John Smith scored on a spinning bank shot with 1.4 seconds left to propel Ashdown to a 68-66 victory over Baptist Prep at Osceola. See more photos at nwadg.com

ASHDOWN 68, BAPTIST PREP 66

OSCEOLA — Ashdown weathered an early storm from Baptist Prep’s Issac McBride, then created a disturbance of its own to pull off a rousing upset.

Senior forward John Smith scored on a spinning bankshot with 1.4 seconds left to propel the Panthers to a 6866 victory over the Eagles on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A boys state basketball tournament at Seminole Arena.

“Whew, that was exhausting,” Ashdown Coach James Smith said. “We made it hard on ourselves at times, but that team, with that type of player, they made it hard on us as well. But the guys, they listened and stuck with it.

“We made some mistakes, missed some shots, but the guys played hard. We gave ourselves a chance at the end, and it worked out in our favor with [Smith] hitting a big shot. McBride’s last one, though. … Shoot, I thought it was going in.”

Just about everything else went in for McBride, who capped a stellar high-school career with a game-high 39 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. The University of Kansas-bound guard canned a 30-footer with 6.4 seconds left to tie the game at 66-66 before Smith’s basket put Ashdown on top. Baptist Prep (30-4) had one final opportunity to win it, but McBride’s heave just beyond half-court came up short, prompting Panther players to rush the floor in celebration.

Junior forward Lamar Wilkerson finished with 26 points and 9 rebounds, while Smith ended with 21 points and 7 rebounds for Ashdown (26-2), which lost 63-50 to Baptist Prep in the second round of the state tournament last season. Senior guard Kaiden Hunter added 11 points and 4 steals.

Junior guard Andrew Evans was the only other Baptist Prep player to score more than six points. He finished with seven, but the Panthers were able to slow down the rest of the Eagles. Baptist Prep, on the other hand, had its hands full trying to stop Ashdown.

“We just had a hard time getting stops on those guys,” Baptist Prep Coach Steve Miller said. “They put so much pressure on you, but that’s a credit to them. We had them scouted well, but we just struggled stopping them.”

McBride had 16 points in the first quarter, and the Eagles held a lead as big as 12 in the second quarter before the Panthers scrapped to get within 37-35 at the break.

Baptist Prep led throughout the third quarter until Ashdown finally snatched the lead, 54-52, on a basket by senior guard Keamon Nutt at the end of the quarter. The Eagles regained the advantage and were ahead 63-60 after a pair of McBride free throws with 1:42 remaining in the game, but consecutive floaters from Hunter and two free throws from Wilkerson put Ashdown ahead, 66-63, and set the stage for a crazy finish.

MAYFLOWER 58, HARDING ACADEMY 54

Sophomore forward Braxtyn McCuien had 23 points, 17 rebounds and 7 blocked shots to lead Mayflower (239), which held Harding Academy to just 2-of-13 shooting in the fourth quarter after leading 47-43 at the end of three quarters.

Senior guard Jay Nance had 17 points, including two free throws with 3.4 seconds left, to seal it for the Eagles.

Grant Patterson, a senior, had 15 points and junior forward Connor McGaha had 12 for Harding Academy (25-6).