Armorel earned a spot in the 1A state tournament for the first time since 2008 with a 67-66 win over the Hillcrest Sceamin' Eagles Thursday night in the 1A Region 2 quarterfinals.
Trailing 66-62 with 20 seconds to play, the Tigers scored five unanswered points to pull out the win in a chaotic finish.
Dallas Nicholson's three-pointer with under 20 seconds to play cut the Eagle lead to 66-65.
"Dallas Nicholson is not allowed to shoot three-pointers," said Armorel head coach Justin Ward of his power-post player. "We drew up the play to get Nash (Winters) open for a shot. To be honest, we kind of left Dallas out of the play to crash the boards."
As is the case in the closing moments of games, the play that gets drawn up may get broken down. That was the case and Nicholson was the one shooting the ball.
"He had the shot and he drained it," said Ward. "He's been begging me all year to shoot a three. I guess he's one for one now."
Following a timeout, Nicholson tipped a long Hillcrest inbounds pass to Lane Finley. Finley fired a pass to Peyton Brown. Brown laid the ball in to give the Tigers a one-point lead with under 10 seconds to play.
"Peyton (Brown) was having a big game all night," said Ward. "He spent a lot of the fourth (period) on the bench with foul trouble. Once he got back in, we got him some shots."
Winters appeared to steal the inbounds pass but a timeout was given to Hillcrest. The Eagles went the length of the court. Brown blocked one attempt and a final Eagle attempt hit the bottom of the rim securing the Tiger win. "If we can get to the fourth quarter and it's close, we seem to have a knack for pulling out heart attack finishes."
After returning to Armorel late Thursday eveing, the Tigers have a quick turnaround taking on host, Izard County, at 8:30 p.m. Friday night in the semifinals.
"Everybody was excited about getting to state. There were kids crying after the game," said Ward. "I think the pressure is off of us tonight and on Izard County playing at home. It's going to be a hostile environment which I think we do well in when our backs are against the wall."
For the game, Brown led the Tigers with 19 points and four rebounds despite sitting much of the fourth period with foul trouble. He was one of four Tigers in double-figures in the scoring column. Finley added 17 points, six board, four steals and two assists. Nicholson scored 13 points, eight reboudns and three assists and Winters chipped in 12 points. Zack Gray added six points, five steals and six assists.
Colman Evans led all scorers with 29 points for Hillcrest with 23 of them coming in the first half. A win Friday night will put Armorel in the regional championship game at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. A loss, and they'll play for third place at 1:30 p.m. Norfolk and Calico Rock will play in the other semifinal matchup.
Hillcrest 43, Armorel 29
The Lady Tigers season ended Thursday night after a 43-29 loss to the Hillcrest Lady Screamin' Eagles in the 1A Region 2 quarterfinals. Hillcrest led 11-6 after one, 24-14 at halftime and 30-25 heading into the fourth period. Shelbie Collard posted a doubl-double for the Lady Tigers with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Luisa Towery added 10 points. Katleyn Richey led all scorers with 21 points for Hillcrest. AHSl finishes the year with an 8-22 record overall and third in the 1A-3 East conference and second in the district tournament.
Stuttgart 56, Gosnell 53
CLINTON--The Gosnell Pirates were knocked out of the 4A East regional tournament in the first round after a 56-53 loss to Stuttgart Thursday night.
Gosnell led 17-9 after the one period, 32-27 at the half and 44-40 heading into the fourth. Stuttgart rallied to take a late lead. Gosnell's Will Rose had a chance to tie the game with a three-point attempt with under five seconds to play but the shot missed the mark.
"It was a tough way to go out," said Pirate head coach Kirk Glintborg. "We just needed a couple of shots to fall but it just didn't happen. It was a tough year but we played hard. We had to beat some good teams just to get to regionals. We had to beat Valley View in the district tournament and Pocahontas in the regular season just so we could have a chance to move on. We had a good group of seniors. They always worked hard and gave us a chance to win."
Tevin Real led the Pirates with 13 points and Rose added nine. The Pirates finish the season with a 13-14 record. They finished fourth in the 3-4A conference and third in the district tournament.
afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com