JUNCTION CITY, Ark. – The Junction City Lady Dragons captured their second Dual State Tournament Championship on Friday night and the program’s first since 1959, while the Dragons capped the evening with a victory over Nashville to claim the tournament title on the men’s side.

The Lady Dragons (10-1) used a strong second half to pull away from the Smackover Lady Bucks in the final two periods in a 51-22 victory. Jyrezhia Nathan led Junction City in scoring with 19 points and Khadijah Webster added 10 points inside. Sharnes McGhee delivered nine points for the Lady Bucks in the loss.

Jalen Davis and Jerodney Tubbs each produced 20 points for the Dragons in the win, while Jamarte Gilliam scored a tournament-high 32 points and Darius Hopkins followed with 14 points for the Scrappers in the loss.

The first two contests of the afternoon saw Warren earn a third-place finish in the girl’s bracket with a 36-23 win over Hermitage. Denisha Stallings led the Lady Jacks with 11 points and Tayzha Tate scored eight points for the Lady Hermits. In the boy’s consolation final, Warren topped Smackover 42-32 behind a dozen points from Nathan Hairston. Peyton Jones led the Buckaroos in scoring with a game-high 13 points.

All-Dual State Teams were announced at the conclusion of each championship game. Earning selections for the women’s team were Te’a Scott (Bearden), Dixie Puterbaugh (Warren), Tayzha Tate (Hermitage), Sharnes McGhee (Smackover), Makenzie Malone (Smackover), Camya Hamilton (Junction City), Nikayla Fisher (Junction City), and Jyrezhia Nathan (Junction City).

For the men, Cade Wilkerson (Hermitage), Camron Byes (Bearden), DeAngelo Morris (Fordyce), Bryce Lockhart (Smackover), Javion Robinson (Warren), Darius Hopkins (Nashville), C.J. Spencer (Nashville), LaJuan Hill (Junction City), Hishmma Taylor (Junction City), and Terrell Gibson (Junction City) all garnered All-Dual State honors.

The post Junction City claims a pair of championships in Dual State Tournament appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

JUNCTION CITY, Ark. – Thursday’s action at the 86^th Dual State Tournament consisted of a trio of consolation bracket contests and resulted in the Warren and Smackover boys and Warren girls recording victories inside Dragon Arena to advance to the final day of the tournament.

In the first men’s consolation bracket semifinal game, Warren outlasted Bearden 54-53 to claim a spot in Friday’s third-place contest. Thursday’s opener was a back and forth affair for four periods that saw the Bears stake a seven-point lead three times in the second half, before the Lumberjacks fought back late for the victory. For the third straight night, Javion Robinson scored 17 points to lead the Lumberjacks offensively, while Marcus Miller followed with 16 points. Sontania Lawson and Devarious Hughes scored 14 points apiece for Bearden in the loss.

The lone women’s contest of the three-game set featured Warren and Bearden. The Lady Jacks cruised to a 50-21 victory behind 15 points from Dixie Puterbaugh. Bearden’s Te’a Scott led the Lady Bears in scoring with eight points.

Thursday night’s finale saw the Smackover boys clinch a spot in Friday’s third-place game with a hard fought 52-48 win over Fordyce. Bryce Lockhart delivered 21 points for the Buckaroos, while Keon Jacobs led the Redbugs in scoring with 11 points.

The final day of action in the 86^th edition of the Dual State Tournament will consist of a consolation final and championship game in both the men’s and women’s bracket. The Hermitage and Warren girls tip-off at 3 p.m. in the third-place game, while the Smackover and Warren boys will follow in the consolation final on the men’s side at 4:15 p.m.

The championship tilts on Friday evening will feature both Junction City teams as the Lady Dragons will battle Smackover at 5:30 p.m. in the women’s title game. Off to one of the best starts in school history at 9-1, the Lady Dragons will look to capture their first Dual State Tournament Championship since 1959. The tournament final on the guy’s side matches two of the region’s best in Nashville and Junction City. The Scrappers have rolled in two games so far in the tournament winning by 32 and 26 points, while the Dragons have looked impressive in victories over Hermitage and 6-3A foe Fordyce. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

All-Tournament teams will be announced tomorrow at the conclusion of each championship game.

Live streaming of all the tournament action can be found exclusively on the Dragon Sports Network: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jc-dragons-football?utm_source=crowd-live-backend&utm_medium=visit-channel&utm_campaign=notifications.

The post Championship brackets set for final day of 86th Dual State Tournament appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

JUNCTION CITY, Ark. – The second day of action at the 86^th Dual State Tournament saw the Smackover and Junction City girls and the Nashville and Junction City boys all punch tickets to the finals of their respective brackets on Wednesday evening inside Dragon Arena.

The day’s five-game slate started with a pair of schools from Bradley County battling it out on the court in a quarterfinal matchup of the men’s consolation bracket. Warren withstood a pesky Hermitage squad to claim a 56-44 victory and keep itself alive in the tournament. Once again, Javion Robinson led the Lumberjacks in scoring with 16 points and Cade Wilkerson led the Hermits with 20 points.

