Sylvan Hills too much for Maumelle
5A-CENTRAL BOYS SYLVAN HILLS 73, MAUMELLE 61
Sylvan Hills Coach Kevin Davis said his team rode a wave of intensity and determination in the third quarter Tuesday night en route to its 73-61 victory over 5A-Central rival Maumelle.
That wave did not include the on-court presence of the Bears’ best player, Nick Smith, who was late returning from the locker room because he was talking with the team’s assistants at Sylvan Hills Middle School.
“We were just late coming out of the locker room,” Davis said, emphasizing that Smith did nothing wrong. “My assistant coaches grabbed him, and we just rode it. Sometimes it just works out that way in conference play.”
Smith sat out the entire third quarter, which ended with Sylvan Hills leading 50-43, and the first 37 seconds of the fourth quarter, before re-entering the game.
Davis said there was no plan to keep Smith out for the entire quarter, but Sylvan Hills outscored Maumelle 9-0 to open a 44-35 lead with center Corey Washington leading the way.
Washington, a 6-6 junior, scored eight of Sylvan Hills’ 15 third-quarter points, and finished as the Bears’ leading scorer with 21.
Smith, who scored nine in the fourth quarter, finished with 20.
“He was part of that big wave,” Davis said of Washington. “He was really going to work. We were really riding him. And they were doing a good job finding him, and that’s what you want.”
Maumelle (14-3, 6-1) came into the game ranked No. 1 in Class 5A and No. 6 in the Democrat-Gazette’s overall rankings.
Sylvan Hills (17-3, 8-1) came into the week as the fifthranked team in 5A.
Maumelle Coach Michael Shook said perhaps his Hornets had spent the weekend celebrating their lofty rankings.
“We just, you know, we needed to get beat,” Shook said. “I’m glad we did now. And so, it will refocus us, and we’ll come to play on Friday.”
Shook said he is disappointed that the Hornets allowed the Bears to score the first nine points of the third quarter, forcing a timeout call at the 5:08 mark.
“I told them, any team we play, if their best player is on the bench, they can’t go on a 9-0 run,” Shook said. “That’s unacceptable.
“It all came down to effort. They outworked us, they outrebounded us.”
Sylvan Hills rode the play of its bench, and Davis said it left Smith, who had scored 78 points in the Bears’ two games last week, fresh for the game’s final 7:23.
“We got some chemistry going in the third quarter and we rode that just as long as we could ride it,” he said. “We just knew we missed opportunities in the first half.
“We understood in the second half we felt like we’d play a lot better.”
Sylvan Hills held Maumelle to 7 baskets, 0 three-pointers and 26 second-half points.
“They’re a hell of a team, and we’re a really good team too,” Shook said. “We’re going to learn from this. We needed it. Our guys were too busy looking at the rankings and all that.
“They’re listening to the parents and all that. We needed to get our tail whipped.”
Sylvan Hills was happy to oblige.
“We didn’t change anything,” Davis said of the second half. “It was just, be cognizant of the perimeter. We know they like to shoot the ball on the perimeter and we wanted to make sure our defense started out on the perimeter.”
The Hornets were led by 6-5 center Nico Davillier, who scored 19 points.
Riley Wade and Darvis Rasberry each scored 11.
GIRLS SYLVAN HILLS 71, MAUMELLE 51
Sylvan Hills (9-6, 5-4 5A Central) hit 18 of 19 free throws in the first half and 34 of 43 for the game en route to victory over Maumelle (3-7, 0-6).
Sophomore Jayla Stirgus scored 12 of her 14 points, including 3 three-pointers, in the first half.