Hurst leads Lady Mustangs to NEA Tournament win

Haddyn Hurst poured in 21 points to help lead Buffalo Island Central to a 39-30 victory over Armorel in first round action of the NEA Tournament Saturday in Jonesboro.

Ayrielle Appleton gave the Lady Tigers an early 4-0 lead, but a pair of Hurst three pointers had the Lady Mustangs on top 8-4. Two Jealynn Cates foul shots capped off a 10-0 BIC run. Mayson Carr scored the last three points of the first quarter as Armorel closed to within 10-7 at the break.

The Lady Mustangs came out on fire in the second half, outscoring Armorel 17-0 to grab a 27-7 lead. Hurst banged home a pair of three pointers during the BIC scoring flurry before Vicky Esparza capped off the run with back to back buckets. Briley Miller got the Lady Tigers on the board with a three pointer at the 49 second mark, leaving BIC with a 27-10 halftime advantage.

Armorel fought back in the third quarter, getting consecutive triples from Sierra Elliott and Carr to trim the BIC lead to 27-16, but a Hurst free throw and an inside bucket from Esparza gave the Lady Mustangs a 30-16 lead with 2:29 left in the period. Cates’ offensive stick-back upped the BIC advantage to 33-17 before Armorel scored the last four points of the quarter, trimming the deficit to 33-21 entering the final frame.

The Lady Tigers put together a late six-point run to cut the final margin to single digits, but it was too little too late, as top seeded BIC advances to the semifinal round on Friday. The Lady Mustangs will meet the winner of Cross County-Palestine Wheatley in a 1:30 tipoff.

Joining Hurst in double figures was Cates who dropped in 10 points while Esparza added eight. BIC finished 9-13 from the foul stripe and made four three pointers. The Lady Mustangs committed 21 turnovers.

Carr paced the Lady Tigers with 11 points while Miller chipped in eight. The Lady Tigers dropped in 10-20 foul shots and knocked down three treys. Armorel turned the ball over 26 times.

BIC began the week with a 32-30 victory over Salem Monday night on the road. The Lady Mustangs held a 10-3 lead after the first quarter. Salem rallied to pull within a single point, 19-18, at the half. BIC began the fourth quarter with a 23-20 advantage.

Cates paced BIC with nine points while Hurst and Morgan James scored six points apiece. Emma Graddy tallied four, Lambert and Hanah Carle chipped in three points each while Esparza added one point.

Allyson Walsh scored a game high 12 points to lead Salem.

In the junior high contest, Salem claimed a 45-28 win over BIC. Jaycie Strong and Cassidy Walling topped the Lady Greyhounds with 11 points apiece.

Emily Davis scored eight points to pace BIC. Haley Milligan tallied six, Lexi Riley had five, Krystyn Hawkins netted four, Kaydence Lambert tallied three while Ashtyn Hawkins dropped in two points.