Malvern Cubs edged by De Queen in controversial buzzer-beater decision 32-31
Lady Cubs hang tough early, fall to De Queen
MALVERN — The hometown Malvern Jr. Leopard-cubs and Jr. Lady Leopard-cubs displayed hard fought efforts on the hardwood last Thursday night during junior high basketball competition hosting De Queen at the Leopard Center.
Malvern sparked throughout their matchups but De Queen came out victorious.
Jr. Lady Leopard-cubs 17 De Queen 35
In the junior high girls game, the Jr. Lady Leopard-cubs kept the contest close in the first half. Malvern ‘s Alexis Jenkins sank a jumper inside the arc, then inside post player Jaylin Finley scored two consecutive buckets off the glass that gave the Jr. Lady Leopard-cubs a 6-0 lead down to the 2:42 mark in the opening period. But De Queen finished the quarter by knocking down a pair of free-throws, then sinking two field goal shots that knotted the contest at 6-6 at the end of the first period.
In the second quarter, De Queen opened up the game and built some momentum to take a 10-6 lead down to the 4:18 mark. Despite some frustration of emotions that favored De Queen, Malvern was outscored 12-3. Auyanna Siaz split a pair of free-throws at the foul line and Finley drilled a mid-range shot from the field to account for Malvern’s scoring in the second. At halftime, Malvern trailed De Queen, 18-9.
In the third quarter, the Jr. Lady Leopard-cubs was held under double-digit scoring while De Queen poured 12 points through the basket, outscored Malvern 12-6. At the end of three quarters of action, Malvern trailed De Queen 30-15. In the final quarter, De Queen added five points on the board while the Jr. Lady Leopard-cubs managed two points scored in the quarter.
Malvern’s Makinna Francis scored the quarter’s opening bucket down to the 4:03 mark, but De Queen took it from there by swishing a trifecta beyond the arc and scoring a basket inside the arc to secure a 18-point win on the road against Malvern.
For the game, Jr. Lady-leopard Cubs’ Finley led scoring with six points, Jenkins followed with five points and drilled a trifecta, Siaz added four points and Francis finished with two points.
Jr. Leopard-cubs 31 De Queen 32
In the nightcap, the junior high boys match-up ended in a very controversial decision that was decided by a discussion from the officials in a bizarre finish. After an impressive comeback by the Jr. Leopard-cubs in the fourth quarter trailing 29-24 with 1:09 left remaining, Malvern stepped up to knot the game at 29-29 from Jeremiah Creggett and Jabori Jacobs both hitting clutch freethrows with Jacobs scoring the game tying bucket. With 8.7 seconds remaining, Creggett made a steal out of Malvern’s full court press and was fouled at 5.7 seconds. Creggett went to the foul line and buried both free-throws to give Malvern a 31-29 lead.
De Queen held the final possession and managed to move the ball across half-court.
In the closing seconds, De Queen launched a shot beyond the arc and nailed the 3-pointer for the buzzer-beater that gave De Queen the one-point lead.
But, one official viewing on the same side of the shot that was made signal a two-pointer which would only have tied the game at 3131. With Malvern looking for overtime play the other official viewing from a different angle ruled it clearly a 3-pointer.
While all three officials discussed the decision, it was ruled a three-pointer and De Queen escaped with the controversial ending win against Malvern.
The contest was close the entire 32 minutes with Malvern lead De Queen 6-4 in the first quarter.
In the second, the Jr. Leopard-cubs and De Queen matched each other scoring wise at 6-6. But at the break, Malvern held a slight two-point advantage over De Queen 12-10.
In the third, De Queen provided their biggest scoring period of the game and posted in double-digits to outscore Malvern 15-9. At the end of three quarters, Malvern had a fourpoint deficit to De Queen 25-21. In the fourth, Malvern outscored De Queen 10-7.
For the game, Malvern’s Creggett led all scorers with 13 points for double-figures. Jacobs followed with seven points, Tristan Browning drilled two trifectas for six points, Ben Rock knocked down a trifecta for three points and Braylen Thomas added two points. Jacobs also swished a triple from downtown beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
Malvern junior high hoopsters will take off the rest of the week during the holiday break, but return to action next week to compete in tourney competition hosted at Lake Hamilton in the 2021 Kamo Kids Tournament.