Tigers finish second in regional tournament

ARMOREL — The Armorel Tigers (19-16) lost 62-55 in the 1A Region 2 championship game Saturday to their archrival, the Bay Yellowjackets. This was the Tigers’ first Regional championship game appearance since losing in 2007. The Tigers’ last regional championship was in 1996.

The Tigers trailed 27-22 at the half and were unable to pull ahead on their home court. The Tigers defeated the Yellowjackets a week earlier in the 1A-3 District championship game in Armorel. However, the Tigers were without junior big man Deon Sellers in the regional championship game as he was recovering from the flu.

"Not taking anything away from Bay. Deon definitely could've been a plus for us, helped inside and been just another body. But I have to say I think JT [Lawrence] did an excellent job in there tonight. We've won four of the last five games. Extremely proud of the kids, even though we didn't win tonight, it gives us a little bit of a momentum heading into next week," Tigers head coach Gary Burnside said. "Again, I thought Bay played really well and they shot the ball really well. Seven-point game, that's not indicative to how close the game really was. We were down 10,12 and 14 and the kids fought and came back and I was extremely proud of them for that and that's something we can build on. We're like everybody else now, we are looking to win four more games and everybody is down to a one-game season. So we got two or three days to prepare and hope to stay the week. "

Senior Monroe Carr’s 19 points and nine rebounds led the Tigers. Classmate Weston Hollingsead chipped in 15 points and junior JT Lawrence added seven points.

"We've talked about having a good two-man game inside and [JT Lawrence] did a good job of that and he's able to score and get some big boards and I'm really pleased with how he played in there," said Burnside.

The Tigers will face the Deer Antlers (33-4) in the 1A State Tournament in Morrilton Thursday, at 5:30.

"We do have a good core group of seniors and we're certainly going to miss them. They've been enjoyable to work with and you know we have to keep in perspective that, yes, it could be the last one but not let that bother us to where it is the last one. So we fully expect them to win four games and that has been our goal since October," said Burnside on the Tiger seniors.

Tiger senior starters Brock Elliott, Matt Wyatt, Carr and Hollingsead thanked the fans for their support since elementary and the administration for hosting the tournament.

"I think it's heartbreaking to lose the last final game you're ever going to play. But we appreciate the support from the fans; ever since elementary we've been together. We bounce back as a team and have always had the same support and they've always been there through the lows, through the highs. Thick and thin," Wyatt explained. "Here we are now making it to the regional championship for the first time in 10 plus years. Winning the districts for the first time in 10 plus years. I think we've come along way, but we still got plenty to do next week. We're definitely going to remember everybody."

"I think it was awesome to have regionals on our home court. To allow us to play more at our home court, and to have more chances to play here. We've had a lot of support throughout elementary in fourth, fifth and sixth grade," Hollingsead mentioned. "Having different coaches come in and out, in and out and making it to the district finals...and it's stressful to have all the different coaches coming in and out but when we play together as a team and we did all we can do but we have another season next week to prepare for."

"Being able to host it here, it was nice and making it to the finals. It has shown the hard work and determination that we've put in. Coming up short like that it was bittersweet but next week is a whole new chapter in our season and we're not done yet," Carr said.

Elliott added, "It was good to have home court advantage. It really helped out a lot. The fans supported us all season no matter win or lose. I hope that they can drive to state and support us too."

Burnside said, "That's been really nice and I appreciate the administration and the board for allowing us to have this. The Booster Club has done a great job of promoting stuff. The ladies in the hospitality room have done an excellent job. Our non-certified staff here has put in a lot of hours cleaning, helping with parking and I certainly appreciate their efforts. I've got a lot of compliments from people on how the tournament was run and the last two weeks have gone...Folks here got a lot of pride in what they're doing and good community effort and I certainly appreciate everybody's effort."