Bearcats pull away to win 4A state tourney opener
Brookland turned a close game into a rout during the third quarter Wednesday night outscoring Watson Chapel 20-7 in the third quarter, building a 20-point lead, and breezing through the final frame to secure a 60-40 victory in the first round of the Class 4A boys’ state basketball tournament. Brookland gave up just 17 points in the second half.
Brookland (26-7), along with Blytheville, are the only remaining 4A-3 conference teams remaining in the state bracket.
The Bearcats advance to play Dardanelle, the North Region runner-up tonight in the 8:30 quarterfinals. The Sand Lizards (29-5) had a first-round bye.
Watson Chapel, winners of 17 consecutive games before losing to Magnolia in the South Region final last weekend, kept Wednesday’s game close much of the first half.
The Bearcats led 30-23 after closing the first half on a 9-1 run that included threepointers from Matt Harrell and Tyler Parham along with three points from Masen Woodall.
Parham and Woodall hit back-to-back threes to start Brookland’s third-quarter surge. Woodall added five more points in the period, including a threepoint play; Parham drilled another three pointers; and Cole Kirby sank three jumpers as the Bearcats’ lead ballooned to 50-30 at the end of the period.
Parham sank five three pointers while adding 16 points, followed by Kirby with 12. As a team, the Bearcats sank 10 threes.
Joseph Dockett scored 16 points to lead Watson Chapel (26-9). The Wildcats were only 9-of-18 at the free throw line, including 3-of-8 while the Bearcats were pulling away in the third quarter.
Half of Watson Chapel’s points came in the game’s first 10 minutes as the Wildcats countered Brookland’s threepoint shooting by driving into the paint. The teams were tied at 13-13 to end the first quarter and Watson Chapel led four times in the second quarter, the last at 22-21. Brookland took the lead for good at 24-22, with 3:52 left in the first half.