Avery Felts scored 25 points and Riley Felkins added 21 to lead Jonesboro Westside’s 62-60 victory over Pottsville at Magnolia.

JONESBORO WESTSIDE 62, POTTSVILLE 60

MAGNOLIA — Jonesboro Westside wasn’t ready to go home to northeast Arkansas.

Senior Avery Felts scored 25 points and junior Riley Felkins had 21 points to lead the Warriors past the Pottsville Apaches 62-60 on Friday night at the Class 4A boys state basketball tournament quarterfinals at Panther Arena.

The Warriors (23-8), the No. 4 seed from the Class 4A East Region, will stay in south Arkansas for the second semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. today.

Westside outscored Pottsville 24-16 in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors shot 12 of 30 from the floor Friday, but they were 14 of 18 from the free-throw line in the game’s final eight minutes and 32 of 42 overall.

Last season, the Warriors played in the Class 4A state championship game and lost to Baptist Prep. After Friday’s victory, they’re one victory away from getting back to Hot Springs.

“We’ve been through a lot of wars and played a lot of good teams along the way,” Westside Coach Mark Whitmire said. “We’ve got a shot to get back to the summit tomorrow.”

Pottsville (26-5), which shot 19 of 45, led 40-30 with 3:35 left in the third quarter and was in front 46-38 with 7:25 remaining.

Then, Westside made its run.

Junior Kessler Mack hit a three-pointer, then Felts knocked down a three and was fouled by Pottsville sophomore Trey Thurman with 5:25 left. Felts completed the four-point play to give the Warriors a 48-46 lead, which was part of a 16-2 burst.

“He’s a big-time player who hits big shots,” Whitmire said. “We needed that. That was a big spark for us. Kessler Mack hits that three for us before that, then [Felts] hits that one. Then, boom, boom, we started rolling.”

An Arkansas State University oral commitment, Felts went 16 of 19 at the free-throw line.

Senior Wesley Heikes, who led the Apaches with 21 points, cut the lead to 59-57 with less than 40 seconds left to play. But Westside closed the game out at the free-throw line, making three of four.

Felts and Felkins were too much for the Apaches, Coach Shane Thurman said.

“We very, very seldom run into guys that make us change what we do defensively,” Thurman said. “They were really good.”