Leader sports editor
Jacksonville ended Jonesboro’s three-game winning streak and beat the Hurricane for the third time this year with a 66-54 victory at the Devils Den on Tuesday night.
Jacksonville’s standout guard Raheem Appleby fought off spells of nausea triggered by fatigue to score a game high 28 points, getting a layup and six free throws over the final 1:31 to help the Red Devils hold off the Hurricane in the 6A-East matchup and move ahead of Jonesboro in the standings.
It was Jacksonville’s second consecutive game after it edged defending 6A state champion Little Rock Hall 62-60 the previous night. Jacksonville coach Vic Joyner used the example of 34-year-old NBA players playing an 82-game schedule with cross-country travel.
“Sixteen-, 17-year-old kids can come out there and gut one out, and they gutted one out,” Joyner said.
Jacksonville (19-3, 7-3) beat Jonesboro (18-6, 7-4) in a pre-conference tournament and completed the regular season sweep Tuesday. But the latest victory wasn’t easy, though it appeared headed that way at first.
The Red Devils jumped to a double-digit lead in the first quarter, which ended with the Red Devils up 18-8.
“They’re going to be tough on any night,” Jonesboro coach Wes Swift said.
But Jonesboro fought back with a 10-1 run to get within 29-28 by halftime.
The Hurricane tied it at 32 on Ayo Ojo’s shot off a spin move with 6:33 left in the third quarter and took its first lead, 35-32, when Kahron Ross hit a three-pointer for his first points with 5:49 left in the period.
There were four ties from that point while Jonesboro’s biggest lead was 39-35 when Jacob Gibson grabbed a tipped ball and put it in with under five minutes left in the third.
Jacksonville went in front to stay when James Aikens made a one-handed jumper for the 46-44 lead with 7:15 left in the game.
“We’re one of the fewer teams that can go a small lineup with them and still kind of execute a little bit,” Joyner said. “If you can’t do that against Jonesboro then their speed and their presses will wear you out if you try to keep two bigs out there with them.”
Jonesboro stayed within six points of the lead until the Red Devils pulled away with a foul-aided, 10-2 run that left Swift fuming.
Swift drew a technical when he griped about the officiating with 35.4 seconds left and Jacksonville leading 58-42. Appleby made both free throws, and Swift was further outraged seconds later when Colby Inboden was whistled for an intentional foul as he tried to stop Appleby on a fastbreak.
Imboden grabbed Appleby with both hands but appeared to be trying to steady him as they went out of bounds on the baseline.
Swift did not comment directly on the officiating after the game.
“All year long, our kids are so resilient,” Swift said. “Any time you think we’re down, we bounce back, and this will be no exception. It’s one of the most unbelievable conferences I’ve ever seen. There’s so much talent in this conference and the key to it is they’re all so well coached.”
Appleby was the only Jacksonville player with 10 or more points, though the Red Devils got key plays from others late in the game.
Terrell Brown made a falling down shot in the lane to make it 54-48 Jacksonville with under two minutes left, Justin McCleary hit a pair of free throws for the 61-52 lead with 32.5 seconds to go and Aikens tacked on a free throw for the final margin.
“We’ve just got some guys we’re challenging to score some points,” Joyner said. “We’re trying to get everybody to score some points. We’re not going to make it very far with just Raheem scoring.”
Ojo led Jonesboro with 12 points, Ross had 11, all in the second half, and Gibson also scored 11.
Given the competitive nature of the 6A-East, the possibility of Jonesboro and Jacksonville meeting a fourth time in the state tournament came up Tuesday.
“We’ll worry about that when we get there,” said Swift, who had to get his team ready for Little Rock Parkview on Friday.
“Who knows? We might mess around, see them and play them a fourth time,” Joyner said. “God forbid.”
Jacksonville ended Jonesboro’s three-game winning streak and beat the Hurricane for the third time this year with a 66-54 victory at the Devils Den on Tuesday night.
Jacksonville’s standout guard Raheem Appleby fought off spells of nausea triggered by fatigue to score a game high 28 points, getting a layup and six free throws over the final 1:31 to help the Red Devils hold off the Hurricane in the 6A-East matchup and move ahead of Jonesboro in the standings.
It was Jacksonville’s second consecutive game after it edged defending 6A state champion Little Rock Hall 62-60 the previous night. Jacksonville coach Vic Joyner used the example of 34-year-old NBA players playing an 82-game schedule with cross-country travel.
“Sixteen-, 17-year-old kids can come out there and gut one out, and they gutted one out,” Joyner said.
Jacksonville (19-3, 7-3) beat Jonesboro (18-6, 7-4) in a pre-conference tournament and completed the regular season sweep Tuesday. But the latest victory wasn’t easy, though it appeared headed that way at first.
The Red Devils jumped to a double-digit lead in the first quarter, which ended with the Red Devils up 18-8.
“They’re going to be tough on any night,” Jonesboro coach Wes Swift said.
But Jonesboro fought back with a 10-1 run to get within 29-28 by halftime.
The Hurricane tied it at 32 on Ayo Ojo’s shot off a spin move with 6:33 left in the third quarter and took its first lead, 35-32, when Kahron Ross hit a three-pointer for his first points with 5:49 left in the period.
There were four ties from that point while Jonesboro’s biggest lead was 39-35 when Jacob Gibson grabbed a tipped ball and put it in with under five minutes left in the third.
Jacksonville went in front to stay when James Aikens made a one-handed jumper for the 46-44 lead with 7:15 left in the game.
“We’re one of the fewer teams that can go a small lineup with them and still kind of execute a little bit,” Joyner said. “If you can’t do that against Jonesboro then their speed and their presses will wear you out if you try to keep two bigs out there with them.”
Jonesboro stayed within six points of the lead until the Red Devils pulled away with a foul-aided, 10-2 run that left Swift fuming.
Swift drew a technical when he griped about the officiating with 35.4 seconds left and Jacksonville leading 58-42. Appleby made both free throws, and Swift was further outraged seconds later when Colby Inboden was whistled for an intentional foul as he tried to stop Appleby on a fastbreak.
Imboden grabbed Appleby with both hands but appeared to be trying to steady him as they went out of bounds on the baseline.
Swift did not comment directly on the officiating after the game.
“All year long, our kids are so resilient,” Swift said. “Any time you think we’re down, we bounce back, and this will be no exception. It’s one of the most unbelievable conferences I’ve ever seen. There’s so much talent in this conference and the key to it is they’re all so well coached.”
Appleby was the only Jacksonville player with 10 or more points, though the Red Devils got key plays from others late in the game.
Terrell Brown made a falling down shot in the lane to make it 54-48 Jacksonville with under two minutes left, Justin McCleary hit a pair of free throws for the 61-52 lead with 32.5 seconds to go and Aikens tacked on a free throw for the final margin.
“We’ve just got some guys we’re challenging to score some points,” Joyner said. “We’re trying to get everybody to score some points. We’re not going to make it very far with just Raheem scoring.”
Ojo led Jonesboro with 12 points, Ross had 11, all in the second half, and Gibson also scored 11.
Given the competitive nature of the 6A-East, the possibility of Jonesboro and Jacksonville meeting a fourth time in the state tournament came up Tuesday.
“We’ll worry about that when we get there,” said Swift, who had to get his team ready for Little Rock Parkview on Friday.
“Who knows? We might mess around, see them and play them a fourth time,” Joyner said. “God forbid.”
