Comets Go Over Top Of Morrilton

FARMINGTON —A 24-point output in the third quarter wasn’t enough to prevent Morrilton from getting blown out, 66-43, by Mills University Studies at the Class 4A State basketball tournament.

Mills routed the Devil Dogs, highlighted by a first half dunk fest on Thursday, March 5, at Farmington’s Cardinal Arena to advance to a quarterfinal game. Junior Jakari Livingston, a 6-4 center, soared and scored 17 points from a variety of dunks. His two-handed slam helped propel the Comets to a 10-4 first quarter lead. He threw down an alley-oop lob, capping a 24-0 Mills run.

Mills coach Raymond Cooper said the Comets were concerned about Morrilton coming into the contest, but may have caught the Devil Dogs a little tired from the night before.

“We held them to nine points the first half with really good defense and in the second half we kind of fell asleep a little bit, but we pulled away (to get into the state semifinals),” Cooper said.

Cooper sometimes has to calm his guards down when they want to lob to Livingston.

“We threw one from half court and I was like, ‘Man, it’s not the time for that. Y’all wait ‘til we get the lead before we start throwing that,’” Cooper said. “Livington’s explosive, that’s one of the things we do well so he just picked the right time.”

Mills warmed up as the game progressed, improving from a 10-point first quarter to a high of 24 in the second then adding 16 points in each of the third and fourth quarters

Morrilton struggled to score, managing a mere 9 points in the first half. Devin Foster’s 3-pointer was the only field goal scored by Morrilton in the first half and the Devil Dogs trailed 34-9 at the half after scoring the first four points of the game.

The Devil Dogs suddenly found their groove in the third quarter when they made six of their 11 total field goals and converted 7- of11 free throws. Free throw shooting proved problematic for Morrilton, which made only 16-of-33 attempts from the charity stripe in the contest. Foster made three of his five 3-point field goals in the third and contributed 10 points.

Riley Wade, a 6-0 sophomore forward, chipped in 7 points during the barrage. Junior 5-11 guard Darrius Allison scored all 5 of his points in the period.

Mills led 50-33 going into the fourth quarter despite Morrilton’s surge. The Comets cruised to the 66-43 win trying to replicate their 2019 run into the Class 4A

State finals.

Caleb Allen’s 21 points represented a game- high. Livingston added 17 and Javion Guy-king had 14 for Mills.