BALD KNOB — The KIPP Delta Blue Hornets defeated the Harding Academy Wildcats, 69-51, in the first round of the 3A-2 District Tournament on Feb 15. Shamarkus Otey and Dilland Bryant led the Blue Hornets to victory, scoring 21 and 16. Wildcat Travis Turley led all scorers with 22.

The Wildcats played without star point guard Brady Palmer due to a wrist injury suffered at the end of the regular season. According to a team source, Palmer tried to shoot in practice but felt too much pain and could not play.

The loss ended the Wildcats season. They finished the year 18-9, 14-4 in conference.

The game was a tale of two halves. The Blue Hornets took a 25-23 lead into halftime but outscored the Wildcats 44-28 in the second half.

Blue Hornets coach Phillip Lockhart said he told his team at half to focus on playing and not worry about anything else.

“I told them to stop acting like they were the coaches and referees,” Lockhart said. “If everybody does their job and executes, we’ll be okay.”

The Blue Hornets started the fourth quarter with a 44-37 lead. The Wildcats pulled within five after Peydon Harlow connected on a three at the top of the key to make it 46-41 with 5:51 remaining. The Blue Hornets responded by scoring the next four points, including an acrobatic layup by Khalib Keys to make it 50-41 with 3:59 left.

The Wildcats whiffed at their comeback chance when they missed back-to-back 1-and-1 attempts late in the fourth. Pate Fullerton missed the first 1-and-1 attempt but the Wildcats got the rebound and Travis Turley was fouled and put to the line where he also missed his first free throw.

Otey hit two free throws soon after to extend the Blue Hornets lead to 11 to make it 54-43 with 2:41 left. The Wildcats would not get any closer.

Turley got the second half going with a post move score to tie it at 25 with 7:47 remaining in the third. Bryant responded on the next possession with an electric dunk to give the Blue Hornets the 27-25 lead. He had three dunks in the game.

Both teams battled until the Blue Hornets began to pull away after being tied 32-32 with 4:51 remaining in the third. The Blue Hornets went on a 6-0 run, with all three baskets scored by three different players, making it 38-32 with 3:36 left.

Bryant made jaws drop after he caught a pass under the right side of the basket and took one step and dunked over Turley while being fouled. Bryant missed the and-1 attempt, but stretched the Blue Hornets lead to 44-37 heading into the fourth.

The Blue Hornets trailed 15-10 at the start of the second quarter, but went on a 9-2 run to take a 19-17 lead with 4:38 remaining. Otey highlighted the run, converting on an and-1 running floater off the glass that tied the game at 17-17. The Wildcats turned the ball over on the next possession, which led to a left handed lay-in for Keys that gave the Blue Hornets the 19-17 lead with 4:38 left.

Kage Citty responded to the Blue Hornets run with an up and under layup to tie the game at 19-19. Bryant gave his team the lead after he got an offensive rebound and scored to make it 25-23 Blue Hornets with 13 seconds remaining in the second.

The game was tied at 4-4 early in the first quarter before the Wildcats went on a 9-2 run. Davis Morgan scored seven of the Wildcats nine during the run. Bryant halted the run in a big way after he connected on an uncontested dunk up the middle to make it 13-8 with 1:45 remaining in the first.

The Blue Hornets will take on the Marianna-Lee Trojans in the second round on Feb 17 at 8:30 p.m. at the Bald Knob Bulldogs Gym.

1^st        2^nd        3^rd        4^th        total

HA      15        8          14        14        51

KD      10       15         19        25        69

Harding Academy – Travis Turley 22, Davis Morgan 13, Kage Citty 7, Peydon Harlow 5, Pate Fullerton 4

KIPP Delta – Shamarkus Otey 21, Dilland Bryant 16, Barry Wilburn 10, Khalib Keys 9, Tabarious Cooper 8, Kylan Vann 5

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SEARCY – The Harding Academy Wildcats defeated the Newport Greyhounds, 66-29, on Jan. 31 at the Harris Gym.

