 12th run came off the bat of Holt two batters later. Holt hit a ground ball to third base, but the throw to first was off, allowing the Lady Devils to score and take the 11-run lead.
Harding Academy’s highlight of the game came in the top of the fifth. With one out, Lady Wildcat two-hole hitter Audrey Laird hit a three-run homer to straightaway center, which cut Jacksonville’s lead to 12-4.
The Lady Wildcats didn’t score the rest of the inning, and Jacksonville invoked the mercy rule in the bottom of the fifth. Lovercheck was hit by a pitch for the second-straight at-bat to lead off the inning, and Seats followed with a well-hit ball to left field, but it was right at the left fielder for the first out of the inning.
Lovercheck went to second base on a passed ball and Richardson advanced her to third on a bunt that left both runners safe. Kinley Burrows also bunted the following at-bat, but no one covered first on the play, leaving all runners safe again and the bases loaded.
On the first pitch of the next at-bat, Lovercheck scored on a passed ball and Rodgers hit a fly ball to left field that was caught. Richardson was a few steps off the bag when the catch was made, but she hustled back and touched the bag before racing home and ending the game because of the 10-run differential.
It was a good win for the hosts, but Jacksonville coach Hank Hawk wasn’t pleased with the mistakes his team made at certain points in the game.
“We had some routine ground balls that were bobbled, a routine ground ball and bad throw to first,” said Hawk. “There were a couple of those – a base-running error. It’s a fundamental fact if the ball’s hit to the outfield and you’re on third base you don’t come off the bag, and the girl comes off the bag about three or four steps. If she hadn’t have had speed I wouldn’t have been able to send her.
“With Mackenzie up to bat, the odds of her hitting it to the outfield are very high and she needed to just stand right there.”
Though Hawk didn’t like the mistakes his team made, there were plenty of positives to take away from the game as well.
“They were patient at the plate,” Hawk said. “Their pitcher was keeping them off balance. She was a little slower than what they’ve seen this year. We were aggressive on the base paths. They stay upbeat and when they do make an error everybody kind of pulls together, circles the wagons.
“They stay upbeat and positive. We had an inning where we went three up, three down and they just come right back out and go at it. They’re competitors. They really, really compete. They love the game, they know the game and it’s really fun watching them play when they’re clicking.”
House earned the win in the circle. She pitched four and one-third innings and finished with nine strikeouts. Richardson led the Lady Devils with three hits – all singles. Seats went 2 for 3 with a double and triple and Rodgers, House, Holt and Lloyd had one hit each.
Leader sportswriter
The Jacksonville softball team improved its record to 2-1 in dominant fashion Monday with a 14-4 mercy-rule win over Harding Academy in a nonconference game at Dupree Park.
Harding Academy’s Alexa Golden singled in the game’s first at-bat, and scored an unearned run on a pair of infield errors two batters later. But Jacksonville pitcher Kym House struck out the next three batters to get out of the top of the first, and the Lady Red Devils answered with seven runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 7-1 lead.
Jacksonville leadoff hitter Allison Seats was hit by a pitch to start things off and two-hole hitter Zylah Richardson singled the next at-bat.
Two batters later, cleanup hitter Mackenzie Rodgers was hit by a pitch and House walked the following at-bat. All four base runners eventually crossed home plate to give Jacksonville a 4-1 lead and the Lady Red Devils’ next three runs came with two outs.
Bailey Holt started the two-out rally with a double and advanced to third base on a passed ball. Brianna Lloyd singled to drive in Holt and Emily Lovercheck walked the next at-bat. That brought Seats back to the plate, and Seats gave the Lady Red Devils their 7-1 lead with a double.
House struck out the next three batters she faced in the top of the second – all looking, but Jacksonville went three up, three down in the bottom half of the inning.
Harding Academy went scoreless the next two innings, and Jacksonville added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth. The Lady Red Devils scored five runs that inning to take a commanding 12-1 lead.
Lovercheck reached base after being hit by a pitch to start the inning and she scored the next at-bat on a triple by Seats. Richardson then drove in Seats with a single and Rodgers hit a two-run home run two batters later.
