Football standout clutch for Pine Bluff
CLASS 5A PINE BLUFF 68, JACKSONVILLE 46
SEARCY — Courtney Crutchfield is signed to play football at the University of Missouri this coming fall, but the multi-sport star isn’t ready for his basketball career to end just yet.
Crutchfield led Pine Bluff to a 68-46 win over Jacksonville in the 5A state tournament Friday afternoon.
Crutchfield and senior guard Braylen Hall each scored 16 points to lead the Zebras offensively. Senior forward Randy Emerson Jr. finished with 15 points and provided a strong effort on the defensive end as well. Something that Pine Bluff Coach
Billy Dixon strongly emphasizes to his group.
“It’s simple, if you don’t play defense you don’t get on the court,” Dixon said. “They all know that and understand that. When you’re out there, if you’re not getting the job done, somebody in line will take your place. That’s the way we train. We don’t have practice, we have training sessions.”
Pine Bluff held Jacksonville to just 23 points in each half. The game was tightly contested throughout the first half, with the Zebras closing the half on a 9-2 run to go into the break holding a 29-23 lead.
The third quarter went back and forth, but a three-pointer from Hall with just three seconds left in the quarter pushed the Pine Bluff lead up to 44-31 heading into the fourth. The Zebras pulled away in the final quarter, outsourcing the Titans 24-15. A breakaway slam dunk from Crutchfield extended the lead to 18 at 52-34 with 4:59 remaining.
Jacksonville made one final push and cut the gap to 57-44, but that would be as close as it would get. Junior forward Jayce Tillman led the Titans with a game-high 18 points and senior guard Jason Fox chipped in 10 points.
“We think we have nine guys any given night that can show up,” Dixon said. “Crutchfield played an important role. I challenged him to get some rebounds. Emerson has been consistent for us all year and Brayden has been consistent for us. Right now we have a team with a lot of energy that is playing extremely well.”
LR PARKVIEW 57, ALMA 45
Senior guard Drake Marbley scored a game-high 19 points and senior forward Dallas Thomas finished with 14 as Parkview built a 16-3 first quarter lead and never looked back. Thomas, who is committed to play at Clemson next year, scored 10 points in the second half and the Patriots defense was locked in from wire to wire.
Alma was led by junior forward Israel Towns-Robinson who scored 10 points in the second half and finished with a team-high 17 points. Sophomore forward Easton Boggs knocked down a trio of three-pointers and finished with nine points for the Airedales.
LAKE HAMILTON 58, VILONIA 52
Lake Hamiliton finished the game on 17-2 run to pull out a dramatic late game comeback as it rallied to defeat Villonia.
The Wolves outscored the Eagles 2210 in the final quarter to advance. Senior guard Ty Robinson led the way for Lake Hamiliton by scoring a game-high 22 points. Junior guard Zane Pennington finished with 15 points, while junior guards LaBraun Christon and Aaron Abernathy each chipped in eight points for the Wolves.
Senior forward Dashun Spence scored 15 points and junior guard Lane Turner added nine for Vilonia.