Pirates fall in first round of state tourney

CAVE CITY--The Gosnell Pirates were knocked out of the first round of the 4A state playoffs after a 71-49 loss to the Monticello Billies Thursday night at Cave City.

Despite being a two seed in the tournament, Monticello, who dropped down from 5A this season, came in as the No. 1 ranked team in the 4A at 26-3, posting losses to only 5A Little Rock Mills and 7A/6A Marion before being upset by Central Arkansas Christian in the regional final.

"They (Monticello) were a good team," said Gosnell head coach Kirk Glintborg. "That was probably the best team we've seen all year."

Despite only hitting four field goals in the entire first half, the Pirates hung with the Billies and took a brief, 19-18 lead, after a T.J. Anderson basket with 5:27 to play in the first half.

The Pirates trailed, 28-24, with 1:40 left in the half and looked like they'd go into the break neck-and-neck with the top-ranked Billies. However, Monticello and freshman D.J. Franklin had other intentions. Franklin, who didn't play with the varsity until after the Junior High season, scored 10 unanswered including a tip in at the buzzer to give Monticello a commanding, 38-24 lead at the break. Franklin scored 16 of his game-high 19 points in the second period alone.

"They scored all of those points right there at the end and it really deflated us," said Glintborg. "But, I thought we came out focused and ready to get after it in the second half."

Monticello appeared just as focused. The Billies never let the lead get under double digits. Richard Razor cut the lead to 13 at 41-28 but the Billies ran off six in a row, including a three-pointer from Franklin with 4:31 left to up the Billies lead to 47-28.

Razor hit back to back buckets with less than a minute to play to cut the lead to 11 but a three-point play with 5 seconds left in the period from Michael Jones, who helped Monticello take a 52-38 lead into the fourth.

Tre Howe opened the fourth with a basket but those were answered with a three-point bomb and a traditional three-point play from Dontavia Clary to push the lead back to 18. Howe and Razor scored the next five points but Monticello answered with a 9-0 run over the next minute and a half to put the game out of reach.

"It just seemed like when we needed a big shot, we couldn't get it," said Glintborg. "They (Monticello) were just so long and athletic, nothing was easy for us. If we made a basket, they'd get a three-pointer. We just couldn't get back into the game."

For the game, Howe led the Pirates with 18 points on 12-19 shooting from the free throw line. Razor scored 16 with 10 coming in the third period while grabbing nine boards.

Franklin led all scorers with 19 and Clary added 17 for the Billies.

The Pirates finished the year with three straight losses for a 24-7 record overall. Despite the disappointing finish, Glintborg said there is a lot to look back on and be proud of for the season.

"The seniors and the rest of the group have nothing to be ashamed of," said Glintborg. "We won three tournaments early on and then we won the district championship. We earned a chance at going to state and we just ran into a really good team. That's just part of it. It would have been nice to have won a state championship but I'm pleased with what we've done. We played hard and gave it all we had. That's all you can ask for. We just ran into a team that was better than us tonight. If we'd have made some shots and made some stops we could have had a chance to beat them but tonight was their night."

Glintborg also noted the tremendous fan support for the team.

"The fans have been great all year," he said. "They travel well on the road. We didn't lose this game because of lack of support, that's for sure."

afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com