House singled the next at-bat and Jacksonville’s 12th run came off the bat of Holt two batters later. Holt hit a ground ball to third base, but the throw to first was off, allowing the Lady Devils to score and take the 11-run lead.
Harding Academy’s highlight of the game came in the top of the fifth. With one out, Lady Wildcat two-hole hitter Audrey Laird hit a three-run homer to straightaway center, which cut Jacksonville’s lead to 12-4.
The Lady Wildcats didn’t score the rest of the inning, and Jacksonville invoked the mercy rule in the bottom of the fifth. Lovercheck was hit by a pitch for the second-straight at-bat to lead off the inning, and Seats followed with a well-hit ball to left field, but it was right at the left fielder for the first out of the inning.
Lovercheck went to second base on a passed ball and Richardson advanced her to third on a bunt that left both runners safe. Kinley Burrows also bunted the following at-bat, but no one covered first on the play, leaving all runners safe again and the bases loaded.
On the first pitch of the next at-bat, Lovercheck scored on a passed ball and Rodgers hit a fly ball to left field that was caught. Richardson was a few steps off the bag when the catch was made, but she hustled back and touched the bag before racing home and ending the game because of the 10-run differential.
It was a good win for the hosts, but Jacksonville coach Hank Hawk wasn’t pleased with the mistakes his team made at certain points in the game.
“We had some routine ground balls that were bobbled, a routine ground ball and bad throw to first,” said Hawk. “There were a couple of those – a base-running error. It’s a fundamental fact if the ball’s hit to the outfield and you’re on third base you don’t come off the bag, and the girl comes off the bag about three or four steps. If she hadn’t have had speed I wouldn’t have been able to send her.
“With Mackenzie up to bat, the odds of her hitting it to the outfield are very high and she needed to just stand right there.”
Though Hawk didn’t like the mistakes his team made, there were plenty of positives to take away from the game as well.
“They were patient at the plate,” Hawk said. “Their pitcher was keeping them off balance. She was a little slower than what they’ve seen this year. We were aggressive on the base paths. They stay upbeat and when they do make an error everybody kind of pulls together, circles the wagons.
“They stay upbeat and positive. We had an inning where we went three up, three down and they just come right back out and go at it. They’re competitors. They really, really compete. They love the game, they know the game and it’s really fun watching them play when they’re clicking.”
House earned the win in the circle. She pitched four and one-third innings and finished with nine strikeouts. Richardson led the Lady Devils with three hits – all singles. Seats went 2 for 3 with a double and triple and Rodgers, House, Holt and Lloyd had one hit each.
SPORTS STORY >> Long road back for CHS coach
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
When Cabot coach Jerry Bridges took over the CHS program, it was an unlikely union. Bridges had been highly successful as a young coach, winning two state championships at two different schools, but had walked away from the court of play to become an administrator. Cabot had not been in the state tournament for 31 years. Bridges had not coached for three, but it worked.
Bridges coached in the 2001 state final at Fort Smith Southside before leaving coaching.
“It’s tough at Southside and it just wore on me,” said Bridges. “I needed a break. I needed a change and I thought, let’s look at this. I was at an age I thought, give it three years and if you don’t like, if it’s not for you, I could still get a good job out there.”
Cabot was not a strong program, but it offered a sort of familiarity that Bridges found attractive.
“I don’t know if this was a good job right then,” Bridges said. “But it’s central Arkansas, closer to home. It paid well, and I thought it was a similar job to Caddo Hills, but just on a bigger level. It was appealing to me at the time that they were talking about building a facility. I just thought at that time in my life, that’s what I wanted to do.”
Then Cabot athletic director Johnny White had a very short list of candidates he wanted to pursue, and knew Bridges needed to be coaching.
“I knew when Jerry was AD at Mountain Home, that wasn’t where he was supposed to be,” said White. “We had talked some over the years, and he had said some things that told me, he needed to coach basketball.”
White’s intuition was right.