Matt Francis led the Wildcats with 17, connecting on five triples. Larell Hardiman led the Greyhounds with 15.

The win improved the Wildcats to 12-3 in conference, 16-7 overall. The loss kept the Greyhounds winless in conference, dropping them to 0-14, 1-18 overall.

The Wildcats came out determined after dropping back-to-back conference games to Mountain View and Tuckerman. The Wildcats lost their leading scorer, Brady Palmer, after he suffered a broken wrist in the matchup with Mountain View on Jan. 27. Palmer suffered the injury in the third quarter, but returned and scored 11 in the fourth.

Wildcats Coach Brad Francis said the team had to move on and focus on the remaining games.

“Nothing really changes,” Francis said. “Those games are over. This is the most important game in front of us tonight so we had to go back to what we do.”

The Wildcats were on cruise control all night. They only trailed once, and that was when it was 4-3 Greyhounds early in the first quarter. They scored 27 points off three pointers, just two points less than the Greyhounds final score.

The Wildcats took a 58-23 lead into the fourth. The quarter was relatively quiet, as neither team scored over 10. Even though there was little action, the greatest play of the game came in the fourth after Caden Burks scored his first points of his high school career.

Burks misfired on two threes earlier in the quarter and was still in search for his first bucket until his teammate found him wide open under the basket. Burks caught the pass and laid it up on the left side of the basket and the crowd cheered like he had just hit the game winner. The bucket came with 1:05 remaining and was the last make of the game.

The Wildcats were in full control coming out of halftime. Francis hit three of his five threes in the third, outscoring the Greyhounds himself 9-8. The Wildcats reached the 50 mark after Jordan Ashmore connected on a corner three that drew praise from the Wildcats student section.

Francis followed Ashmore’s three with back-to-back triples of his own, extending the Wildcats lead to 56-18 with a little over a minute remaining. Hardiman led the Greyhounds on a 5-0 run, converting an and-1 and post jumper to make it 56-23 with 12 seconds remaining. The Wildcats closed the quarter on a buzzer beater as Kage Citty had an easy layup to make it 58-23.

The Greyhounds entered the second quarter trailing 14-4. Things seemed to be looking up after they converted on their first possession to make it an eight-point game, but Citty sparked the Wildcats offense and helped them take off in the second.

Citty had seven in the quarter, including an impressive and-1 wrap around layup to give the Wildcats a 20-9 lead with six minutes left. Francis connected on back-to-back threes to extend the Wildcats lead to 28-12 with 3:06 remaining and they closed the quarter on a 9-3 run.

Both teams are in action on Feb. 3 as the Wildcats visit the Riverside Raiders and the Greyhounds host the Heber Springs Panthers.

1^st       2^nd     3^rd       4^th   total

HA     14       24       20       8       66

NG      4         11      8         6     29

Harding Academy (16-7) – Matt Francis 17, Kage Citty 11, Peydon Harlow 9, Pate Fullerton 7, Jake Dugger 5, Travis Turley 4, Jordan Ashmore 3, Carter Sipe 2, Caden Burks 2, Caleb Campbell 2, Jimmy Citty 2, Davis Morgan 1, Garrison Hendrix 1

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SEARCY—The Harding Academy Wildcats defeated the Heber Springs Panthers, 67-53, on Jan. 24 at the Harris Gym.

The Wildcats had three players score in double figures as Brady Palmer, Travis Turley and Pate Fullerton had 15, 14 and 12 respectively. Panther Jordan Adkins led all scorers with 24 points, including four triples.

The Wildcats improved to 11-1 in conference, 15-5 overall. The loss dropped the Panthers to 2-8 in conference, 7-14 overall. The Wildcats are 6-1 at home this year.

Coming off a win at Rose Bud the night before, Coach Brad Francis said he looked for ways to make sure the Wildcats did not come out sluggish.

