Honey, West All-Stars break 6-year losing streak
CONWAY — Hot Springs’ Imani Honey and Fayetteville’s Jasmine Franklin led the West AllStars to an 86-79 win Saturday to break the East’s domination at the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star girls’ basketball game at the University of Central Arkansas’ Farris Center.
Honey, who earned the Most Valuable Player award, put up 16 points with seven rebounds and one steal in her 20 minutes on the court, while Franklin, who was awarded Outstanding Player honors for the West, had 16 points of her own while pulling down eight rebounds with two assists and two blocks in 13 minutes of game play.
Mountain Home’s Hannah Pfeifer was named the Outstanding Player for the East, shooting 5-for-9 from outside the arc on her way to 15 points while dishing out three assists with one steal.
The East has dominated previous matchups and had a six-game winning streak. Honey said her squad was determined to achieve a different outcome.
“I think this year, both teams were evenly divided, and everyone knew to come out here and give it their best versus teams in the past not really caring as much,” she said. “We were determined. They say East dominates most years; we were like, ‘No, no, no. Not this year. This year we’re going to change that.’”
The West outscored the East in three of the five periods, but the East managed to take a single-point lead into the final period after a buzzer-beating trey by Pfeifer put the East ahead, 63-62.
The West wasted little time taking control in the fifth period, jumping out to a 66-63 lead in the first 25 seconds of the period, but the East bounced back to see the game’s lead change multiple times. Franklin hit a shot with 5:13 remaining with Honey sinking one of her own 23 seconds later to give the West its final lead as it cruised to the win.
West head coach Jason Rucker, of Charleston, felt the team responded well to what the coaches asked from them and gave all they had. Rucker is a graduate of Lake Hamilton.
“I think they did great,” he said. “I think they did what we had talked about as far as ‘Play together and spread the floor. If your teammate has a better shot, give it to them. Really just go out and compete and give us your best energy.’ And I thought they did that tonight.”
Despite her otherwise impressive performance, Honey continued to struggle at the free throw line,
sinking 4 of 8 after making just two of her six attempts in the opening period.
“I had an experience in high school where I shot 29 free throws in one game,” she said, referring to the Lady Trojans 76-74 win over Batesville in the second round of the Class 5A state tournament March 1.
“I was 25 of 29. Ever since then, my free throws have been terrible. I’ve just got to get back in rhythm.”
Hot Springs head coach Josh Smith was on the bench for the West as an assistant coach after leading the Lady Trojans to the Class 5A state title. Rucker had Smith run the court for the first period.
“It was awesome,” he said of coaching Honey and Ariana Guinn in their final high school game. “One more time — that’s kind of what it’s been. Since we found out they were both on it, and I was lucky enough to be an assistant coach on it, that was my thing. I’ve got one more time with them, we might as well get us another win.
“It’s been a heck of a ride with those two and watching them … these last two days. Being out there competing again and seeing them running the floor like they’ve done the last three years for me out here this afternoon was a lot of fun. I’m happy for them and proud of both of them and how hard they competed. And Imani getting another MVP. I’m proud of them.”
Guinn also had a strong performance for the West, going 3-for-4 from the charity stripe on her way to five points with one rebound, an assist and a block before getting in foul trouble.
“That’s who they are,” Smith said. “They compete. They want to play against the best, night in and night out. They don’t care who it is. They’re going to go out here and show that competitive nature and that winners’s mentality that those two have and they’ve always had. It’s what I expect to see for the next four years at both their stops.”
Honey got the West off to a strong start, draining four of her five attempts from the field on her way to a 10-point period to lead all scorers. When she was called off the floor at the end of the period, she said that she was not concerned about whether the team would be able to stay in the game.
“I believed in my teammates,” she said. “We only had two practices together, but in those two practices I knew when they went out there they would give it all they had. Even if it wasn’t the best, they would give all they had, and I knew it would take care of it. That put us in a good position for those last two quarters.”
Lake Hamilton standout Taylor Wells, who shattered a 29 year old school record for 3-pointers in a season, could not find her rhythm, sinking just one of her four attempts from beyond the arc for three points while grabbing a single rebound in nine minutes of play.