Lady Tigers win, Tigers fall

ARMOREL -- The Armorel Tigers played their first home game in over three weeks Thursday night against Black Rock. The junior and senior girls picked up wins over the Lady Zebras while the senior boys lost the night cap.

The senior boys stayed within striking distance with the second place Zebras for one half but Black Rock forced 11 turnovers in the second half and won going away, 67-42.

"We just got beat by a better team," said Tiger head coach Charlie Brown. "They were just bigger and stronger and did what they needed to do to win. We're just not there right now."

Black Rock showed their strength by controlling the inside, scoring 28 points in the paint during the contest.

Armorel (8-10, 2-4) picked up a couple of three-pointers from Sam Warren off the bench in the first period but Black Rock (20-3) led 15-7 at the end of one.

LaVonta Smith's basket with 2:45 left in the second cut the Zebra lead to just three at 19-16 but the Tigers would get no closer.

Sam Clem nailed back-to-back shots from downtown as Black Rock ended the half on an 11-3 run to take a 30-19 lead at halftime.

Black Rock extended their lead to 50-32 by the end of the third period on their way to the victory.

For the game, LaVonta Smith led the Tigers with 15 points while hauling down nine boards. Sam Warren added six.

Joe Paul Carey led the Zebras with 20, Khris Foster added 18 and Sam Clem scored 16.

The Tigers have have a big week next week playing three conference games over five nights starting with a trip to Ridgefield Christian on Tuesday night.

"It's a big part of our schedule," said Brown. "That will make or break us. We want to get some wins and get some momentum going into the district tournament."

GIRLS Armorel 50, Black Rock 24

The Armorel Lady Tigers moved another step closer to a 1A-3 East regular season championship with a convincing 50-24 win over the Black Rock Lady Zebras.

"I really think our win Tuesday night over Bay really carried into tonight," said Lady Tiger head coach Joey Carr. "I told them that with that win, we're in the driver's seat the rest of the way."

The Lady Tigers (13-6, 6-1 1A-3 East) got out to an early 19-4 lead in the first period thanks to turnovers that lead to easy baskets on the other end.

"We've gone to a different defensive system and I think we're really starting to make it work," said Carr.

Armorel forced 11 steals on the game and out rebounded the Lady Zebras 34-26.

"We had three girls who were close to double digits in rebounds," said Carr. "Anytime you have that, good things are going to happen."

Black Rock trimmed the lead to 10 at 23-13 in the second period but a Katelyn Brown three-pointer with 1:45 left sparked a mini-run as the Lady Tigers took a 31-17 lead into the halftime break.

Armorel's defense took over in the second half as they held the Lady Zebras to just seven third period points and pitched a shut out in the fourth outscoring Black Rock, 4-0 in the fourth.

Melanique Middlebrook led the Lady Tigers with 20 points, four steals and two assists. Brown scored 12 points and pulled down nine boards. Madison Carr scored four points and collected eight rebounds and Denaissa Middlebrook scored eight points and collected seven rebounds.

The Lady Tigers travel to Jonesboro on Tuesday to take on Ridgefield Christian.

JUNIOR HIGH Armorel 23, Black Rock 18

The Armorel Junior High Lady Tigers defeated Black Rock, 23-18, Thursday night.

Armorel trailed, 7-9, at the end of one, 11-10 at halftime before edging ahead, 16-15, after three.

Stacy Jo Spurlin led all scorers with 13 points and collected nine rebounds and three steals.

Viola Schaeffer added six points, four steals and three rebounds for Armorel.

afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com