BROCKWELL — A close championship game at the Izard County Invitational turned into a rout after the host Izard County Cougars outscored Cave City 36-16 in the second half and went on to post a 61-43 victory over the Cavemen on Saturday night at Izard County High School.
The Cougars led 13-7 after the first quarter, but the Cavemen exploded for 20 in the second quarter — paced by eight from Cole Taylor — and took a 27-25 lead by halftime.
Izard County clamped down defensively in the second half, allowing only eight points in each quarter. The Cougars regained the lead for good on a traditional 3-point play by Caleb Faulkner to make it 30-29.
Izard County led 39-35 going into the fourth, and the hosts gained their first double-digit lead of the night after four straight from Justus Cooper made it 45-35. The Cougars led by as many as 20 in the final period.
Cooper led all scorers with 31 points, gaining tournament MVP honors, while Faulkner added 13 for the Cougars. Taylor paced Cave City with 17 points, and 6-6 post Brandon Koch added 12.
CAVEMEN (11-9)
Taylor 17, Koch 12, Anderson 5, Jones 4, Bell 2, Carlisle 2, Summers 1.
COUGARS (26-2)
Cooper 31, Faulkner 13, Tharp 8, Uecker 5, Bell 2, Mohlke 2.
CAVE 7 20 8 8 — 43
ICC 13 12 14 22 — 61
Senior girls
Melbourne 69,
Izard County 40
The Lady Bearkatz outscored the Lady Cougars 20-6 in the second quarter to pull away for a mercy-rule victory in the championship game.
Izard County matched Melbourne shot for shot in the first quarter, and the hosts held an 11-5 lead after Abby Brashear canned her second 3-pointer. But Melbourne got going behind freshman Reagan Rapert, who gave the Lady Bearkatz a 14-12 lead on an old-fashioned 3-point play.
Melbourne led 15-14 after one stanza, and it never trailed again, turning a 20-18 edge into a 35-18 advantage with 15 straight points.
Melbourne’s Halle Cooper tossed in 10 of her 16 points in the third quarter as the Lady Bearkatz expanded their lead to as many as 23.
Rapert poured in 32 points to lead all scorers, while Brashear led Izard County with 17 points.
LADY BEARKATZ (19-4)
Rapert 32, Cooper 16, Shinn 9, Hardaway 8, Runyan 3, Campbell 1.
LADY COUGARS (10-17)
Brashear 17, Rider 12, H.Thomason 7, M.Thomason 4.
MELBOURNE 15 20 20 14 — 69
IZARD CO. 14 6 13 7 — 40
Junior boys
Izard County 34,
Cave City 30
The Junior Cougars rallied from a 30-26 deficit to score the final eight points and take home the championship trophy.
Noah Everett — who led Izard County with 10 points — put the Junior Cougars up 32-30 with 1:04 remaining, and with Cave City threatening to tie, Chase Orf came up with a steal to seal the victory.
The Junior Cougars trailed 12-7 after one quarter, and trailed 19-18 at the half before pulling even at 23-23 after three. Coby Everett scored nine points and was named the tournament’s MVP.
Cave City was led by a game-high 17 points from Ayden Qualls.
Junior girls
Melbourne 44,
Rural Special 36
Kiley Webb scored 17 points and Kylee Humphries added eight for the Junior Lady Bearkatz, who improved to 18-2 on the season with the first-place finish.
Rural Special led 9-6 after one quarter, but leading scorer Kamryn Sutterfield picked up her third and fourth fouls in the second quarter for the Junior Lady Rebels. The teams were tied 18-18 at halftime, and Melbourne forged ahead to a 31-23 lead after three frames.
Sutterfield led Rural Special (20-3) with 12 points.