GREENBRIER Conway Blue (8-8, 5-1) defeated Greenbrier (11-3, 4-2), 44-40, in Central Arkansas Junior High Conference action Thursday night.
The Wampus Kittens took a 20-17 halftime behind the hot-handed Jamarkus Harmon, who scored 20 of his game-high 22 points in the first half.
"Jamarkus ran the floor well the first half. By doing so, we were able to beat their press and he was able to score on a lot of layup" said coach Tommy McMillan of Conway Blue.
Conway never trailed and eventually led by eight. But Greenbrier fought back to a 40-40 tie with 28 seconds left. Conway brought the ball down and held for a last shot. With 5 seconds left in the game, Colt Fason flashed to the free-throw line and took a pass from for a 15-foot jummper with 2.5 seconds left to put Conway up 42-40.
During the inbounds, Greenbrier threw the ball away. After a technical foul and an intention foul, Fason hit two free throws to give the Kittens the winning advantage.
Conway was led by Harmon with 22 points, Delph scored 10 pints, and Fason added six points.
Neil Burcham, who had 16 points in the first half, finished with 22 for the Panthers. Trent Virden added five.
Greenbrier took the ninth-grade girls game 40-31 to go to 12-2 overall 6-1 in conference play. Lauren Rose scored 11 points, Kayla Waters 10, Kaylee Wiedower nine and MacKenzie Mallett eight and four rebounds. Cicely New had seven rebounds and three steals.
Greenbrier took the eighth-grade girls contest 31-16. Kailey Madden had 10 points, Laney Lucas five, Helight Barnard and Ali Rowden, four each, for the Lady Panthers (8-1).
VJHS
Vilonia's ninth-grade girls overcame a scoreless second quarter Thursday for a 27-15 victory over Cabot North.
"We got in foul trouble early in the game," said Vilonia coach Karla Ault. "I thought Julie Stanley really stepped up tonight and gave us some good minutes. We struggled offensively in the first half, but settled down in the second half and executed very well. I was proud of the way we played the second half."
The leaders for the Lady Eagles: Catherine Puckett, 12 points, two rebounds, one steal; Maggie Brewer, six points, two rebounds; Stanley, four points, two rebounds; Betsy Barlett, three points, two steals, one assist; Halie Freeman, two rebounds, two steals; Kendall Cotton, two points, four rebounds, two steals.
Vilonia won the eighth-grade game, 23-16. Haley Pool led the Lady Eagles with 15 points, followed by Taylor Nealey, four, and Colleen Farris and Lydia Gordon, two each.
CONWAY WHITE
Conway White (8-7, 3-3) took a 48-44 victory over Cabot South in girls ninth-grade basketball Thursday.
Conway's Taylor Gault hit a 3 in the corner to give the Lady Cats a one-point lead late in the game. A layup and a free throw by Shelley Rose sealed the victory.
"We had some momentum going, then we hit Christmas break and we are finally getting back into game shape," said Conway coach Jeff Gifford. "We are very fortunate to get a win tonight. Our defense struggled and offensively we have got to do better at taking advantage of our size down low.
Gault led Conway with 25 points. Quay Allen-Smith finished with eight, Davidra Bowser had six, Shelley Rose five, and Kelsey Dalton scored four.
CSMS 7th GIRLS
Carl Stuart Middle School's seventh-grade girls romped to a 38-6 victory over the Russellville East Gales on Thursday night.
Leading Scorers for the Lady Kittens were: Summar Roachell and Ashmere Nelson with nine points each followed by Enjonae Chambers with seven, Haleigh Cox with six, Ashley Morrow, Abby Mann and Mackenzie Neumeier had two each and Sydney Meyer chipped one in from the line. Javan Massey and Danyiel Conley had good defensive efforts.
"We came out a little rusty from the break and it showed," said coach Chata Hickey. "We had a hard time getting our shots to fall. Once we established the tempo of game we wanted to play our confidence came back and shots started falling. This is the second half of our schedule and we are making adjustments to accommodate for it, I hope that we can continue to play the type of up tempo game we are comfortable with executing."
In the B game, the Lady Kittens won 7-0. Abby Engelkes had three points followed by Sydnie Ross and Neumeier with two each. Sara Stovall, Fatmetou Ndiaye, Kenya Tripp and Maria Oates all had strong defensive efforts.
CSMS 7th BOYS
Carl Stuart's seventh-grade boys split two games with Russellville East on Thursday.
The Kittens won the A game, 35-20. Leading scorers for Carl Stuart were Brandon Cox, eight; Deshaun Turner seven; Parker Rice, six; Landon Jackson and Brannon Kotch, four; and Devantae Williams and Connor Prout, two each. Bryton Booher and Jacob Bobo played well defensively.
Carl Stuart lost the B-game 13-11. Leading scorers for Carl Stuart were Landon Morris, Ryan Davis, William Jackson, Jake Hamm, and Cody Russell, all with two. Mason McAlexander added one. Andrew Mitchell, Geoffrey Gough, and Devin Dooley all played well defensively.
CCS
Kirby Powell scored 18 points and Jeremy Jacobs added 15 while Austin Downey tied a school record with 20 rebounds Thursday as Conway Christian took a 66-46 victory over Arkansas School for the Deaf.
Powell added eight rebounds and five assists. Jacobs had six rebounds and three steals. Jon Watson had 14 points and 14 rebounds. Downey had 10 points and three blocks while Wesley Bowlin had six points and four assists. Will Wooten had two points and two rebounds.
CCS is 6-7.
