Blytheville advances in hoops tourney

PARAGOULD -- The Blytheville Chickasaws advanced to the semifinals of the Greene County Tech Christmas Classic with a 60-51 win over the Hickory Flat, Miss. Rebels Tuesday night at the Greene County Tech Multipurpose Building.

Behind an offense intent on owning the lane, the Rebels scored 12 of their 13 first period points in the paint and did not attempt one jump shot outside of the lane.

"They man-handled us the first five or six minutes," said Chickasaw head coach David Hixson. "They were really tough inside."

Leading the "man-handling" was 6-foot-4, 300-pound center Michael Penilton. Penilton kept the Chicks off of the defensive boards early as the Rebels scored 10 of their first 17 points off of second-chance shots.

"He's (Penilton) not only strong, but he's a good athlete," said Hixson. "He caused all kinds of problems for us tonight."

The Rebels led by as many as five, twice in the first half. They led 13-8 late in the first period before the Chicks ran off four in row to end the period, highlighted by a Ke'Andre Diamond steal and break-away lay up to end the period.

Hickory Flat led 17-12 with 5:45 left in the second period before the Chicks finally put together on offensive run. The Chicks forced 13 first half turnovers and were finally able to turn them into points midway through the second as they put together a 13-3 run to end the half.

Diamond gave the Chicks their first lead, 18-17, since early in the first with a basket at the 3:16 mark in the second period. A three-point play from Anthony Tucker with just under two minutes left in the half was all the scoring the Rebels got in the final five and a half minutes of the half. Tucker came into the game as the Rebels leading scorer averaging over 18 points a game and the Chicks held him to under 10 for the game.

Michael Bell connected on a three-pointer just before the half expired to give Blytheville a 25-20 lead at the break.

With very little information available on the Rebels before the game, Hixson knew that it would take a while before his squad could get a handle on the small school from Mississippi.

"They've (Hickory Flat) got a good little outfit down there," he said. "When you're watching teams in warm ups, you can get a sense of who can do what and who their main players are. We didn't match up against them for the first couple of possessions. Then we kind of figured them out and adjusted as the game went on."

Whatever adjustments were made at halftime, they worked.

The Chicks scored the last seven points of the first half and continued with a 14-2 run to begin the second half. Diamond and Raymond Golphin connected on back-to-back three pointers opening up the middle for center Greg McKillion, who scored eight of his team-high 19 points in the period as the Chicks took a commanding, 39-22 lead with four minutes to play in the third period. McKillion also collected 12 rebounds, blocked two shots and hit five of six free throw attempts.

Hickory Flat made a late push in the third as Penilton put together three baskets in a two-minute stretch to cut the lead to 39-29 with just over a minute left in the period.

"They (Hickory Flat) took advantage of some matchups when we made substitutions. We have three games in three days. We needed to rest our starters and get others some playing time and experience. Overall, I thought our bench played well and fought hard to keep the lead."

Blytheville took a 48-35 lead heading into the fourth before the Rebels made one last run.

While the first three quarters saw the Rebels getting nearly all of their scoring from within five feet of the basket, the final quarter Hickory Flat showed that they were just as capable of hitting from long range when needed. Freshman guard Courtney Bean connected on four three-pointers in the period, and five overall, to lead a Rebel charge that cut the Chicks lead to as little as eight.

"That kid could just flat out shoot the ball," said Hixson. "He really gave them a boost and helped them stay in the ball game."

Bean's bucket from beyond the arc with 3:20 left cut the Chicks lead to 54-46 but missed free throws and an active Chicks defense kept Hickory Flat from getting any closer.

Blytheville held the Rebels to just five points over the final three minutes and steals from Diamond and Bell led to easy buckets on the other end to seal the deal for the Chicks.

"We're getting better," said Hixson. "We played at a higher level for most of the game today then what we've done in the past. We still made some mistakes but we're getting better."

The Chicks will take on Southaven, Miss. at 4:30 p.m. today in the semifinals. Southaven defeated Episcopal Collegiate School in a late night game. The winner will play at 9 p.m. on Thursday while the loser will play at 6:30 p.m.

afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com