Friday Night Rivalry Hoops: Leopards fall to Badgers in final regular season showdown on Senior Night
Gray, Elgas surge Badgers in double-figures; Simmons lead Leopards in rivalry hoops
MALVERN — For a Friday night rivalry showdown in their final meeting of the 2022-2023 basketball season on the hardwood, the hometown Malvern Leopards fell short in a tough match-up against the visiting Arkadelphua “Fighting” Badgers 71-31 on Senior Night at the Leopard Center.
Arkadelphia’s Chris Gray brought a electrifying shine to M-town and led all scorers with a huge road performance to drop 26 points and nailing four triples from downtown against the Leopards. Also James Elgas finished with 14 points to post in double-figures to lead the Badgers past the hometown Leopard hoopsters in their final encounter on the court for league season hoops.
Despite the defeat, the hometown hoopsters stayed close early and made the Badgers work in the early going for the opening eight minutes of action. In the first period, the Leopards sparked with a 3-0 lead by Ethan Martin draining a triple from the corner beyond the arc at the 7:37 mark. But, Elgas knotted the contest at 3-3 with a triple for A-town, then nailed another 3-pointer to give Arkadelphia its first lead of the game at 6-3 down to the 5:54 mark.
Malvern’s baddest man on the gridiron Jalen Dupree split a pair of free-throws for some production on the hardwood—then, dynamic duo partner—senior Cedric “Ced” Simmons banked a triple from beyond the arc before time expired off the shot clock to give Malvern a 7-6 lead down to the 3:07 mark.
The Badgers regained the lead off Gray’s bucket in transition, then OB Roberts swished a triple that pushed the A-town lead to 11-7 under a minute to play in the first period. Simmons made a trip to the foul line to sink 1-of-2 free-throws to keep the Leopards in the game— trailing Arkadelphia 11-8 to end first period play.
In the second quarter, the Leopards started the period with only a three-point deficit, but the Badgers outscored Malvern 23-6. At halftime, Arkadelphia maintained a 20-point lead over the hometown Leopard hoopsters 34-14.
In the third period, the Leopards ignited a double-digit scoring period, but the Badgers outscored Malvern 17-12. At the end of three periods of play, Arkadelphia held a comfortable lead over Malvern, 51-26.
In the final quarter, the Badgers sparked to a 4-0 run with Evan Bailey and Gray netting consecutive buckets for Arkadelphia to take a 55-26 lead down to the 4:12 mark. Simmons sparked for Malvern, but his bucket only cut the Leopard’s deficit to a 5528 contest. Arkadelphia finished out the final six minutes of play going on a 16-3 run. Malvern’s final bucket within the last six minutes came from a 3-pointer made by Keon Thompson at the 1:09 mark. But in the end, Arkadelphia prevailed for the 40-point road victory against the Leopards—resulting in the Badgers sweeping the league season match-ups at 2-0 against Malvern.
For the game, Leopard seniors Simmons led the way with eight points and Donta Cagle finished with four points on their night for the final time performing at the Leopard Center. Martin followed with six points, Dupree added five points, Dyelon Caradine and Thompson each swished triples from 3-point land for three points apiece and Tristian Miles had two points.