The first women’s contest of the afternoon saw the Smackover girls punch the first ticket to Championship Friday with a 52-47 victory over Warren. The Lady Bucks trailed by five, 25-20, at the intermission, but used a 10-4 run in the third period and an offensive-heavy fourth period to move past the Lumberjacks behind Makenzie Malone’s 19 points and Sharnes McGhee’s 18 points. Shakeira Stovall led Warren in scoring with a dozen points.

Game Three on Wednesday afternoon saw the Nashville Scrappers put together another quality outing as they downed Bearden in the Bears tournament opener, 76-44, to advance to Friday’s championship game at 7 p.m. It was all Nashville through four periods of action, despite the Bears managing to cut their deficit to 10 late in the third quarter. An electrifying Darius Hopkins led the Scrappers offensively with 25 points and Bearden’s Cameron Byes collected a team-high 17 points.

The final two games on the schedule included a Junction City double feature as the Lady Dragons picked up their ninth win of the season in their Dual State opener with a 55-29 win over Hermitage to advance to the finals of the winner’s bracket. Camya Hamilton sparked the Lady Dragon attack with 14 points and Taykeetria Rogers followed with eight points. Tayzha Tate led Hermitage in scoring for the second straight game by matching Hamilton with 14 points, while Chelsey McDougald added six points for the Hermits.

The Dragons concluded the night with a 20-point victory over 6-3A foe Fordyce in the teams’ third meeting this winter. Back and forth action dictated the contest in the first half before Junction City clamped down defensively in the final two periods. Offensive leaders in Junction City’s 63-43 win were LaJuan Hill with a team-high 14 points, while Jerrodney Tubbs added a dozen points. Leading scorers for the Redbugs were De’Angelo Morris who dropped a game-high 17 points and Braxton Green who chipped in with 10 points.

Thursday’s action will consist of three consolation games beginning with a 4 p.m. tip-off between Bearden and Warren in a men’s semifinal game in the consolation bracket. The lone women’s contest will begin at approximately 5:15 p.m. with Bearden and Warren playing for a chance to compete in the third-place game on Friday afternoon. The final game tomorrow night will feature the Smackover boys facing the Fordyce boys at 6:30 p.m. in the second men’s semifinal of the consolation bracket.

Live streaming of all the tournament action can be found exclusively on the Dragon Sports Network: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jc-dragons-football?utm_source=crowd-live-backend&utm_medium=visit-channel&utm_campaign=notifications.

The post Tickets punched for championship games at 86th Dual State Tournament appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

JUNCTION CITY, Ark. – The first day of the 86^th Dual State Tournament concluded with the Fordyce, Nashville and Junction City boys and Hermitage girls claiming wins to open tourney play on Tuesday afternoon inside Dragon Arena.

It is the first time since 1954 that the tournament has been played in a different venue after Junction City unveiled the 1,800-seat Dragon Arena earlier this winter.

The Fordyce boys team captured a 50-42 victory over Warren in the tournament opener. The Redbugs led 17-2 midway through the first half and fought off a surging Lumberjack squad, which claimed a 40-39 lead with less than three minutes to play, in the final two periods. De’Angelo Morris led the Redbugs with 17 points and Javion Robinson scored a game-high 18 points in a losing effort for the Lumberjacks. The win sets up Fordyce’s third meeting with 6-3A foe Junction City tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.

In the first girls contest of the tournament, Hermitage topped Bearden 32-22. Tayzha Tate led the Lady Hermit effort with 17 points, while Bearden’s Maleka Berry paced the Lady Bears with a team-high eight points. Hermitage will play Junction City tomorrow beginning at 5:15 p.m., while Bearden will not play again until Thursday as they await the loser of the Warren/Smackover matchup, which tips tomorrow at 2:45 p.m.

The third contest of the evening saw the Nashville boys team handle Smackover 52-27, behind Ricardo Garcia’s 19 points. Nashville controlled the tempo early on and took advantage of several fast break opportunities, while never allowing the Buckaroos to comfortably work their offense throughout the contest. Bryce Lockhart led Smackover in scoring with ten points. Nashville returns to the court at 4 p.m. tomorrow to face Bearden, which claimed a first-round bye in the tournament. Smackover will play the Junction City/Fordyce loser on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday’s nightcap featured host Junction City cruising to their eighth victory of the season with a 59-30 victory over Hermitage. The Dragons raced to a 22-9 lead in the first half to set the pace in the contest and were led by LaJuan Hill’s 10 points, while Jalen Davis and Shuvasceiaye Frazier added eight points each. Cade Wilkerson led a trio of Hermit big men with 13 points. Junction City will again be featured in the tournament’s nightcap as they matchup with Fordyce tomorrow night.

Live streaming of all the tournament action can be found exclusively on the Dragon Sports Network: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jc-dragons-football?utm_source=crowd-live-backend&utm_medium=visit-channel&utm_campaign=notifications.

The post First Dual State games played in the new Dragon Arena appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.