Tigers, Lady Tigers exit NEA tourney

JONESBORO — The third-seeded Armorel Tigers (11-5, 5-0) were unable to pull out a win against the sixth-seeded East Poinsett County (EPC) Warriors, falling 65-45 in the NEA Invitational Wednesday.

The Tigers held the led for most of the first quarter, but after the 2:25 mark, the Warriors took the lead and held it for the rest of the game.

AHS led 10-8 with 2:25 left; however, EPC ended the first quarter on a 13-0 run to win the first quarter 21-10.

The Warriors didn’t take their foot off the pedal and increased their lead to 18 points before the Tigers were able to end their scoring drought on a Weston Hollingsead three-pointer with 6:05 left in the half.

The Tigers then cut the Warriors lead down to 11 points, but back-to-back layups by EPC pushed the lead back to 15 points.

EPC controlled a 36-23 lead at the intermission, with the Warrior’s defense forcing 16 turnovers and grabbing eight offensive rebounds in the first half.

“We just kind of hit a spell there and started having a few turnovers and it just kind of snowballed from there,” said AHS head coach Gary Burnside. “They had a little bit of a press there, but even before the press we just threw it away unforced. We haven’t done that in awhile, I don’t think that bad. I don’t know what the problem was. We just weren’t ready to play to start with I guess and that’s my fault. We have to be better prepared from the get go but for three or four minutes we were doing good and transitioning then the wheels fell off.”

The Warriors added to their lead with a big third quarter but AHS senior Monroe Carr ended the third with an offensive rebound and a three-pointer. The Tigers trailed EPC 47-32 heading into the final quarter.

EPC’s lead never disappeared and the Warriors finished off the Tiger’s chance to reach the semifinals of the NEA tournament with a 65-45 victory.

Carr led the Tigers with a game-high 28 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal. Matt Wyatt finished the game with four points, seven rebounds and six assists.

The Tigers will take a break during the holidays and will have a chance for revenge against the Warriors on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018.

ICC Lady Cougars 48, Armorel Lady Tigers 28

JONESBORO — The Armorel Lady Tigers were defeated 48-28 in their Tuesday morning first round matchup with 1A conference foe, the ICC Lady Cougars at the NEA Invitational.

The Lady Cougars held a one-point lead after the first quarter and then led 16-14 at the half, but the Lady Cougars came out firing in the third quarter stretching their lead to 33-19 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Tigers offense never could catch back up and the Lady Cougars came away with a 48-28 victory.

AHS junior forward Ayrielle Appleton knotted a double double as she scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Lady Tiger senior forward McKinley Carr chipped in four points and sophomore Briley Miller added three-points as well.

The Lady Tigers’ next game will be against 1A/2A blended conference opponent, the Earle Lady Bulldogs on Monday, January 8.