Maumelle prevails after Marion’s timeouts are up
CLASS 5A MAUMELLE 60, MARION 58
HOT SPRINGS — Maumelle senior Darvis Raspberry didn’t know how many timeouts Marion had left when he stepped to the line with things even at 5858 and a chance to win the game. Nor did Coach Michael Shook — he was just sure his Hornets had one remaining.
When Marion sophomore Jayden Forrest pulled down Raspberry’s missed free throw and signaled for time with 1.3 seconds to play, Maumelle’s assistants leapt from the bench.
They knew.
The Patriots didn’t have any timeouts left.
That meant a technical foul on Marion, and Maumelle junior Riley Wade sank 1 of 2 at the line, giving his team the lead for good in a 60-58 victory inside Trojan Arena in a first-round matchup in the Class 5A state tournament.
Junior Carl Daugherty, who added the game’s final point, led the Hornets with 19. Raspberry and senior teammate Josh Denton scored 14 and 13, respectively, sending Maumelle to the quarterfinals for the third consecutive season.
“Marion’s always a really, really scrappy team,” Raspberry said. “We knew we had to come out hitting hard, but we also had to outwork them, and in the first half, we didn’t really do that.”
The Hornets trailed 31-24 at the break as the Patriots got into the lane at will. Marion (18-4) took advantage of Maumelle’s defensive weaknesses, using isolation offense to penetrate with ease as senior Timothy McDonald logged 14 of his team-high 18 points in the opening half.
In the locker room, Shook had a straightforward message for his Hornets.
“He said, ‘Y’all either are going to go home or buck up and get this win,’ ” Daugherty said.
According to Shook, Maumelle (18-5) became the “aggressors” as it put some heat on the Patriots for the first time all afternoon. The Hornets opened the third quarter on a 15-6 spurt capped by a breakaway layup from Daugherty to take their first lead at 39-37.
When Marion responded with seven in a row, Maumelle punched back with an 8-0 run to lead 48-44 early in the fourth quarter.
“If we were going to go down, we were going to go down swinging,” Shook said. “I told them … we’re going to give them everything we have and we were able to — even though it was really sloppy.”
The lead changed hands eight times over the final 10 minutes. With less than 90 seconds to play, it appeared as if the Patriots were going to have a chance to put the game away.
JaMaury Mosley hit just 1 of 2 at the line to make it 5451 in favor of Marion, but the Hornets scored four in a row — first on two free throws from Denton and two more on a breakaway layup from Daugherty — to set up a wild final minute.
Daugherty hit three of his four free-throw attempts in the last 40 seconds, and he did as much as anyone to will Maumelle to victory.
“He’s a leader on our team,” Raspberry said of Daugherty. “He’s a fantastic scorer, and he’s just an allaround player — a really, really good kid, and I’m so glad he stepped up today.”
The veteran trio of Daugherty, Denton and Raspberry will be critical as the Hornets take on Russellville on Saturday afternoon, hoping to make it back-to-back trips to the state semifinals.
“We’ve been here before, and I’m so proud of these guys,” Shook said. “They showed that grit to finish.”
SYLVAN HILLS 76, WEST MEMPHIS 68
For a while, the Bears were poised to run away with the final Class 5A firstround matchup. They led by 20 just before half and were up double digits after three quarters.
But the Blue Devils weren’t going to let Sylvan Hills (23-3) off easy, closing to within a half-dozen with just more than five minutes to play.
A 10-2 run by the Bears put West Memphis (12-12) as Sylvan Hills advances to a Saturday quarterfinal against Pine Bluff. Corey Washington dropped in 23 for the Bears, and junior Nick Smith added 20 to go along with 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
Jordan Mitchell scored 12 of his team-high 26 in the fourth quarter, but West Memphis shot just 1 of 6 at the free-throw line in the period.