By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot Panthers are closing in on another Class 7A state tournament bid after a 51-38 victory over Little Rock Central at Panther Pavilion on Tuesday.
The Tigers held off Panthers leading scorer Darin Jones for three quarters, but the senior came to life in the fourth quarter to score all of his seven points and helped Cabot pull away in a 7A-Central Conference game it led 22-21at halftime.
Cabot concluded a strand of make-up games that were forced by multiple postponements because of winter weather. The Panthers played three games in span of four days, beating Conway on Saturday and losing at North Little Rock on Monday before taking their Tuesday victory over the Tigers.
“Honestly, we grinded it out, okay,” Cabot coach Jerry Bridges said. “We didn’t play one of our best games; our defensive intensity was not what it needed to be. I’m proud of them for toughing it out. It wasn’t pretty, but I’ll take it.”
The Tigers kept it close in the first half. Cabot led 12-10 at the end of the first quarter and by one at halftime.
But the Panthers were able to find breathing room by the end of the third quarter, taking a 32-27 lead before opening it up in the final eight minutes.
“Our conditioning really helped us along some,” Bridges said. “We didn’t panic, we did a better job of executing and we had much better shot selection.”
Senior Kai Davis led the Panthers with 21 points while J.D. Brunett added 12 points. Charles Mantione had six points and Clayton Vaught scored four.
The Tigers kept Jones off the scoreboard through the first three quarters, but could not contain Cabot’s dynamic shooting guard in the last period.
Jones scored his seven points in that time, as the Panthers quickly stretched their five-point lead to double digits shortly after the start of the fourth quarter.
Cabot also shot 5 for 5 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
The Panthers (13-11, 7-4) had five games left and are third in the 7A/6A-Central power ratings with 101 points, seven behind second-place North Little Rock.
“There’s still a lot left to play,” Bridges said. “I think the worst we can do at this point is be the four-seed. But from how our year started, I didn’t think we would be any seed.”
The Lady Panthers kept their momentum going with a 56-47 victory over Little Rock Central on Tuesday.
The Lady Panthers (17-7, 7-4) are third in the 7A/6A-Central power rankings with 80 points, behind unbeaten North Little Rock and Little Rock Hall.
