Lock pours season-high 25 to lead Malvern in close loss to ranked Arkadelphia
Badger trio Palmer, Harris, Elgas post double-digits to keep A-town unbeaten in conf.; extend to 14-game winning streak
MALVERN — For Tuesday night hoops in Leopard Country, the hometown Malvern Leopards brought a competitive mentality to the court against their arch-rival and topranked Arkadelphia Badgers in the first of their two game conference series matchup at the Leopard Center.
RIVALRY TOP PERFORMER
While the Badgers were rolling on a unbeaten streak of 13 consecutive wins, the Leopards’ Jacoby Lock displayed a star-studded performance with a season-high 25 points and buried four triples from beyond the arc despite Malvern’s 61-52 loss to ranked Arkadelphia.
A-TOWN LEADING SCORERS
The Badgers had three players to post in double-figures with Antoine Palmer leading A-town with 17 points and dropped three triples—followed by Ryan Harris posting 14 points with a triple and True-freshman James Elgas adding 15 points with a triple.
THE RIVALRY SHOWDOWN HIGHLIGHTS Arkadelphia vs. Malvern THE FIRST HALF SHOW
OPENING QUARTER— From the opening tip, the Leopards wasted no time to ignite their presence to seize the moment to take command against the Badgers. Lock, who had eight first quarter points, and 11 at halftime got the Leopards on the board first with a bucket at the 7:09 mark— giving Malvern a 2-0 lead. Arkadelphia’s big man Courtlon Crow softly put up a shot off the glass underneath the hoop to tie the game at 2-2. Lock answered back with a bucket, then Harris drained a triple to give Arkadelphia their first lead at the 6:05 mark—54. DJ Culp answered for the hometown with a triple from downtown to give Malvern a 7-5 lead down to the 5:15 mark. After a minute rolled off the clock, Harris tied the game at 7-7 from a hard drive to the basket.
Lock swished a jumper inside the arc that gave Malvern its lead—but the A-town’s Nazjay Lambert and Palmer drained a triple from the corner and the wing to give the Fighting Badgers a
13-9 advantage with two minutes left in the first quarter. Malvern’s Carter Martin stopped Arkadelphia’s momentum to swish a jumper around the foul line to cut the Leopard’s deficit to a two-point game—13-11 with 1:44 remaining. Then big man Kealon Juniel converted a three-point play the old fashioned way to give Malvern a slight 14-13 lead. Harris coasted down the lane to finish strong with a bucket that gave Arkadelphia a 15-14 lead with 25 seconds left. To end the first quarter, Lock’s scrappy defense allowed a steal and then soared to the basket for a buzzer-beater finish to give Malvern a 16-15 lead over Arkadelphia at the conclusion of the first eight minutes of action.
SECOND QUARTER— Arkadelphia rallied back with an early run led by Harris scoring consecutive buckets to give the Badgers a 23-16 lead down to the 6:20 mark. Malvern came back with productive long range shooting by Culp to cut the Leopards deficit at 2318 with 4:27 left to play in the half. But, the Badgers showcased a 3-point shooting spree by Palmer draining two triples and Elgas swishing one triple from beyond the arc to give A-town their biggest lead of the contest 29-21. After a timeout by Malvern, the Leopards came back with aggression and Culp stopped the Badgers’ run and now made it a six-point spread—29-23 with 2:53 left before halftime. In the final two minutes of action, the Leopards outscored Arkadelphia 6-4—led by Juniel converting another three-point play, and Lock burying a trifecta but the Badgers Elgas sank two free-throws that gave Arkadelphia a 35-29 lead over Malvern at the break.
THE SECOND HALF SHOW
THIRD QUARTER— The Badgers outscored Malvern 14-13 with both teams posting double-digit scoring periods. After three quarters of play, Arkadelphia led Malvern 49-42.
FOURTH QUARTER—
In the finale period of the contest, the Badgers’ Crow scored off the block and Elgas sank two foul shots that opened up the Arkadelphia lead to 53-42 with 4:34 left to play in the game. The Leopards’ 11-point deficit didn’t stop the spark for the hometown squad with Culp sinking a jumper to stop the Badgers’ run and bring the Leopards within nine-points— under double-digits. Elgas for Arkadelphia maintained the productive shooting from the foul line to sink another pair of free-throws to put the game back into double- digits— 55- 44 with Arkadelphia in charge at the 3:47 mark. With time rolling off the clock, the Leopards made key plays down the stretch. Dyelon Caradine made a bucket inside pass to Martin with the finish for the assist. Then Caradine swished a trifecta of nothing but net from the wing beyond the arc that started a Leopard spark and cut Arkadelphia lead to 55-49 at the 2:12 mark. Since the Leopards had some momentum going, the Badgers chopped their way back in control at the charity stripe with the trio of Palmer, Elgas and Harris all sinking a pair of free-throws. Lock drilled his fourth and final triple from downtown to score Malvern’s last points of the contest that resulted in a tough nine-point defeat to Arkadelphia.
POST GAME SCORERS
For the game, Malvern’s Culp finished with nine points and swished one triple, Juniel and Caradine each added six points apiece. Caradine also drilled two triples from beyond the arc. Martin followed with four points and Kaleb Bright chipped in two points which came in the third quarter.
Arkadelphia’s big men Crow finished with eight points—and twin tower Lambert added five points with a triple and Isaiah Salinas contributed two points.
KEY FACTORS
Arkadelphia’s victory extends their winning streak to 14 consecutive victories with a 14-1 overall record and remains unbeaten in conference at 5-0. Arkadelphia is currently the No. 4 ranked team in the state for Class 4A as one of the top five teams ranked in the state for 4A by the Arkansas Sports Media High School Basketball Boys Ranking.
A LEOPARD NOTE
The Leopards are one of few teams to come close within striking distance to lose to Arkadelphia under double-digits—arkadelphia has
UP NEXT
The Leopards will return to the court Friday as they aim for their first win in conference on the road at Mena.
Arkadelphia takes its 14-game winning streak on the road to Nashville Friday for conference play.
NOTE:
Possible games postponed or cancellations may occur due to COVID-19 situations throughout the state and will be rescheduled for a later date.