Hawks’ offense picks up
Friday’s Real Deal in the Rock opener was more than five minutes old before the Joe Johnson Arkansas Hawks scored their first field goal.
Scoring, however, was not a problem for the tournament’s host the rest of the way.
Baptist Prep junior Issac McBride collected 14 of his game-high
17 points in the second half as the Hawks easily dispatched
River City Hoops of Wichita,
Kan., 7140 in U17 pool play at P.A.R.K. in Little Rock.
“We played hard, and I’m not worried about the shooting part. We’ll pick that up,” said tournament director and Hawks Coach Bill Ingram. “Call it firstgame jitters. … Now that we’ve gotten that first game under our belts we can tighten the rings a little bit. I’ve got a feeling we’ll play better.”
The Hawks collected 32 rebounds — 24 on the defensive end — in turning Friday’s contest into a rout. River City led 6-5 early but the Hawks responded by scoring the next nine points.
“We need to come out better the next time,” said McBride, who has led Baptist Prep to three consecutive Class 4A state tournament championships. “We hesitated on some of our
shots. Our shooters missed on shots they usually make. But the important thing is that we came out in the second half and played a lot better.”
The Hawks scored their first five points from the free-throw line. Little Rock Christian’s Justice Hill made a break-away layup with 9:50 remaining in the first half to give the Hawks their first field goal.
Airion Simmons, a 6-4 junior forward from Little Rock Parkview, came up with 5 rebounds and 2 steals in the first half to help the Hawks take a 36-18 advantage going into the game’s final 15 minutes. He finished with 6 rebounds, 6 points, 2 steals and 2 assists.
“He’s a talented kid,” Ingram said of Simmons. “He understands the game. He’s a great rebounder, and he’s lost about 10 or 15 pounds. He’s got a chance to be really good. I’m excited for him to see how he finishes up this summer.”
“We do box-out drills every day,” Simmons said. “He wants the guards to rebound. He wants everybody to rebound. We just crash the glass
as much as possible.”
McBride connected on a three-pointer from the left corner with 9:31 remaining to put the Hawks on top 5730. Two minutes later, he completed a three-point play to give the Hawks a 30-point lead.
“Coach Bill encourages everybody to get the ball out and go,” McBride said. “Basically what we’re doing is working on the stuff that most teams don’t like to do. That’s why we get so many rebounds. I think that is what’s going to carry us. Even if we have those bad starts, if we box out, rebound and play good defense we’ll end up with something positive.”
Kevin Cross, a 6-6 junior forward from Mills, and Allen Flanigan, a 6-5 junior guard from Parkview, each added 10 points. Flanigan scored eight of his points and grabbed five rebounds in the second half. Mills 6-1 freshman Madison Peaster put in nine points.
The Hawks are scheduled to play Monroe Elite at 11:15 a.m. today in pool play. Bracket play begins at 4:40 p.m.