“I quickly found out (at Mountain Home), man, you were born to coach and be in the gym. It was like riding a bike. I just got back on it and started going,” Bridges said.
Coaching has changed in many ways since Bridges entered the profession more than 25 years ago. He built a reputation in his first career of being one of the more fiery coaches out there. While he still preaches, teaches and demonstrates intensity, he has calmed somewhat. But the job itself hasn’t gotten any easier for him.
“It’s not easier,” Bridges said. “Coaching now is not easier than it was when I first started. This run helps make it better. A lot of the pressure I bring on myself.
“This is where I’m at. The losing hurts more than the winning makes you feel good. But when you make a special run like this one here, it does make it all worth it. Alright. This is a young man’s profession. I do believe that. I don’t know how many more years I have in me. It’s a challenge I have to face. I hope they’ll have me around again next year anyway. I’m not ready to quit yet. But I know I’m at the end-ward part of my journey.”
Out on the practice floor, Bridges returns to the line of thought.
“This is why I do it,” Bridges said. “This is it. They drive me crazy, but they keep me young. Every one of them will tell you I’ve chewed on them at one time or another, but I love these guys. You build these relationships. You have an impact. It makes you feel good when they come back and see you.”
There’s also one other source of steadiness, perspective and power in the head Panther’s life. And it’s evident when she enters his office, especially right after a loss – his 3-year-old granddaughter Hanlee.
“She’s good for me,” Bridges said. “Hanlee’s my medicine. You’ll get me emotional but she’s been good for me. I think if you talked to a lot of other people they’ll tell you, too. She’s helped me in a very positive way. You never realize how a little thing can have so much power. That makes us tic right now, that little girl.”
Leader sports editor
When Cabot coach Jerry Bridges took over the CHS program, it was an unlikely union. Bridges had been highly successful as a young coach, winning two state championships at two different schools, but had walked away from the court of play to become an administrator. Cabot had not been in the state tournament for 31 years. Bridges had not coached for three, but it worked.
Bridges coached in the 2001 state final at Fort Smith Southside before leaving coaching.
“It’s tough at Southside and it just wore on me,” said Bridges. “I needed a break. I needed a change and I thought, let’s look at this. I was at an age I thought, give it three years and if you don’t like, if it’s not for you, I could still get a good job out there.”
Cabot was not a strong program, but it offered a sort of familiarity that Bridges found attractive.
“I don’t know if this was a good job right then,” Bridges said. “But it’s central Arkansas, closer to home. It paid well, and I thought it was a similar job to Caddo Hills, but just on a bigger level. It was appealing to me at the time that they were talking about building a facility. I just thought at that time in my life, that’s what I wanted to do.”
Then Cabot athletic director Johnny White had a very short list of candidates he wanted to pursue, and knew Bridges needed to be coaching.
“I knew when Jerry was AD at Mountain Home, that wasn’t where he was supposed to be,” said White. “We had talked some over the years, and he had said some things that told me, he needed to coach basketball.”
White’s intuition was right.
“I quickly found out (at Mountain Home), man, you were born to coach and be in the gym. It was like riding a bike. I just got back on it and started going,” Bridges said.
Coaching has changed in many ways since Bridges entered the profession more than 25 years ago. He built a reputation in his first career of being one of the more fiery coaches out there. While he still preaches, teaches and demonstrates intensity, he has calmed somewhat. But the job itself hasn’t gotten any easier for him.
“It’s not easier,” Bridges said. “Coaching now is not easier than it was when I first started. This run helps make it better. A lot of the pressure I bring on myself.
“This is where I’m at. The losing hurts more than the winning makes you feel good. But when you make a special run like this one here, it does make it all worth it. Alright. This is a young man’s profession. I do believe that. I don’t know how many more years I have in me. It’s a challenge I have to face. I hope they’ll have me around again next year anyway. I’m not ready to quit yet. But I know I’m at the end-ward part of my journey.”
Out on the practice floor, Bridges returns to the line of thought.
