Youthful Vilonia takes down Nettleton
CLASS 5A VILONIA 57, NETTLETON 46
SEARCY — Vilonia girls basketball Coach Jeremy Simon spent the better part of the past year trying to replicate what Wednesday would feel like for his young team.
With nonconference matchups against the state’s top teams — Greenwood, Conway, Little Rock Central, Fayetteville — and three games against out-of-state teams, Simon gave his squad the toughest schedule he could come up with hopes of returning to the state final after finishing as the runner-up a year ago.
Among that schedule was a Dec. 2 loss at home to Nettleton, Vilonia’s lone regular season loss to a Class 5A team.
On Tuesday afternoon, that grueling schedule and the fire from that loss came together to drive Vilonia to a 57-46 win over Nettleton in the first round of the Class 5A girls state tournament at Lion Arena.
As Vilonia (24-6) has all season, it started two freshmen and one sophomore. Off the bench, two more freshmen and a sophomore padded out the rotation.
To open the first quarter, the state tournament jitters were evident as Nettleton (24-8) jumped out to a 7-3 lead. But Vilonia’s young guns found their footing to close the quarter on a 12-6 run. Sophomore Madi Mannion scored seven points in the first quarter, while freshman Brooklyn Burnham recovered from a missed layup earlier in the quarter to hit a three-pointer.
Nettleton made 3 three-pointers in the first quarter, two by freshman Summer Morgan. The Raiders then added two in the second to keep within four points of the Eagles at halftime.
At the top of Vilonia’s defensive game plan was denying Nettleton’s forwards, seniors Donna Douglas and Mckenzie Williams. The duo was held to nine points, but that led to Morgan and senior point guard Camren McShan combining for 31 points and seven of Nettleton’s eight three-pointers.
“If you had told me that they hit eight threes, I don’t think we win this game,” Simon said. “[We] did a good job of containing the bigs. I know they got their points. I knew we couldn’t stop them, but I was hoping we could contain them.”
Vilonia got 17 points from junior Sidni Middleton, 13 from Mannion, eight from senior Alexis Heston and 11 points combined from Burnham and her twin sister Briana. Vilonia outscored Nettleton
29-22 in the second half. LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN 72, WEST MEMPHIS 69
Little Rock Christian outlasted West Memphis and the offensive trio of Alayiah Price, Aniya Price and Tyra Taylor.
After West Memphis (19-11) led 3736 at halftime, Little Rock Christian (2110) went to sophomore Whitley Rogers to carry the load offensively. She led the warriors with 26 points, while AJ Jackson added 16 points.
Taylor led all scorers with 27 points for West Memphis. Aniya Price was close behind with 20 points, while her sister, Alayiah, had 17.
SEARCY 55, BEEBE 39
Searcy put on a show for the hometown crowd thanks to the pace of point guard Zaniyah Johnson to defeat Beebe.
The sophomore hit the ground running with 11 points in the first quarter and 18 for the game. Searcy (23-7) played full-court defense for all 32 minutes, with Johnson and junior center London Flowers (19 points) as the biggest beneficiaries.
Junior Hannah Johnson led Beebe (18-12) with 14 points, including four three-pointers. Freshman Bailey Barton scored 11 points, including 3 three-pointers.