Wildcats break loose early, down LH
EL DORADO — Lake Hamilton’s plan to slow the pace against El Dorado for a second time this season was well intended but, unfortunately for the Wolves, not implemented.
Lake Hamilton fell behind early and fell 61-39 to the Wildcats Tuesday night in the 6A-West district tournament. El Dorado, 3-0 against the Wolves this season, improved to 25-4 before facing Texarkana in the championship game Saturday at Wildcat Arena.
Lake Hamilton can clinch a No. 3 seed in next week’s state tournament at Wolf Arena with a victory Saturday at Benton. The loser receives a No. 4 seed. After losing to El Dorado under the mercy rule in January at Wolf Arena, Lake Hamilton used a delay game to hang close with the Wildcats in a 41-36 road loss Feb. 7. The Wolves only led twice Tuesday night, the last time at 6-3 before Brendan Johnson hit a tying three-point basket.
Daniel Gafford, a 6-10 Arkansas signee, then came up with a steal, coast-to-coast drive and layup. Another steal by Gafford led to a breakaway dunk by Czar Perry, the 7-0 spurt taking 31 seconds and putting El Dorado ahead to stay.
El Dorado went on a 13-2 run in the second quarter, led 28-16 at halftime and stretched it to 38-19 early in the third quarter. Perry’s long three-pointer at the buzzer ended the third quarter 44-28.
Perry scored 15 of his game-high 25 points during a six-minute stretch in the fourth quarter. The senior guard had three treys in that span as the Wildcats kicked it out to 61-34.
El Dorado’s early dominance made Lake Hamilton’s slowdown tactics moot.
“We weren’t going to hold it as much this time. We were going to be real patient,” Lake Hamilton coach Scotty Pennington told the El Dorado News-Times. “We just couldn’t get anything to go offensively. … Once they got ahead, it’s kind of hard to hold the ball when you’re behind by six, seven, eight points. Once they got the lead, we had to start playing and attacking. We just don’t have the offensive firepower to score with them.”
El Dorado coach Gary Simmons said the Wildcats prepared for another slow-paced game against Lake Hamilton.
“They came out with a little different approach,” Simmons told the News-Times. “Scotty knew we’d work on defending his delay game he used two weeks ago. I guess he called Magnolia and asked what (the Panthers) ran against us. They ran the flex to try to slow us down and that’s what he came out in today. But we had already repped it getting ready for Magnolia and we were ready for that, too.”
Gafford had 13 points and 10 rebounds, three steals, three blocks and two assists. Johnson, besides scoring seven points, drew the key defensive assignment on Lake Hamilton three-point specialist Jordan Harper, whose eight points included a pair of treys.
“We made (Harper) try to become a jump shooter tonight and he’s not,” Simmons said. “But, I’m gonna tell you, everytime he got loose, he hit so I’m glad he only got loose twice.”