Eagles hold on for victory vs. Rockets

Never rattled, the Vilonia Eagles held on for a 46-45 victory over the Little Rock Catholic Rockets on Tuesday night before a boisterous crowd at the Rocket Gymnasium.

Senior forward Dashun Spence hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1.9 seconds left, and 5-9 Harrison Lane grabbed the offensive rebound to seal the win and keep the Eagles on top of the 5A-Central standings.

In a game that saw Catholic (10-10, 5-4) rally in the second half, Vilonia (16-6, 7-1) won without hitting a field goal in the final 3 minutes.

The Eagles had a 45-42 lead until the Rockets’ Walker Lewis hit a three-pointer, Catholic’s third of the quarter, to tie the score with 35.6 seconds remaining.

Running the clock down, the 6-6 Spence drew a foul while driving to the basket to set up the winning free throw.

“We have four starters back from last season,” Coach Troy Campbell said. “When you have a lot of experience it helps in an environment like this when it gets loud.”

The Rockets trailed 38-36 starting the fourth but consecutive three-pointers by Maddox Cliff and Wallace Landrum to open the quarter gave Catholic a 42-38 lead with 5:56 left.

A 7-0 run, with Spence scoring five, gave the Eagles a 45-42 lead with 3:00 left.

“I think we played really good defensively,’’ Campbell said. “Offensively, Catholic is the No. 1 defensive team in the conference and they are just so hard to score on and they are very patient on offense, so overall I thought we played a good game. We probably didn’t play our best but that is also because Catholic is a really, really good team.

“They kinda make you not play as well because of how good they are.”

Spence and Josh Lawrence had 17 points each for the Eagles. Lane Turner had nine points.

For the Rockets, Lewis and Joshua Thursby had 14 points apiece.

Vilonia trailed briefly at 6-5 but led after the first quarter 17-12.

That cushion grew to 19-12 early in the second quarter, but Catholic grabbed its second lead at 24-23 with 1:15 left in the half.

Spence again answered for the Eagles with a three-point play and Vilonia had a 26-24 halftime lead.

The Eagles led 38-36 going into the final quarter but the Rockets started hitting outside, nailing a pair of three-pointers in the third quarter and making three more in the final period. Catholic’s final five field goals were three-pointers.

“They are scrappy and that is just what they do so we have to be a little tougher with the ball,’’ said Campbell. “I knew this was going to be a tough game coming in here regardless because they are such a tough team.”