Colts rally to earn berth in tourney semifinals

JONESBORO - It wasn’t a question of if, but when the Rivercrest Colts would awake from a slumber which saw them trail Batesville by 15 points in the quarterfinals of the 76th annual Northeast Arkansas Invitational.

The Colts (7-0) rallied to upend the upstart Pioneers, 52-48, and advanced to the semifinals of the Division I Boys bracket. 

Friday, third-seeded Rivercrest faced the Tuckerman Bulldogs who advanced after winning their opener over Trumann. They secured a spot in the final four when their second round opponent Forrest City withdrew from the tournament.

Rivercrest’s Buddah Harris applies the defensive pressure to Batesville’s Cameron Snell during Dec. 27th action from the NEA Invitational Tournament at Jonesboro. The Colts rallied for a four-point win and advanced to the semifinals. (Photo By David Pierce)

The Colts seemed asleep at the wheel early as nothing seemed to be working offensively or defensively.

“The first 20 minutes of the game we were just kinda going through the motions,” said Rivercrest head coach Hunter Robinson emphasizing that the team hadn’t been together all that long. “We’ve only had them for two weeks and then we had that three-day dead period. We just need to get in the gym more and more so we can put it all together.”

Rivercrest started putting all the pieces of its game together in the final four minutes of the third period.

Defense triggered a 17-2 run which erased a Pioneer 15-point lead allowing the Colts to knot the game at 37-37 as the quarter ended. All in all, Rivercrest collected 13 steals and forced 12 Batesville turnovers.

“Yeah,” agreed Robinson of the increased defensive pressure. “You look up at the end of three and we’ve held (Batesville) to 40 points. Typically, we’re gonna be able to score the ball but it seemed like every time we got to rim, in and out. You get some of those to fall and it’s a little different ballgame.”

Jayden Young’s steal set the stage for a pair of free throws and set the comeback wheels in motion. It was one of six steals in the quarter - five from Young - which led to nine Colt points.

Fran Robinson accounted for the other with his leading to a Buddah Harris and-1 which closed the gap to 10 at 35-25.

A Rivercrest block of a Batesville field goal attempt preceded two free throws from Koby Turner.

Batesville’s Raphael Turner snapped the 7-0 run with a stick back of his own miss but the Colts closed the third quarter on a 10-0 run.

Turner, Young and Harris accounted for all 10 as the teams entered the final frame tied.

Thomas and Hayden Hudson scored the first four points of the quarter to push the Pioneers (5-9) out front, 41-37.

A Young three-pointer pulled Rivercrest within one and Turner followed a Batesville miss with two points. He couldn’t capitalize on the free throw he earned when he was fouled on the made field goal.

Poor foul shooting plagued the Colts all game as they connected on just 22-of-37 attempts. Rivercrest missed more free throws than Batesville attempted as the Pioneers were only awarded seven foul shots the entire game.

With the Colts leading 42-41, Thomas, who proved to be a thorn in Rivercrest’s side, nailed a three from the top of the key which gave Batesville the advantage at 44-42.

Hudson stretched the lead to four again when he went inside for a bucket to make the score 46-42.

Robinson accounted for a pair of put back baskets to knot the score before Braxton Davis answered with two in the lane.

That bucket would be Batesville’s final one in the game as the Colts finished the final two minutes on a 6-0 run.

Robinson had a pair of free throws to tie the score at 48-48 before Harris drove the lane for two. Turner then rebounded a miss and fired a length of court pass to Harris for the final points of the game.

Harris, the game’s Most Valuable Player, scored  team-high 15 points, while Young tallied 14 and Robinson 10.

Rivercrest connected on 41 percent of its field goal attempts, while Batesville sank 53 percent of its. The difference in the game was free throws where the Colts outscored the Pioneers by 18 points at the charity stripe.

Thomas scored a game-high 17 for the Pioneers and teammate Talen Foree chipped in 16.