Seminoles take down Elkins to earn spot in finals

HARRISON - Osceola (26-7) led from start to finish in a 51-37 victory over the Elkins Elks Saturday to earn at spot in Thursday’s Class 3A boys championship game against 3A Region 2 champion Melbourne. The Seminoles and Bearkatz will tip off at 7:30 p.m. in the OZK Arena in Hot Springs. Melbourne earned their place in the title game with a 76-40 dismantling of Lamar in Saturday’s other semifinal matchup.

Osceola 51, Elkins 37

Osceola jumped out to an 8-0 lead after the first three minutes and was never seriously threatened as they defeated the Elks in the semifinals, earning a shot to play for their seventh state championship.

Osceola got eight quick points on threes by MJ Washington and Jeremiah Jacobs and a basket in the lane by Jacobs to force an Elkins time out with 5:06 to play in the first quarter. The Seminoles would led it 12-4 after one quarter holding Elkins to only four first half field goals, all by Bryce Mooneyham. The Seminoles meanwhile would build an 11-point lead on a Washington three (17-6). Mooneyham would score on back-to-back trips down the floor to make it 17-10, but that would be as close as Elkins would get.

The Seminoles Kash Span would score the next seven points on back-to-back threes the second of which became a four-point play to build a 24-10 advantage. Jacobs would hit the second of two free throws in the final seconds to set the half time score of 25-10.

The Seminoles would begin the second half with a 7-2 run to build a 34-12 advantage on a pair of free throws by Tyler Bell with 4:26 to play in the quarter. Mooneyham would key a 10-1 run by the Elks to make it a 35-22 game, but the Seminoles would score the final two points of the third quarter on a bucket by Jeriyan Long to add a 37-22 lead to the final period.

Osceola opened the final period with a field goal by Washington and covered a Mooneyham bucket with four Washington free throws to build the lead back to 20 points (44-24) with four minutes to play. Osceola would keep the advantage until two free throws by Tyrese James made it 51-31 with just over two minutes to play.

At that point, both teams would pull their starters from the game and the Seminoles would go on to the 14-point win.

Elkins finishes the season 30-6 and was paced by 17 points by Mooneyham. Brayden Cargill added nine points and Jackson Justice had six points and seven rebounds.

Washington led the Seminoles with a game-high 19 points. Span added nine points, while Jacobs had six points and six rebounds. Bell added five points, three rebounds and three steals, while James had four points. Chris Wilkins and Jeriyan Long had three points each, with Long grabbing nine rebounds and recording four blocked shots. Anthony Brown added two points for the Seminoles.

Osceola 74, Helena 53 Quarterfinals

The Seminoles led from start to finish while romping past the Cougars. After a slow start Osceola’s pressure defense led to a 9-0 lead just over three minutes into the first quarter. Osceola would build a double digit lead and hold on to it for most of the first half. Osceola led 18-8 after one period and 34-23 at the half.

Long led the Seminoles with 18 points, while Jacobs added 14 points and Bell had 11 points.

Osceola would lead by as many as 26 points late in the fourth before both coaches cleared their benches.

Osceola 51, Subiaco Academy 47 Semifinals

Osceola struggled but got by the Trojans to advance to the quarterfinal round. The Seminoles scored the first six points of the game but the Trojans would clamp down and hold Osceola to only two points the rest of the quarter. The Seminoles led 8-7 after one period.

Osceola would build a 13-9 lead in the second period but the Trojans would go on an 11-0 run to build a 20-13 lead with just over a 1:30 to play in the half. Osceola would score the last four points of the half to make it a 20-17 game at the break. The Seminoles hut themselves by making only two of 11 first half free throws.

Subiaco would hold on to the lead for much of the third quarter until the Seminoles would forge a tie and then take their first lead since early in the second quarter on back-to-back three pointers by Bell. The Seminoles would lead 37-34 heading to the final eight minutes.

The Seminoles would build their lead to 44-36 with five minutes to play but the Trojans would go on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 44 apiece with under two minutes to play. Osceola would be able to hold on to the lead as Washington hit four free throws in the final minutes and Jacobs would hit the second of two shots with 1.1 seconds to play to seal the win.

Long led Osceola with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Jacobs had nine points, five rebounds and three steals and Bell had seven points before fouling out in the final period. Washington and Brown both scored six points, while Span had three points, James had two points and Donovan Littleton had one point and four rebounds.

Subiaco (24-6) was led by Justiz Butler’s 17 points. Darian Rolle added 12 points for the Trojans.