Huge comeback

Cade Robinson’s free throw with 0.3 seconds left gave Lake Hamilton — which had trailed by 26 points — a 6463 victory in overtime against Vilonia at the Class 5A boys tournament.

LAKE HAMILTON 64, VILONIA 63, OT

HOT SPRINGS — Lake Hamilton Coach Scotty Pennington was just trying to avoid embarrassment with his team trailing 45-19 with just more than a quarter and a half to play Wednesday.

“I hope they don’t mercy-rule us,” Pennington said when asked what he was thinking at that point.

Instead, it became the moment the tide turned for Lake Hamilton as the Wolves began their push for a remarkable comeback.

Cade Robinson’s free throw with 0.3 seconds remaining in overtime completed Lake Hamilton’s stunning surge from down 26 to take down Vilonia 64-63 at Trojan Arena in a Class 5A boys state tournament first-round matchup.

Lake Hamilton’s youth was unfazed by the moment as freshman Ty Robinson dropped 25 points and sophomore Zac Pennington added 15.

“To be completely honest, [when we were down 26], I was thinking about what the speech was going to be in the locker room,” Zac Pennington said. “At the same time, we knew that if we got up in them, they weren’t going to be able to handle the pressure, and as soon as we started pressuring them, they started turning the ball over.”

Austin Myers scored 16 of his team-high 21 points before halftime as Vilonia (17-7) carried a 36-19 advantage into the break.

Scotty Pennington made a crucial switch at the half, pulling big man Chase Jessup off the floor and using the combination of Cade Robinson and freshman Easton Hurley to turn up the heat on the Eagles.

And with turnover after turnover, the Wolves chipped away at the deficit. They clawed to within 12 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Then with just more than three minutes to play, Lake Hamilton (16-8) scored five points in a matter of seconds as Cade Robinson hit two free throws and Zac Pennington made a three-pointer to make it 57-51.

“Our hand was forced,” Scotty Pennington said. “We just decided we were going to run-and-jump. We hadn’t done it all year long, not one time. We hadn’t practiced it all year long, not one time. So what does that mean? It means Coach Pennington is stupid and his kids bailed him out.”

Three-pointers from Cade Robinson and Zac Pennington tied the game at 57-57 in the final minute — the Wolves shot 8 of 14 from distance in the third and fourth quarters — but Vilonia got a chance at redemption when Pennington’s 15-foot jumper rimmed out just before the final buzzer.

After the teams traded buckets to keep things tied in overtime, Jessup laid one in with 1:17 to play off a Ty Robinson assist, putting Lake Hamilton up 63-61.

Eagles Coach Jeremy Simon drew up a tip-in play for Dashun Spence — the freshman scored 10, and senior Gram Middleton added 15 — to tie things up with 8.7 seconds remaining, but Vilonia’s foul on Cade Robinson gave the Wolves the final opportunity they needed to complete the comeback.

“I was never comfortable,” Simon said. “We did not handle the pressure well at all. Just too many turnovers, and credit Lake Hamilton — they capitalized on everything we did wrong.”

MOUNTAIN HOME 57, HOT SPRINGS LAKESIDE 46

The Bombers’ Cinderella run continued Wednesday night as they stunned the Rams in their own backyard.

Senior Mat Jones led Mountain Home (11-13) with 17 and classmate Wyatt Gilbert scored 13 to shoulder the Bombers’ offensive load.

The Rams looked poised to make a late push when senior Caleb Campbell scored on a breakaway layup to pull within one early in the fourth. But Campbell, who posted a game-high 31 points, missed the ensuing free throw, and Lakeside (18-8) proceeded to surrender 10 consecutive points as Mountain Home closed on a 22-12 run to set up a Friday night quarterfinal against 5A-East No. 1 seed Jonesboro.