Brinkley gets it together, finishes Ozark Catholic

CLASS 1A

BRINKLEY 46, OZARK CATHOLIC 43

OZARK — All the Brinkley Tigers needed on Friday afternoon were a couple of timely timeouts.

Brinkley responded with rallies and held on for a 4643 win over Ozark Catholic in the second round of the Class A state tournament at the Activity Center.

Brinkley (24-6) will play Shirley in the first semifinal at 1:30 p.m. today.

Peyton Goldschmidt and Will Buron scored off offensive rebounds and led Ozark Catholic to a rebounding advantage on both ends of the floor, and Jackson Holmes made four three-pointers in the opening quarter as the Griffins jumped to a 19-8 lead.

Brinkley’s effort prompted a timeout.

“We knew they were a fundamental team, a good-shooting team, but I guess we had to see it first hand how well they shot it,” Brinkley Coach Chris Williams said. “I called the timeout to remind them to close out on their shooters. It was just a friendly reminder, maybe it wasn’t so friendly, but they got the message. We turned it up after that.”

Jaiden Eason and Christian Williams hit two free throws each for Brinkley to end the first quarter and then outscored Ozark Catholic 16-4 in the second quarter and 13-10 in the third quarter but needed another timeout early in the second half.

“It was just to break a run,” coach Williams said. “I felt like we took control of the game in the second quarter, we outscored them and I didn’t want them to go on a run and get that confidence like they did in the first quarter.”

Buron scored a pair of baskets inside for Ozark Catholic to open the fourth quarter and added a free throw after the second one before Mitchell Hicks drilled a three-pointer to give Brinkley a 44-38 lead. Buron scored inside and Holmes hit his sixth three-pointer of the game with 3:02 left to get Ozark Catholic within 44-43.

The teams swapped turnovers and scoreless possessions until Kylan Baker hit two free throws to put Brinkley up 46-43.

Hicks scored 18 points and Williams 13 for Brinkley.

Holmes finished with 19 points, and Buron added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Griffins.

COUNTY LINE 70, CLARENDON 55

The Indians had a pair of 23-point quarters to advance to the semifinals.

The Indians (43-0) erased a second-quarter deficit with a 9-0 run and led from there.

Cooper Watson led County Line with 25, Trent Johnston added 19 and Kelby Rudd 11.

County Line trailed 14-11 after a quarter but rallied behind the 9-0 run to lead 34-27 at the half and 47-33. County Line used a rare four-point opportunity to put up 23 points in the fourth quarter.

Watson hit a free throw after being fouled, Johnston added a single free throw when Clarendon was tagged with a technical foul on the play, and Watson followed with a basket inside on the ensuing possession for a 53-35 lead with 6:51 left.

Jaxon Hampton led Clarendon (19-7) with 26 points.

SHIRLEY 60, LAFAYETTE COUNTY 57, OT

The Blue Devils squandered a fourth-quarter lead but scored the final three points in overtime for the victory.

Shirley (33-6) snapped a 57-57 tie on a offensive rebound basket by Hunter Bradford with 1:04 left in overtime.

Lafayette County (26-7) had a three-pointer rim in and out at the buzzer.

Hogan Little scored 19 points, Arick Newell added 18 and Tyler Spencer 13 for Shirley, which led 11-7 after a quarter, 30-14 at the half and 45-32 after three quarters.

Lafayette County was led by Jhyqkis Jackson, who scored 17 points with 11 in the fourth quarter and two baskets in overtime. Zalin Parrish added 15.