CLASS 1A BOYS
Blue Jays corral defending champs at the end
Nevada avenged a loss to Izard County in last season’s state championship game, defeating the Cougars 48-47. It was the first state championship for the Blue Jays, who also reached the championship game in 1995, 2008 and 2019.
CLASS 1A BOYS
NEVADA 48, IZARD COUNTY 47
HOT SPRINGS — Nevada finished its business.
The Blue Jays avenged a state championship loss to Izard County from a year ago, holding on for a 48-47 victory over the Cougars in the Class 1A boys state championship game in front of 2,948 fans at Bank OZK Arena.
Nevada (33-6), located in Rosston, won its first state title after playing in championship games in 1995, 2008 and 2019.
Getting over the state-title game hurdle was important for Nevada Coach Bobby Mullins.
“This is our main sport,” Mullins said. “This is it. We might have a parade. I might be the mayor next week because that’s how big basketball is in our community.”
Junior forward Jared Todd led the Blue Jays with 13 points and also grabbed six rebounds. Classmate Kobe Edwards finished with 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Senior guard Keyonte Coleman, who was named the Class 1A tournament most valuable player, added 8 points, 3 rebounds and a steal.
Despite a scoreless drought in the fourth quarter that lasted 3:12, Nevada regained the lead 47-46 with 29 seconds remaining on Todd’s jumper.
Izard County senior guard Dylan Tharp made one of two free throws with 19.6 seconds left to tie the game at 47-47.
Then, with 18.4 seconds left, junior guard Javontae Pearson was fouled and hit one of two free throws as Nevada took a 48-47 lead.
Izard County had its opportunities down the stretch but couldn’t get over the hump.
Junior guard Coby Everett missed a layup with nine seconds left, and Edwards corralled the defensive rebound. Coleman was fouled but missed the front end of a one-and-one with seven seconds remaining.
Izard County Coach Kyle McCandlis called timeout and put the ball in his top player’s hands.
Justus Cooper drove to the lane, but his jumper was off as time expired.
“We wanted Justus to take it in,” McCandlis said. “It just didn’t fall.”
Mullins admitted the moment was too big for Nevada in the 2019 state championship game. A year later, it’s the Blue Jays taking home the Class 1A championship trophy.
Todd was motivated to get back to the state title game and win it this time.
“We’ve been used to winning,” Todd said. “That loss devastated us. It drove us to work hard and to get back to the championship and try to win.”
Nevada shot 22 of 43 (51.2%) from the floor. Izard County was 16-of-45 shooting (35.6%).
Cooper, a University of Arkansas at Fort Smith signee, led Izard County (39-6) with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Tharp had 12 points, while Everett added 10 more.
Nevada led 15-11 at the end of the first quarter.
The Blue Jays extended their lead to 24-13 with 2:44 left in the second quarter on Todd’s three-pointer. But the Cougars ended the first half on a 7-0 run, with Cooper knocking down a three-pointer, and junior guard Caleb Faulkner getting a tip-in off a Cooper missed three-point attempt, to cut the lead to 2620 by halftime.
Nevada pushed its lead to 37-29 with 3:46 remaining in the third quarter. However, the Cougars went on a 10-0 run and Tharp’s three-pointer with 1:08 left to play in the quarter gave Izard County a 39-37 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Since losing its Class 1A-8 regional final Feb. 22 to Bradley, the Blue Jays finished the season on a seven-game winning streak.
“This season has been a whole lot of fun,” Mullins said. “We started the year rolling. We took a downturn. About a month ago, I wasn’t sure if we would get back. But the kids worked hard and started believing in me and each other. That’s what got us here today.”
Izard County’s 62-game winning streak against Class 1A teams ended with its loss to Nevada.
“It’s been pretty remarkable,” McCandlis said. “They’ve bought into our strength and conditioning program, which has taken them to a new level. They’re very coachable and very talented. They’re tough kids. Even today, when we were down, they knew they were going to make a run.
“But I’ll say this, they’re not done yet.”