“We tried to jump out in the press and get after it and avoid a lull,” Francis said. “Just looked to do something to keep our energy and intensity up.”

The Wildcats took a 42-30 lead going into the fourth quarter and never let the Panthers get closer than eight. Palmer created a highlight reel after he caught a pass mid-air and laid it in off the glass while his feet never touched the ground to make it 44-32 with 6:51 remaining.

Adkins forced a Wildcats timeout after he hit a corner three to make it 55-46 with 2:59 remaining. Fullerton hit two free throws to extend the Wildcats lead to 59-48. He had 12 points in the quarter. The Panthers showed life after Brandon Blankenship hit a three to make it 59-51 with 1:54 remaining but was quickly answered by a Fullerton triple on the Wildcats next possession to extend the lead back to 62-51.

Both teams scored a combined 48 points in the fourth quarter, hitting seven triples.

The Wildcats turned up their defense in the third quarter, holding the Panthers to eight points. Atkins made it a nine point game after he hit a jumper to make it 37-28. Palmer impressed the crowd after he took off on the fastbreak and made a spin move layup to extend the Wildcats lead to 42-30 going into the fourth.

Turley opened the scoring in the second quarter with a three to give the Wildcats a 20-15 lead with 6:19 remaining. Adkins cut the Wildcats lead back down to two after he hit a three of his own to make it 22-20. The Panthers called a timeout after Turley hit a two to make it 26-22 with 2:52 remaining. Turley had nine of the Wildcats 13 points in the second. Palmer ended the quarter on a buzzer beater jumper in the corner with two defenders around him to make it 30-22 heading into the half.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early 4-0 off of back-to-back fastbreak buckets by Morgan and Palmer. The Panthers had chance to tie the game but failed as Jaden Johnson went one of two from the line to make it 6-5 with 4:20 left. Francis gave the Wildcats some breathing room after he hit a left corner three to make it 11-7 with 3:02 remaining. The Panthers pulled within two after Adkins recorded a steal and scored on a fastbreak layup to make it 17-15 with 37 seconds left. The Wildcats turned it over on the next possession but the Panthers could not capitalize at the buzzer trailed 17-15 heading into the second.

Both teams hit the road as the Wildcats face the Mountain View Yellowjackets on Jan 26 and the Panthers take on the Bald Knob Bulldogs on Jan 27.    

        1^st     2^nd     3^rd   4^th   Total

HA   17     13     12   25     67

HS   15     7       8     23     53

Harding Academy (15-5) – Brady Palmer 15, Travis Turley 14, Pate Fullerton 12, Peydon Harlow 7, Garrison Hendrix 7, Matt Francis 6, Davis Morgan 6

Heber Springs (7-14) – Jordan Adkins 24, Slade Welch 13, Brandon Blankenship 7, Jaden Johnson 5, Jacob Bremmon 4

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ROSE BUD – The Harding Academy Wildcats defeated the Rose Bud Ramblers, 54-47, in a conference matchup at Rambler Arena on Jan 23. The Wildcats had three players score in double figures as Brady Palmer led the way with 14 points. Travis Turley added 12 along with Pate Fullerton’s 10.

The Wildcats improved to 10-1 in conference, 14-5 overall. The Ramblers dropped to 8-5 in conference, 12-7 overall.

The Wildcats scored 26 points in the fourth quarter on a night when nothing seemed to fall. They only had 28 points going into the last quarter.

The Ramblers had a 31-29 lead at the beginning of the fourth. The Wildcats took their first lead in the quarter after Kage Citty converted an and-1 off a Wildcats steal. His free throw was good and gave the Wildcats a 36-33 lead with 6:40 remaining. The Ramblers tied it at 38-38 after Cameron Thornton converted an and-1 of his own following a Wildcats turnover.

The Wildcats took control after Matt Francis hit a three to make it 44-40 with 3:52 remaining. After a Wildcats defensive stop, Francis came down and scored again to extend the Wildcats lead to six. He hustled back on defense and drew a charge that drew praise from his teammates. Coach Brad Francis said those plays were crucial in the win.

