Senior’s shooting leads Jonesboro

HURRICANE CLASSIC BOYS

JONESBORO 54, PINE BLUFF 45

JONESBORO — Deion Buford-Wesson took the keys for Jonesboro on Friday night and guided the Golden Hurricane right into the finals of their annual showcase.

The senior guard hit four three-pointers and scored 19 points to lead Jonesboro to a hard-fought 54-45 victory over Pine Bluff in the semifinals of the Barry Pruitt Hurricane Classic at Don Riggs Gymnasium.

Thirteen of Buford-Wesson’s points came in the second half for Jonesboro (4-1) as it followed up Thursday’s solid defensive performance against West Memphis with another one in front of a packed crowd.

“I thought that was our best performance,” Jonesboro Coach Wes Swift said about his team’s defensive effort. “The physicality from my skinny post guys, they were really fitting for position. [Pine Bluff] probably scored at an alarming rate percentage wise, but we made it really hard for them to get it inside.

“And then we were sound out on the perimeter, just making things tough for them because that’s a good Pine Bluff team.”

Isaac Harrell had nine points and seven rebounds for the Golden Hurricane, who also paid plenty of attention to Pine Bluff’s Courtney Crutchfield. The high-scoring junior had 24 points in the Zebras’ victory over Brookland one day earlier and has had several big games already this season, namely a 38-point effort against Fort Smith Northside last month. But the two-sport standout had a hard time getting any clean looks against Jonesboro and seemingly had to work extra hard just to get off a shot.

He ended with 20 points, 18 of which came over the game’s final 12 minutes.

“He’s a really good player,” Swift explained. “We fouled him a little too much, but I was really happy with how we guarded him. I think we had too many panic plays against him where we were being overly aggressive, but that’s a discipline, maturity thing.”

Jordon Harris had 10 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks for the Zebras.

Jonesboro, which will face Fayetteville in today’s final, also beat Pine Bluff (2-4) 65-39 in the Class 5A state semifinals in March en route to winning a fifth title since 2014. In that one, the Golden Hurricane outscored the Zebras 27-8 in a red-hot third quarter to bust open the game.

On Friday, Jonesboro used its defense to create a substantial second-quarter bulge.

Buford-Wesson hit a three-pointer just as the first-period buzzer sounded to give the Golden Hurricane a 10-7 lead. Pine Bluff, which turned the ball over six times in the opening period, went scoreless for the first five minutes of the second quarter and didn’t make its first basket until three minutes remained.

Cold shooting kept Jonesboro from pushing its advantage out even further, but it did enough damage to hold a 23-14 cushion at the half.

The Golden Hurricane pushed their lead to 29-18 by the 5:01 mark of the third quarter before Crutchfield got going. After being held to two points over the first two quarters, he scored nine in the period. His scoop with 2:06 left cut Jonesboro’s lead to 34-29.

Pine Bluff got even closer at 47-43 after a jumper from Crutchfield, but Harrell buried a long three-pointer with 1:41 to go that gave Jonesboro some much-need breathing room.

“The guys are now starting to move over from the passenger’s seat and take that steering wheel,” Swift said. “I feel a lot better about us than what I did before.”

FAYETTEVILLE 58, NETTLETON 55, OT

Ornette Gaines scored 29 points, including a three-pointer to send the game into overtime, as Fayetteville (6-0) moved to the championship game by outlasting Nettleton (4-1).

The Bulldogs led 25-15 at halftime and took a 36-28 lead into the fourth quarter. But Nettleton’s Taylor Smith and Curtez Smith started a staggering rally for the Raiders.

The duo combined to hit five three-pointers in the period, with Curtez Smith’s deep one from the wing giving the Raiders a 47-45 lead with 53 seconds left. He would add a free throw with 19 seconds on the clock to extend it to three before Gaines drilled a three-pointer with four seconds let that sent the game into overtime.

Gaines would make another three-pointer in the extra session to help the Bulldogs stay ahead, then hit two free throws with 10 seconds left to put them up 56-53. The Raiders’ Jamaree Thomas hit two free throws to slice the deficit to one, but Jaiden Wilson, who ended with eight points, answered with two of his own for Fayetteville to put the game away.

Taylor Smith scored 20 points, and Curtez Smith had 10 points for Nettleton.

OSCEOLA 61, GENTRY, MISS. 43

Osceola (1-1) took advantage of their counterparts’ rough-shooting third quarter to pick up its first victory.

Richard High had 15 points and four steals for the Seminoles, who trailed for the final 10 minutes of the first half and went into the locker room down 2624. But Osceola opened the second half on a 9-1 run and eventually outscored Gentry (2-4) 20-3 in the third to take over the game.

The Rams did begin the final period on a 10-2 spurt to cut Osceola’s lead to 46-39, but the Seminoles countered with a 10-3 rally to re-build a double-digit lead.

Jeriyan Long had 11 points and five rebounds, and Jerry Long ended with eight points for Osceola. Jervis McGee scored 17 points, and Tra Millbrook added eight points and 16 rebounds for Gentry, which turned the ball over 23 times.