Arkansas high school boys basketball state tournament: LR Christian, Brookland advance to face off in state semifinals

After shaking off some early rust, Warriors pull away against Warren

FARMINGTON -- Coming into the boys Class 4A State Tournament, Little Rock Christian was one of the overwhelming favorites to go the distance. The Warriors showed a little rust early Friday night, but got rolling midway through the second quarter to defeat Warren, 67-40, in the quarterfinals

Christian (26-7) will take on Brookland at 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s semifinal, vying for a shot at next weekend’s state title game in Hot Springs. The Warriors earned a bye in the tournament’s first round, which likely hindered their slow start on against the Lumberjacks (13-7).

“I think when you sit that long, and you have a bye and you play on a Friday – and everybody else has already got to play on Tuesday – they are kind of playing with house money,” Warriors head coach Kyle Pennington said. “They came out in a flow, and we weren’t in a flow. I though they did a good job of making us take a bunch of threes early.

“But once we got out defensively, and was able to turn our defense into offense, we got it going.”

After being tied 17-17 midway through the second frame, LRC got things clicking. A bucket by freshman KD Hicks stretched the Warriors lead to 25-17, and a minute later senior Jameel Wesley canned a three to make it 28-19.

Christian ended the half with a pair of steals and consecutive dunks by senior Landren Blocker and Wesley, in the final minute. The Warriors went to the half with a 32-17 lead.

I’m obviously very proud of our guys,” Pennington said. “Each matchup is different, ands they were able to do some good things to us defensive in the first half.

Warren’s AJ Jordan opened the second half with a three to try and spark the Lumberjacks, but LRC came right back with another Wesley triple and a putback by Blocker to make it 37-24 with 5:29 to play in the third.

The Warriors were able to keep the heat on, extending their lead to 51-27, heading into the final quarter.

We came out kind of slow, but as the game got going, we started playing together,” said sophomore JJ Andrews, who manned the paint defensively and scored 8 points along the way. “Honestly, the biggest change was just our intensity. It all starts on defense, that’s what coach teaches. So, we started on the defensive end and turned it into transition buckets.”

Wesley finished with a game-high 16 points, with Blocker closely behind with 15. Jordan led Warren with 14, while Neondre Thomas chipped in 10.

Brookland 66, Camden Fairview 51

Brookland looked to be overmatched early in Friday night’s quarterfinal against Camden Fairview, in the boys Class 4A State Tournament. But then the Bearcats shifted the momentum and rode it all the way to a 66-51 victory.

Brookland’s Briar Allred caught fire in the second quarter, splashing the first of seven 3-point baskets, to lead all scorers with 25 points.

The Cardinals jumped out to an 18-6 first-quarter lead, and looked to be in control. But the Bearcats outscored them by 11 in the second quarter, and tailed by just one, 28-27 at the half.

Brookland outscored Fairview, 39-23 in the second half, and cruised to the end.

The Bearcats had a balanced scoring attack, as Cole Kirby finished with 13 and Tyler Parham and Lane Webster chipped in 12 each.

Photo by Steve Andrews 

--Steve Andrews | @SBLiveArk