“This is why I do it,” Bridges said. “This is it. They drive me crazy, but they keep me young. Every one of them will tell you I’ve chewed on them at one time or another, but I love these guys. You build these relationships. You have an impact. It makes you feel good when they come back and see you.”
There’s also one other source of steadiness, perspective and power in the head Panther’s life. And it’s evident when she enters his office, especially right after a loss – his 3-year-old granddaughter Hanlee.
“She’s good for me,” Bridges said. “Hanlee’s my medicine. You’ll get me emotional but she’s been good for me. I think if you talked to a lot of other people they’ll tell you, too. She’s helped me in a very positive way. You never realize how a little thing can have so much power. That makes us tic right now, that little girl.”
SPORTS STORY >> Panthers answer Bryant in overtime
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Bryant Hornets erased an eight-point deficit in about two minutes to force overtime, but the Cabot Panthers prevailed 50-47 in the semifinals of the Class 7A state tournament Saturday at Panther Arena.
The win punched Cabot’s ticket to its first-ever state championship game, which will be at 8:45 p.m. Friday at the Hot Springs Convention Center against Bentonville.
With 2:48 remaining in regulation, the Panthers held a 43-35 lead and appeared well on their way to that first championship appearance. But Bryant clamped down on defense and held the Panthers scoreless, and tied the game with 47 seconds left on two free throws by point guard Calvin Allen.
“I think you had a team on the other side that was wanting to win as bad as we wanted to win,” said Cabot coach Jerry Bridges. “Both teams D’d up and that’s what that was about. I’ve said ever since this thing started, whoever wins this will be the one that plays the best defense.”
Bryant upset 7A-West champion Fayetteville in the quarterfinals, hitting 11 of 19 from 3-point range. The Hornets were only able to attempt 11 against Cabot, and made just two. The perimeter defense forced Bryant to attack the basket, where inside defenders drew five charges.
“I thought for the most part this game, we did a good job of defending their three,” Bridges said. “I know they didn’t shoot near as many as they did when we watched them play Fayetteville. That’s one thing I stressed. Another thing is, with their quickness, if we’re closing out hard, they’re going hard to the basket and you have to be willing to step in and take a hit. And this guy right here (putting his hand on Logan Gilbertson’s shoulder) will step in front of a train. I just credit our whole team and our defensive effort the whole game.”
After a fourth quarter in which 16 of the 18 combined points scored were from the foul line, Bryant made it a 10-0 run by scoring the first two points in overtime, also from the foul line. Kevin Hunt hit the free throws with 2:55 remaining to put the Hornets up 45-43.
Cabot’s Matt Stanley answered with a basket while being fouled. It was Cabot’s first field goal since Gilbertson’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer that ended the third quarter with Cabot leading 35-33. Stanley missed the free throw, but took a charge at the other end to give possession back to the Panthers. Jarrod Barnes missed a driving attempt, but Hunter Southerland was there for the rebound and putback, giving Cabot a 47-45 lead with 1:25 remaining.
The Panther defense drew a five second count on Bryant with 1:17 to play, and Southerland gave Cabot a four-point lead with 38 seconds to go.
Bobby Joe Duncan made another huge defensive play on Bryant’s next possession. After knocking the ball out of bounds, Duncan tipped Romen Martin’s inbound pass back into Martin’s hands before he could step onto the playing court, giving Cabot possession with 27 seconds remaining.
Bryant fouled Barnes, who missed two free throws three seconds later, but Martin also missed on Bryant’s end and Duncan got the rebound and was fouled. He made one of two with 10 seconds to go. Bryant scored with four seconds left, but Cabot didn’t have to inbound the ball as time expired.
“I think it’s something special,” Bridges said through emerging tears about the team’s first run to a championship game. “I’m sorry. These kids work hard. I’m very demanding. I’m sure if I left they’d tell y’all some good stories. But I love these kids. I tell them, just like everybody remembers their first kiss, you win that first championship, everybody’s going to remember you.”
Duncan led Cabot (19-9) with 12 points while Gilbertson added 10. Allen led Bryant (22-8) with 12. Hunt and Martin each scored 11 and Braylon Steel added 10 for the Hornets.
