HS freshmen take two from Mena
Hot Springs freshman boys and girls picked up a pair of wins over Mena Monday afternoon at Trojan Arena with the boys cruising to a 52-18 rout while the girls held on for a 26-23 win.
Ladavion Willis helped propel Hot Springs to a strong lead, accounting for 6 by the 3:14 mark with Ty Honey hitting a free throw at the 1:30 mark for a 9-0 edge. Mena finally got on the scoreboard as Cooper Plunkett hit a 3-pointer moments later off a pass by Brody Brown.
A bucket by Taylor Degrasse pushed the junior Trojans back out to an 8-point edge before Sean Sullivan made two free throws with 3.5 seconds left to trail by 6 going into the second frame.
Following a bucket by Sullivan, the junior Trojans hit a 5-0 spurt, with Mena responding with a bucket by Eisayah Day and trey by Plunkett to pull within 4 with 2:38 left in the half. Hot Springs again found its footing as they closed out the frame on a 8-0 run for a 24-12 lead at the break.
Hot Springs’ run continued into the second half, putting up 14 unanswered points before Maddox Medlin got a putback with about 1: 30 to go to pull within 38-14. Day hit a pair of free throws to close out the quarter, 38-16.
With the clock running for the entire fourth quarter, the junior Trojans continued to roll, putting up 14 while giving up a single bucket 30 seconds into the final frame for the win.
Kendall Williams led the junior Trojans with 10 points, Willis and Matthew Contreras added 9 each, and Taylor Degrasse had 8.
Plunkett and Day both had 6 points to lead the junior Bearcats, Plunkett’s coming off a pair of 3-pointers. Sullivan had 4, and Medlin rounded out the scoring with 2.
In the freshman girls game both teams brought out their defense, keeping the game tight from start to finish.
With the score knotted at 17-17 going into the final six minutes, Mena picked up its first lead of the game just 43 seconds into the quarter as Cannon hit a pair of free throws. The two teams traded buckets to keep the game tight, Mena taking its last lead with 1:25 left in the game.
Denayshia Sanford was sent to the line, making both on a one-and-one to knot the score at 23-23 with 1:07 to go before K Lenox drained a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to set the final. Praylin Jones hit for 2 off a dish by Beth-Ann Mullenix just seconds into the game as Hot Springs jumped out to a 6-1 lead at the 2:25 mark off a trey by Nyaje Swift, a seventh- grader who plays up with the freshman squad. Mena’s Clark responded with a trey of her own followed by a putback by Cannon to end the quarter with the score tied 6-6.
The junior Lady Trojans pushed out to as much as a 4-point edge in the second before Mena pulled within one Da’Mya Hughes hitting a free throw with 8.1 seconds left to take a 12-10 lead into the locker room.
Mena came out of the break with Cannon knotting the score just 17 seconds into the half before a 4-0 spurt stretched Hot Springs out to a 16-12 edge. Mena closed out the frame on a 5-1 run.
Jones led Hot Springs with 10, Swift added 6, Kyabra Lomax had 5, Da’Mya Higgins put up 3 and Sanford rounded out the scoring with 2.
Cannon led Mena with 14 points, Cross had 4 and Farringer added 2.