Burleson, Lions clip Perryville

JESSIEVILLE — A week after scoring 26 points in a season-opening win at Dardanelle, Jessieville’s Alex Burleson continued his sizzling start Thursday night.

The senior scored a gamehigh 38 points, converting on

11 of 15 shots from the field and

13 of 17 from the line in a 76-67 win over visiting Perryville at Jessieville Sports Arena.

“You can’t say enough about the type of game he had,” Jessieville coach Jared White said. “He didn’t just score; he made several plays defensively.”

Trailing 15-12 at the end of the first quarter, Jessieville outscored the Mustangs 19-13 in the second to take a slim 31-28 halftime lead.

Perryville pulled within 4243 entering the final frame before the Lions erupted for 33 fourth-quarter points to secure the win and improve to 2-0 on the season.

“This was a well played game on both sides; we knew going in that Perryville had a lot of scorers,” said White. “Our kids played extremely hard, and I’m very proud of them. This was a total team win.”

Braxton Shifflett finished with 15 points and three rebounds for Jessieville while Jacob Bearden scored seven points and grabbed two rebounds. Oliver Nasilai added

six points and Tyler Holloway and Chase Pedersen each scored five.

“Our football guys continue to get into basketball mode and made a bigger contribution tonight,” White said. “We look for them to get better moving forward.”

Jessieville will face Sheridan Monday and Mountain Pine Tuesday in the Lakeside Classic tournament at Lakeside Athletic Complex. The Lions open conference play Nov. 28 at Gurdon.