“This is a great place, from our administrators on down,” Bridges said. “Everybody works hard. We’ve got good kids willing to work hard and overachieve. I hope all of Cabot will come down and pack the arena. Our kids will be ready. We know what’s on the other side, but we like our team, too. So let’s go see.”
Leader sports editor
The Bryant Hornets erased an eight-point deficit in about two minutes to force overtime, but the Cabot Panthers prevailed 50-47 in the semifinals of the Class 7A state tournament Saturday at Panther Arena.
The win punched Cabot’s ticket to its first-ever state championship game, which will be at 8:45 p.m. Friday at the Hot Springs Convention Center against Bentonville.
With 2:48 remaining in regulation, the Panthers held a 43-35 lead and appeared well on their way to that first championship appearance. But Bryant clamped down on defense and held the Panthers scoreless, and tied the game with 47 seconds left on two free throws by point guard Calvin Allen.
“I think you had a team on the other side that was wanting to win as bad as we wanted to win,” said Cabot coach Jerry Bridges. “Both teams D’d up and that’s what that was about. I’ve said ever since this thing started, whoever wins this will be the one that plays the best defense.”
Bryant upset 7A-West champion Fayetteville in the quarterfinals, hitting 11 of 19 from 3-point range. The Hornets were only able to attempt 11 against Cabot, and made just two. The perimeter defense forced Bryant to attack the basket, where inside defenders drew five charges.
“I thought for the most part this game, we did a good job of defending their three,” Bridges said. “I know they didn’t shoot near as many as they did when we watched them play Fayetteville. That’s one thing I stressed. Another thing is, with their quickness, if we’re closing out hard, they’re going hard to the basket and you have to be willing to step in and take a hit. And this guy right here (putting his hand on Logan Gilbertson’s shoulder) will step in front of a train. I just credit our whole team and our defensive effort the whole game.”
After a fourth quarter in which 16 of the 18 combined points scored were from the foul line, Bryant made it a 10-0 run by scoring the first two points in overtime, also from the foul line. Kevin Hunt hit the free throws with 2:55 remaining to put the Hornets up 45-43.
Cabot’s Matt Stanley answered with a basket while being fouled. It was Cabot’s first field goal since Gilbertson’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer that ended the third quarter with Cabot leading 35-33. Stanley missed the free throw, but took a charge at the other end to give possession back to the Panthers. Jarrod Barnes missed a driving attempt, but Hunter Southerland was there for the rebound and putback, giving Cabot a 47-45 lead with 1:25 remaining.
The Panther defense drew a five second count on Bryant with 1:17 to play, and Southerland gave Cabot a four-point lead with 38 seconds to go.
Bobby Joe Duncan made another huge defensive play on Bryant’s next possession. After knocking the ball out of bounds, Duncan tipped Romen Martin’s inbound pass back into Martin’s hands before he could step onto the playing court, giving Cabot possession with 27 seconds remaining.
Bryant fouled Barnes, who missed two free throws three seconds later, but Martin also missed on Bryant’s end and Duncan got the rebound and was fouled. He made one of two with 10 seconds to go. Bryant scored with four seconds left, but Cabot didn’t have to inbound the ball as time expired.
“I think it’s something special,” Bridges said through emerging tears about the team’s first run to a championship game. “I’m sorry. These kids work hard. I’m very demanding. I’m sure if I left they’d tell y’all some good stories. But I love these kids. I tell them, just like everybody remembers their first kiss, you win that first championship, everybody’s going to remember you.”
Duncan led Cabot (19-9) with 12 points while Gilbertson added 10. Allen led Bryant (22-8) with 12. Hunt and Martin each scored 11 and Braylon Steel added 10 for the Hornets.
“This is a great place, from our administrators on down,” Bridges said. “Everybody works hard. We’ve got good kids willing to work hard and overachieve. I hope all of Cabot will come down and pack the arena. Our kids will be ready. We know what’s on the other side, but we like our team, too. So let’s go see.”
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