Hot Springs downs Mills on road
LITTLE ROCK — Hot Springs took a 4425 win over Little Rock Mills Tuesday on the road.
After falling behind 9-6 in the first quarter, the Lady Trojans outscored the Lady Comets 10-4 to carry a 19-10 lead into intermission. Hot Springs held Mills to just two points in the third quarter while outscoring the home team 28-12 in the second half.
Praylin Jones led the Lady Trojans with 11 points, and Tylecia Easter and Gabby Erby added seven each.
JUNIOR TROJANS EDGE JUNIOR WOLVES
PEARCY — Hot Springs took a 43-37 win over Lake Hamilton on Dec. 16 at Wolf Arena.
The freshman Trojans took a 15-10 lead in the first quarter before Lake Hamilton battled to a 24-20 lead at the break. Hot Springs outscored the freshman Wolves 11-8 in the third to pull within 32-31 before holding the home team to five in the fourth.
Kyin Jamerson led the junior Trojans with 12 points, and Brenden Penor and Ray Jones had 10 apiece.
HARDING, OBU RANKED IN FINAL AFCA POLL
WACO, Texas — The American Football Coaches Association released its final top 25 poll for the 2021 season, and two Great American Conference teams finished in the rankings.
Harding came in at No.10 after an 11-2 season and a second round playoff loss, and Ouachita Baptist finished at No. 23 in the rankings after a 9-2 season.
The Bisons won the GAC Championship with a 10-1 conference record, and the finish in the AFCA top 25 marked the seventh time since 2012 that Harding has finished the season ranked in the poll.
After advancing to the playoffs for the fifth straight season, the Bisons lost 30-14 to Washburn in the second round.
The Tigers missed out on what would have been a fourth consecutive NCAA playoffs appearance, and OBU’s 9-2 finish is the seventh nine-plus win season in Tiger history.
Five of those seven seasons have come since 2014. OBU closed out the season with its fifth straight win Henderson State in the 94th Battle of the Ravine.
The Tigers registered their 13th consecutive winning season and set a school record with 19 all-conference selections.
Ferris State finished No. 1 in the poll after the team’s 58-17 win over Valdosta State in the NCAA Division II National Championship.
GAC ANNOUNCES WEEKLY BASKETBALL HONORS
RUSSELLVILLE — HSU’s Ashley Farrar and Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Kinsey Neiderer picked up co-women’s player of the week honors in the Great American Conference’s last weekly award of the calendar year, and Oklahoma Baptist’s Burke Putnam earned the men’s award.
Farrar averaged 19 points per game in the Reddies’ wins over Bacone and Harding. She scored 17 points, six rebounds and six assists against Bacone and added 21 points and five rebounds against Harding.
Neiderer scored 23 points and registered five rebounds against Bacone, and she tallied 17 points and nine rebounds against Southeastern Oklahoma State.
Putnam scored 25 points and tallied seven rebounds in a 82-71 win over East Central. The game marked his seventh 20-point game of the season, and his 21.4 points per game leads the league.
HSU’s Karrington Whaley and Southern Arkansas’ Kisi Young shared the women’s player of the week awards the previous week, and SEOSU’s Bobby Johnson and Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Damion Thornton shared the men’s honors.
Whaley scored 24 points in the Reddies’ 7772 win over Arkansas Tech, and she also registered 14 rebounds. Young scored 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in the Muleriders’ 102-99 win over OBU.
Johnson tallied a career-high 28 points in an 82-64 win against Oklahoma Baptist, and Thornton scored a career-high 36 points in a 76-73 win over East Central. Thornton made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 14.9 seconds left in the game.