Eagles’ defense goes into denial

OZARK — A strong second half and an even stronger final quarter allowed Arkansas Baptist to pull away Friday in the opening round of the Class 4A boys basketball state tournament at Ozark Arena.

Junior guard Chad McGonigal scored a team-high 24 points and 7-2 freshman center Conner Vanover added 20 to lead the way in a 57-41 victory against Dumas.

“Dumas is a tough team that is well-coached,” Arkansas Baptist Coach Brian Ross said. “I’m proud of our guys, because we fought through a little bit of cold shooting and nerves early. But we got more aggressive and shots started to fall.”

Dumas trailed just 23-22 heading into the second half, but Arkansas Baptist turned up its defensive effort and pulled away thanks to some high-percentage shots.

Arkansas Baptist (26-6) outscored Dumas 13-7 in the third quarter to take a 36-29 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Dumas (14-12) cut the lead to 39-35 early in the fourth quarter with early baskets, but Arkansas Baptist forced turnovers and McGonigal’s helped it put away the game.

The Eagles used a 13-0 run to extend the lead out to 52-35, with McGonigal scoring 11 of those points during a stretch late in the fourth quarter.

“It was the turnovers,” Dumas Coach Larry Harris said. “When you turn the ball over, you are not going to win many games. There is no play I can call to not turn the ball over.”

Dumas had only six turnovers in the first half but finished with 12 in the second half, and Arkansas Baptist had plenty of good looks as it shot 56 percent in the second half after shooting 30 percent in the opening half.

“We try to hang our hat on our defense,” Ross said. “We did a good job stopping their drives at the end. We forced a few more turnovers. What I love about our kids is everyone wants to play great defense.”

Dumas cut the lead to 52-41 late in the fourth quarter but couldn’t get any closer.

James Spinks led Dumas with a team-high 24 points, including 14 in the first half that helped the Bobcats stay close.

Junior forward Brandon Vanover finished with seven points for Arkansas Baptist, and senior center Brian Chaffin also had seven points for Dumas.

It took three overtimes, but Huntsville finally pulled away from Brookland for a victory in the first round.

Senior forward Jose Aguilar scored a game-high 22 points and made 4 of 4 free-throw attempts in the third overtime to help the Eagles win the game.

Brookland (21-12) held a 20-16 lead at halftime, but Huntsville (30-4) outscored the Bearcats 11-8 in the fourth quarter and sent it to overtime.

Aguilar hit two free throws with 48.6 seconds left in the third overtime to take a 44-43 lead.

The Bearcats turned over the ball with 21.6 seconds left, then missed a shot on their last two possessions.

Dillon Groves led Brookland with 13 points, and Reece Gramling added 11.

River Gosvener had 11 for Huntsville.

Central Arkansas Christian fell behind early before bouncing back, but Hamburg hung on to advance to the second round.

Kavion Pippen led Hamburg (209) with a game-high 16 points, while Ladarien Franklin had 14 and Cornelius Miller finished with 13.

Stephen Flanigan led CAC (21-12) with 15 points, Jaleel Johnson had 14 and Corey Smith scored 11 for the Mustangs.