Russellville pulls out first-round win in wild finish against Jacksonville

Six free throws on technical fouls in the fourth quarter were the difference.

By Kyle Sutherland I Photos by Ted McClenning

SHERIDAN - It was a very physical, and somewhat polarizing, contest between the top West seed Russellville and tJacksonville in which the Cyclones earned a 66-57 in the first game of the day Tuesday afternoon at the Class 5A boys state basketball tournament at Sheridan High School.

The Titans led the entire game until late in the third quarter when they were up by nine points and head coach Victor Joyner was handed a technical foul.

Senior Grayson Sims hit both free throws because of the technical and the Cyclones were able to cut the deficit to just two points heading into the fourth quarter.

Russellville was able to get its first lead of the game with 6:32 remaining following a three-point connection by senior Donyae May, who had one of the best performances of the first round with 29 points, and Sims followed that on the ensuing possession with another bucket for two forcing Jacksonville to take a timeout. At this point, the Cyclones were on a 15-3 run since the technical on Joyner.

It was 56-46 with two minutes remaining when the Titans called another timeout to regroup, and it was effective as sophomore Bryson Hammond was able to cut the lead to 56-51 with a minute remaining.

The Titans continued to fight after senior Christian Moore showed some hustle saving a ball from going out of bounds and tossed it over to Kentrell Thompson who nailed a three-pointer from the right wing directly in front of the Jacksonville bench to make it 58-55. 

Seconds later, Caleb Carter was sent to the charity stripe following a Jacksonville foul, and he hit both to extend the lead a little more.

Another technical foul was called on the Jacksonville bench sending Sims back to shoot four free throws, after making two moments earlier, and he hit all six in that sequence essentially ending the game.

the first bucket of the quarter with just over five minutes remaining in the half. Russellville faced a 27-20 halftime deficit before they adjusted in the second half to eventually secure the game.

Along with May’s 29, Sims was solid as well adding 23 for the Cyclones.

Moore led Jacksonville with 18 in his final game with the Titans.

Parkview 72 Greenwood 29

Greenwood only trailed 17-11 after one quarter, but it was all Patriots after that. Parkview invoked the Arkansas Activities Association sportsmanship rule in the second half.

Pine Bluff 69 Greene County Tech 42

Greene County Tech has been battle-tested all year playing in the tough 5A-East conference with historic powerhouses Jonesboro, Marion, and West Memphis but the Eagles just could not get much of anything going against the Zebras. There were plenty of good and open looks particularly in the first half when they were still in it, but they were not able to capitalize.