Tigers play top-seeded BIC tough in loss

JONESBORO--The No. 8 seeded Armorel Tigers gave No. 1 seeded Buffalo Island Central Mustangs all they could handle Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Northeast Arkansas Invitational Tournament at the Arkansas State Convocation Center.

With just three minutes remaining, Armorel (8-9) trailed 42-39 and had the ball but 6-foot-3 BIC point guard Austin Pike scored 10 of his game-high 19 points in the closing minutes to dash any hopes of an Armorel upset as BIC went on to win, 54-44.

"I've seen a lot of crazy things happen at this tournament over the years," said BIC head coach Bill Taylor. "Offensively, we were not very good. I'm not going to apologize for it. We just couldn't hit shots."

BIC led 14-11 after one period and 28-23 at halftime.

A big example of BIC's inability to hit shots was a 2-16 third period.

Usually a good three-point shooting team, the Mustangs made their first attempt early in the game as they opened with a 7-0 run but missed their next 14 attempts.

However, Armorel could not capitalize on the Mustangs' poor shooting. Nick Bolinger converted a traditional three-point play for the Mustangs with 7:33 remaining in the period to put BIC up 32-25.

They wouldn't convert another field goal until a Bolinger layup with 1:15 left to play in the period. Armorel made only one field goal over that time as well.

A basket from Peyton Brown with 3:50 left to play in the third kept Armorel within striking distance.

The Tigers missed the front end of a one-and-one while the Mustangs made just three of eight attempts in the period and led 36-27 heading into the fourth.

"We gave up five offensive rebounds in that period," said Armorel head coach Justin Ward. "We only gave up one in the entire first half."

Armorel point guard Zack Gray kept the Tigers in the game in the fourth period.

The junior point guard scored six of his team-high 13 points in the period on his way to one of his best games of the season.

He was three assists shy of triple double as he scored 13 points, grabbed 10 boards and dished out seven assists.

"That's probably the best I've seen him play," said Ward.

The Tigers got into foul trouble in the fourth and Pike and the Mustangs took advantage of it.

After Brown knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:51 to play, cutting the BIC lead to four, Pike scored the next six points with drives to the rim, giving the Mustangs their biggest lead of the game at 52-42 with a half a minute to play.

"He's our best player," said Taylor. "We expect him to do that. He did his job tonight. I'm just glad we're able to play again."

"We had trouble all night guarding the post," said Ward. "It was a low-scoring game. Typically, those are the ones that we're good at. We battled and we were right where we wanted to be. This team is getting better."

For the game, Pike led all scorers with 19 points and 18 rebounds and he also dished out four assists for the Mustangs.

Gray's 13 points, 10 boards and seven assists led the Tigers. Brown added 12 in the Tigers' loss.

Armorel returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 9 on the road at Southland, Mo. followed by a game at South Pemiscot, Mo. on Jan. 10.

They return home on Monday, Jan. 13 with a key 1A-3 East matchup against the defending state champions, Bay Yellowjackets.

afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com