Malvern vs. Arkadelphia Rivalry Hoops: Leopards edged by rivals’ Badgers in second close duel, 58-54
MALVERN — To highlight the return of a blockbuster Tuesday night hoops showdown at the Leopard Center between the hometown Malvern Leopards facing longtime rivals’ Arkadelphia “Fighting” Badgers— showcased its ecstatic rivalry on the hardwood for senior high boys basketball competition. The Leopards hoped to avenge their loss to Arkadelphia 72-68 in overtime for the first 4A-7 Conference meeting—but the Badgers executed productively down the stretch to be victorious Tuesday against Malvern, 58-54. Arkadelphia sweeps the conference season meetings against the Leopards—as well as seeking redemption from last year’s loss to Malvern at the Leopard Center. The loss ended Arkadelphia’s unbeaten conference streak during the 2019-2020 basketball season.
Tuesday’s battle went into the Leopard’s favor in the first quarter as Malvern maintained a 13-7 lead against Arkadelphia to conclude the first eight minutes of play. But, the Badgers turned up their energy and journeyed back in the second quarter to outscore the Leopards 1710. At the break, Malvern trailed Arkadelphia by one point—24-23 at halftime.
In the second half, Malvern and Arkadelphia kept a fast pace motor progressing with the game remaining close. Arkadelphia ended the third quarter with a 42-38 lead over Malvern. In the final eight minutes of play— the fourth quarter, the intensity level was enormous, but A-town pulled off the victory by knocking down a crucial shot and connecting on freethrows under a minute to secure the four-point win. Both Arkadelphia and Malvern matched each other scoring wise for 16 points scored in the fourth quarter.
GAME BREAKDOWN AND HIGHLIGHTS
In the first quarter, Malvern’s Tyler Golden swished a running jumper inside the arc to lift the Leopards to a 2-0 lead at the 7:20 mark. A-town’s Ryan Harris tied the game at 2-2 by going coast to coast with a floater. Leopard’s senior hoopster Braxton Allen gave Malvern the lead for good in the first quarter by draining a triple from downtown beyond the arc in the corner for a Malvern 5-2 advantage. Then big men— Arkadelphia’s Carson Mcanally and Malvern’s Tayshawn Traylor both scored tip-ins off rebounds— but the Leopards led 7-4 with 3:38 remaining in the opening quarter. Allen came back with a nice jumper inside the arc in transition with TG on the assist to extend Malvern’s lead 9-4. A-town’s other big man Courtlon Crow completed a three-point play the old fashion way to sink the freethrow to score the Badgers final points in the first—which cut Arkadelphia’s deficit and trailed 9-7 at the 2:00 minute mark. Malvern closed the first quarter with a hoop by big man Jabri Artis in the lane and TG swished a buzzer-beater trifecta beyond the arc that excited the Leopard crowd with Malvern taking a slim six-point lead going into the second quarter.
In the second, Malvern’s momentum progressed down to the 6:42 mark, but their lead was only 14-11. While TG split a pair of foul shots, A-town rallied back with Isaiah Salinas scoring consecutive baskets and the game was knotted 14-14 down to the 5:28 mark. Off a tip-in by Salinas, Arkadelphia regained the lead 16-14. Later, Antoine Palmer dropped a triple beyond the arc and Mcanally sank a basket in the paint to push the Badger lead to 21-15 at the 3:33 mark. Malvern didn’t stay down for long as Elijah and Carter Martin both drilled a trifecta apiece from downtown and the game was tied again at 21-21. Since Malvern was in the bonus, Martin made a trip to the foul line and sank both free-throws to give Malvern a slight 23-21 lead at the 1:34 mark. Arkadelphia finished the period with Palmer draining a trey beyond the arc and A-town finished the first half with the one-point lead over Malvern—24-23.
In the third, Arkadelphia outscored Malvern 18-15 with both ball clubs posting double-digit scoring quarters. But A-town maintained the edge with a four-point lead 42-38. In the fourth, the Badgers biggest lead was a seven-point spread 47-40 at the 5:40 mark. Mitchell for Malvern came up big with draining a trifecta from downtown, then sank two foul shots that cut the Leopards gap to come within two points of the Badger lead—47-45 at the 5:13 mark. Nazjay Lambert’s basket stopped Malvern’s rally, but Allen provided a spark to scoop a bucket around the paint area to keep Malvern in the game. Palmer went to the foul line and made both free-throws that put A-town back up by four points 51-47 with 4:20 left to play in the game. But more spark from the Leopards showcased their competitive spirits to make big time plays to stay within striking distance against their rival hoopsters of Clark County. Cedric “Ced” Simmons contributed with a bucket, than Allen swished a fadeaway jumper that cut Arkadelphia lead 53-50 coming up on three minutes remaining of game action. Malvern went into “Show-Time” mode as Mitchell led a fast-break assist show to dish out to Allen, then a behind the back wrap around pass to Simmons for two consecutive assist plays that rocked the Leopard fans. Malvern took the lead at 55-54 with 1:33 remaining in the contest. In the final minute and a half, Malvern fell short to score and had to foul—which sent Arkadelphia to the foul line twice. Harris sank both freethrows and Palmer split his pair that secured the victory for A-town.
For the game, Malvern’s Allen led the scoring department and poured 13 points with one trifecta, TG finished with 12 points and drained a triple from downtown— Mitchell dropped 11 points with three trifectas beyond the arc for a Leopard triple-threat of double-figures. Simmons and Carter Martin each had five points apiece, including a trey from Martin. Artis added four points, Jacoby Lock and Traylor each provided two points for Malvern.
Arkadelphia also had three players post in double-figures— Palmer led all scorers with 16 points and three triples from downtown, Salinas hit 13 points with a triple and Harris dropped 12 points. Lambert added eight points with a triple behind the arc, Badger big men Crow and Mcanally finished with four points apiece and Tyron Hughes contributed two points.