JONESBORO – The opening night for the Jonesboro Hurricane went off without a hitch.
Jonesboro led a double-digit lead in the first quarter on Thursday night, beating Manila 71:37 in the first round of the Barry Pruitt Hurricane Classic. Three players hit double digits as the hurricane advanced against Bentonville at 7 tonight.
Thursday’s game marked the start of the season for the Hurricane, last year’s Class 5A national champion, and head coach Wes Swift saw the energy he expected in the first game.
“As coaches we thought we couldn’t shoot their zone early enough and we didn’t, but I think they did a pretty good job of keeping us out of the running,” said Swift. “I thought as the game went on we really calmed down and shot the ball a lot more confidently. You could say that the adrenaline rush that came early had somehow disappeared. “
The hurricane shot 46.9 percent out of the field against the Class 3A Lions (2-2). Jonesboro had a rebound lead of 39:17 and outnumbered Manila with 34:16.
Junior striker Isaac Harrell led Jonesboro with 15 points and eight rebounds. Junior striker Devarious Montgomery added 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals while Senior Guard Jesse Washington added 12 points and four rebounds.
Senior point guard Amarion Wilson contributed seven points, six rebounds and six assists. Junior guard Phillip Tillman came off the bench to score three 3-pointers for nine points and also add four assists in the second half.
“I thought Devarious, his activities on the offensive boards and at the top of our press got us going, and then I thought Isaac would follow suit and he dropped a few shots and got some nice offensive boards” said Swift. “These two really led us. We’re usually a team with the guards leading the way, but I thought our two strikers led the way in the first half tonight. “
Washington took eight points in the first quarter as the Hurricane built a 15-5 lead. Harrell scored nine points in the second quarter and Montgomery six, helping Jonesboro increase his lead to 37-16 at halftime.
Wilson scored all of his points in the third quarter when Jonesboro increased the lead to 58:28.
Jake Baltimore followed suit with three 3-pointers to lead Manila with 12 points. Brayden Nunnally added eight points and Luke Kirk added seven for the Lions, who were 33.3 percent out of the field.
“We knew they would do a lot of dribbling and they are good at it. We didn’t want them to pass in the corner, we didn’t want them to turn the corner into what we call the elbow or the middle of the floor, ”said Swift. “That happened too much in the first half. We cleaned that up in the second half. Overall, we communicated, we didn’t get lost in several handovers and screens. “
Bentonville 69, Brookland 37
Point guard Jaylen Lee scored 17 points as the Tigers, who reached the Class 6A semifinals last season, made it through to the Hurricane Classic semifinals with ease.
In front of an audience that included Governor Asa Hutchinson, whose grandson plays for the Tigers, Bentonville (2-0) led 19-7 after the first quarter, 39:17 at halftime and 55:34 after the third quarter.
Second year Caden Miller and Owen Dehrmann added 10 points each, followed by Mason Krakow and Abel Hutchinson with eight points each for Bentonville. Five different players scored from the 3-point line for the Tigers.
David York scored 13 points, leading Brookland (2-3) who play Manila tonight at 5:30 am.
North Little Rock 72, Beebe 52
The Badgers stayed close for half an hour before the Charging Wildcats, the Class 6A defending champions, pulled away to make it to the semifinals. North Little Rock is playing at 8:30 p.m. in Bartlett, Tennessee tonight.
Center Kel’el Ware, who has signed for Oregon, scored 17 of his 27 points for North Little Rock in the second half. Arkansas signatory Nick Smith, a senior guard, added 18 points (10 in the second half) and Corey Washington finished at 16 for the Charging Wildcats (4-0).
Rylie Marshall drilled five 3-pointers to score 25 points for Beebe (1-3), who is playing Ridgefield Christian at 4pm
North Little Rock was leading 28:23 at halftime. Ware took eight points in the third quarter and Smith six as the Charging Wildcats extended their lead to 50:38 at the end of the third quarter.
Bartlett, Tenn., 79, Ridgefield Christian 27
The Panthers scored 57 points in the first half en route to the semi-finals against North Little Rock.
Guard Amarr Knox scored all 13 of his points in the first half to help Bartlett (5-2) build a 57-12 half-time lead. Matthew Stokes scored all 10 of his points for the Panthers in the first half.
Noah Stracener scored 16 points and Doss McDaniel scored seven for Ridgefield Christian (8: 5).