“Shots hadn’t been going all night and all of sudden he hits a three and the energy picks up,” Francis said. “It was the momentum that changed in our favor at that point.”

The Wildcats finished the game on a 16-9 run.

The game was tied at 19-19 with 6:18 remaining in the third before the Ramblers went on a 10-2 run led by Trent Reed. He scored seven straight for the Ramblers, including a fastbreak layup to make it 26-21 with 4:27 left in the quarter.

The lead stretched to 10 after Sean Blacksmith scored off a perfect lead pass from Thornton to make it 31-21. The Wildcats closed the quarter on a 7-0 run with baskets from Peydon Harlow and Palmer to make it 31-28 heading into the fourth.

The second quarter was low scoring as neither team scored over 10 points. Palmer opened the quarter with a pull-up three to make it 13-9 with 7:24 remaining. The Wildcats extended their lead to 18-12 before the Ramblers went on a mini 4-0 run by TJ Davis to close out the quarter at 18-16.

The Ramblers scored the first points of the game after Reed laid in an alley-oop pass from Brandon Lemieux to draw the crowd’s attention. Palmer hit back-to-back threes for the Wildcats to give them a 10-9 lead heading into the second.

Both teams are in action tonight as the Wildcats host the Heber Springs Panthers while the Ramblers take on the Bald Knob Bulldogs on the road.

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SEARCY—The Harding Academy Wildcats defeated the Southside Southerners, 55-54, in a double overtime thriller at the Harris Gym on Jan. 10. Brady Palmer led the way for the Wildcats with 20 points, including the game-winning three.

The win improved the Wildcats to 6-0 in conference, 10-4 overall. The Wildcats handed the Southerners their first conference defeat, dropping them to 6-1, 13-2 overall.

Wildcats coach Brad Francis said hard work from practice led them to the win.

“A lot of the things we’ve been working on over the last couple weeks really showed tonight,” Francis said. “It ought to give us confidence to win against a quality team like Southside.”

The Southerners struck first in double overtime after Grant Patterson hit two free throws to take a 54-52 lead with 53 seconds left. Palmer stalled on the next possession before pulling up and connecting on a three with 8.3 seconds left to take the 55-54 lead. The Southerners scrambled on the last play before their coach called a timeout with 1.5 seconds remaining. Alex Brogdon shot a three at the buzzer but could not connect as the ball bounced off the front of the rim.

The Wildcats took the first lead in overtime after Travis Turley hit one of his four threes in the game to make it 50-47. The Southerners responded with a 5-0 run after Grant Patterson converted on a fastbreak layup off a steal and later a three to make it 52-50 with 1:17 remaining. The Wildcats had 14.8 seconds left to tie the game after Alex Brogdon could not convert at the free throw line to extend the Southerners lead. The Wildcats tied the game with 0.6 seconds left after Alex Morgan was left unguarded under the basket for the easy basket to make it 52-52. The Southerners could not get a shot off and the game went into double overtime.

The Southerners entered the fourth quarter down three, but outscored the Wildcats 9-6 to tie the game up at the end of regulation at 47. The Southerners had a chance to win the game with 7.7 seconds left but Koby Rich missed a corner three at the end of regulation.

Both teams were on fire in the third quarter. The Southerners outscored the Wildcats 19-18 but the Wildcats held a 41-38 lead going into the fourth. The Wildcats hit six threes in the third.

The Southerners opened the game on a 9-2 run. Trystan Alcorn scored all eight of his points in the first quarter and accounted for eight of the Southerners first 11. The Wildcats took their first lead of the game after Davis Morgan hit a shot at the end of the quarter to make it 12-11.

Both teams play next on Jan. 13 as the Wildcats will host the Tuckerman Bulldogs while the Southerners take on the Heber Springs Panthers away.

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