Jones’ 37 points lift up Rivercrest
RIVERCREST 84, DUMAS 63
CHARLESTON — Shamar Jones’ jaw dropped in disbelief when somebody told him how many points he had scored Saturday afternoon. “What?” he said. “Oh my.” Rivercrest’s senior guard scored 37 points in a variety of ways as the Colts moved on to the Class 3A boys state tournament championship game with an 84-63 victory over Dumas in the Tiger Center.
“I continued to say if there is anybody more deserving, it’s him,” Rivercrest Coach Hunter Robinson said. “He comes in and works every day in practice. He’s given his all to me in the two years here, and he’s a team player. The team is first for him, and he didn’t know how many points he had. That’s the type of player he is.”
Jones scored every way imaginable for Rivercrest (296), which jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes and never relinquished it. He made 13 of 19 shots — 1 of 2 from three-point range — and 10 of 13 from the free-throw line. He fell one rebound short of having a double-double.
The senior even managed to score points between the first and second quarters while the remaining players were at their benches. Dumas (29-4) was whistled for a technical foul after the horn sounded to end the first quarter, and Jones hit both free throws to give the Colts an 18-9 cushion.
“He’s the man when something like that happens,” Robinson said. “We’re going to put him on the line. He’s a true team leader.”
Jones started the second quarter with a three-pointer to give Rivercrest its first double-digit lead as the Colts went on to a 31-19 halftime advantage. Rivercrest started the second half with nine unanswered points.
Alex Askew added 16 points, and Kam Turner chipped in 10 points and 9 rebounds for Rivercrest. Chris Harris led a trio of Dumas players with 19 points, followed by Daylen Davis with 13 and Kylin James with 12.
OSCEOLA 51, MAYFLOWER 44
Mayflower cut into a lead early in the fourth quarter, but Osceola found its way down the stretch to advance in a semifinals matchup at the Tiger Center.
Osceola (19-7) was led by Greg Hooks’ team-high 14 points, and Chris Littleton added 11 points.
Braxtyn McCuien scored a game-high 16 points to lead Mayflower’s offense.
Mayflower (24-10) got a three-pointer to fall with five minutes left from Zak Fugatt to cut Osceola’s lead to 33-32. Osceola then outscored Mayflower 1610 in the final three minutes of the game to pull away. Osceola used a 13-4 run to push its advantage to 48-38 with less than a minute left.