Hill’s 22 points get Warriors to finals
BEEBE — Justice Hill scored 22 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for Little Rock Christian in a 73-51 victory over Searcy in the semifinals of the Beebe Christmas Classic on Friday.
Hill had 13 points by halftime, while Will Strickland scored 16 first-half points. In the second half, Cortez Finely — the grandson of Little Rock Christian head Coach Clarence Finley, finished with 12 points and nine rebounds in the victory that put the Warriors into the tournament’s championship game for the second consecutive year.
“We are going to defend our championship from last year,” Clarence Finley said. “Hopefully, we will be more focused. We have to assert ourselves on the full court and give it all our effort, because playing in this will help us get ready for the postseason tournaments.”
Little Rock Christian trailed 3-2 to Searcy, but a three-point play from Finley, a jumper from Mykal Moore, a driving layup by Strickland and a basket from Chris Hightower made it 11-5 Little Rock Christian.
Kalin Bennett scored inside and Strickland made back-to-back three-pointers for an eight-point lead, but Searcy’s Freddy Hicks — who finished with a teamhigh 12 points — and Malik Branch scored to cut the Little Rock Christian lead down to 19-13.
Strickland opened the second period with a three-pointer that started a 12-2 run for Little Rock Christian. Hill completed a three-point play and made three baskets in a row to build Little Rock Christian’s lead to 44-25 by halftime.
Little Rock Christian led 54-39 after a sluggish third quarter, but Moore’s three-pointer with 5:50 left to play made it a 21-point lead. Little Rock Christian maintained that advantage throughout the rest of the fourth period.
“We didn’t come out focused in the third quarter and couldn’t close it,” Finley said. “We missed free throws that would have put the game away, but we changed defenses in the fourth quarter and it kind of threw a monkey wrench into their plans and stopped them cold. That allowed us to build the lead back up to 20.”