Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Early losses pay off for Izard County with victory
HOT SPRINGS — Izard County Coach Kyle McCandlis called on his team to bring crunch-time chemistry to the fourth quarter on Friday.
The Cougars embraced their coach’s idea, outscoring the Nevada Blue Jays 24-7 in the final quarter to win the Class 1A boys state championship 67-46 in front of 3,955 at Bank OZK Arena.
It was the second state championship for Izard County (42-4) and first since 2008.
The Cougars had lost last season’s Class 1A title game to Guy-Perkins.
Izard County allowed a 15-3 run to Nevada in the final 3:40 of the third quarter and saw its lead trimmed to 4339. It also had to deal with its junior forward Justus Cooper having four fouls, with three of them coming in a six-second span in the third quarter.
But the Cougars, behind sophomores Caleb Faulkner and Coby Everett, responded without Cooper, going on a 17-0 run to pull away from the Blue Jays.
“They’re resilient,” McCandlis said. “They’re very tough. I know they’re young, but that’s almost deceiving, because they’re so mature on the floor. I felt like they came together an extra gear.”
Cooper finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds to earn MVP honors. Faulkner scored a game-high 24 points and was 14 of 17 from the freethrow line.
Everett had 17 points for the Cougars, who shot 40.8 percent (20 of 49) from the floor and made 24 of 29 at the free-throw line. The Cougars also outrebounded the Blue Jays 46-28.
“It’s hard to game plan [against the Cougars],” Nevada Coach Bobby Mullins said. “I’m a numbers man. I told them, 25 [Faulkner], 14 [Everett] and 42 [Cooper]. It’s hard to prepare for that. Not only did they shoot the ball well outside, they could go inside, too. Hopefully we can work on that next year and make another run.”
Faulkner’s three-point play with 2:32 left extended the lead to 60-41.
He hit two free throws to cap the run with 1:50 remaining. Nevada sophomore forward Jared Todd ended the run with a layup at the 1:33 mark.
Izard County led 40-24 with 3:40 left in the third quarter before Nevada ended the quarter on a 15-3 spurt.
Cooper picked up his fourth foul with 35 seconds left in the quarter with the Cougars leading 42-35. Todd’s offensive rebound and tip-in at the buzzer pulled the Blue Jays within 43-39.
Nevada (33-5) shot 33.3 percent (20 of 60) from the floor. Todd led the Blue Jays with 14 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Javontae Pearson added 11 points.
The Cougars shot 46.2 percent (12 of 26) in the first half on their way to a 31-19 halftime lead.
Izard County’s four losses this season were to Class 6A state semifinalist Conway and quarterfinalist North Little Rock, Class 5A state champion Marion, and Class 4A state semifinalist Jonesboro Westside. Playing a tough schedule was beneficial for the Cougars, McCandlis said.
“It set us up for what our potential was,” McCandlis said. “We kind of knew, but when we started playing those guys, you could see that our kids just blossomed in each and every game we played. They would get better mentally and physically, and understanding themselves and each other.
“You could tell tonight how they passed the ball and how selfless they are. I feel like playing those bigger schools helped them out.”