Mills takes advantage of Jacksonville errors

Instead of it being more of a statement that the youthful Mills Comets had arrived, it was simply a case of needing to win to survive and stay in the 5A-Central race.

The host Comets, who started two freshmen and two sophomores, rallied for a 59-52 victory over Jacksonville Friday night. Mills (12-4, 5-1) moved into a tie with the Red Devils (16-3, 5-1) for second place in the league, a game behind Little Rock McClellan.

“We know, looking up to Jacksonville and McClellan, if we lose a couple more we might be out of it fast,’’ Mills Coach Raymond Cooper said. “Both of those teams are quality programs and those guys are kind of pulling away from people and we wanted to at least stay in striking distance.”

The Comets got a big boost by the Red Devils’ poor freethrow shooting and a closing 0 for 11 performance from the floor.

Going into the final quarter, Jacksonville led 43-41 but with 6:24 left Mills was up 47-43. For their next three possessions, the Red Devils’ clicked and built a 50-47 lead on baskets by freshman Tyree Appleby, who scored 14, and a drive by Laqwaun Smith.

But after Smith, who had 13 points, scored on another drive to make it 52-52 with 3:45 left, the Red Devils would not score again.

The Comets were led by Cameron Ricks with 18 points and Grehlon Easter added 13. Jacksonville’s Devin Campbell led all scorers with 19.