JONESBORO -- Fearless intensity and physical sacrifice earned the team its opponent's respect on the floor, but it did not earn Biggers-Reyno any on the scoreboard as Class AA powerhouse Buffalo Island Central imposed its will on the Buffaloes Tuesday to the tune of 88-52 in the Northeast Arkansas Invitational at the Convocation Center.
Brooks Taylor led the BIC Mustangs (19-3) with 25 points and four out of the team's nine total 3-pointers. Cord Rose added 15 points for the Mustangs, all in the first half as the A-AA division's top seed advanced to the next round.
Ben Hogard led Biggers-Reyno (11-7) with 16 points and Bud Simmons added 11.
BIC shot 23-of-41 from the floor and 9-of-13 from behind the arc in the first half alone, and stifled the Buffaloes with its defense, forcing 26 turnovers while only committing 16.
Brooks Taylor scored 10 of the Mustangs' first 13 points as they jumped out to a 13-4 lead, and after a Biggers-Reyno '3' from Zac Hogard, BIC ended the quarter on a 14-6 run to take a 27-13 lead.
Rose revealed his thorns from all over the court in the second quarter, scoring 13 of his points, and sank three '3's to anchor 23-5 run that made the score 50-18 with 2:30 seconds remaining in the first half.
Rose, Taylor and Brandon Ballard left the floor for good after leading the Mustangs to a 58-29 halftime lead.
In other A-AA action Tuesday, Cave City knocked off Piggott 61-44, Swifton moved past Marked Tree 71-45 and Izard County Consolidated held off Sloan-Hendrix 52-46.
Tuesday night, Nettleton's Jullian Woods moved down low to come up big for the Raiders offensively.
Woods moved from the wing to the post to take advantage of a mismatch, scoring 12 of his 20 points in the second half and Matt Mouzy drained a pair of key 3-pointers as the fourth-seeded Raiders fought off Trumann 64-53 Tuesday to move into the semifinals of the 3A-4A-5A division at the Northeast Arkansas Invitational basketball tournament at the Convocation Center.
Nettleton, which reached the finals last year, advanced to play today's Harrisburg-Rivercrest winner in one semifinal.
The Nettleton defense had a hard time slowing Trumann's Clay McClung, who scored 32 points on 13-of-15 shooting, but the Raiders' defense turned up a notch, forcing four early turnovers in the fourth quarter to break open a tight game.
The Raiders (6-2) held Trumann without a field goal for the first 4:14 of the fourth period.
With the game tied 30-30 at the break, Woods scored 4 points during a 7-0 run to open the second half, then Mouzy closed the quarter with back-to-back '3's as Nettleton took a 47-39 lead after three periods and never looked back.
Nettleton shot 7-for-11 in the first quarter and built a 10-point lead at 16-6 as Michael Jones scored 8 of his 12 points in the quarter, running the floor and attacking from the short corner.
Trumann (4-7) took its first lead of the game at 23-22 on Blake Wright's steal and layup, and led 27-24 with 2:07 left in the half after McClung dribbled left and canned a pull-up jumper from the right elbow.
In other 3A-4A-5A action, third-seeded Batesville ran past Brookland 61-39 behind 19 points from Mitch Reuter.
It was a tough road for Hughes to get to 3-1, playing four games in five days.
After playing and winning at Gillett Friday for a 6AA conference game, and then winning Saturday over East Poinsett County at Lepanto in a rescheduled game, the Blue Devils made the trip to Charleston for the first Hug Chevrolet Classic.
Monday the Blue Devils opened play against Danville and took a 67-47 victory over the previously undefeated Little Johns.
Twelve Hughes players scored, led by junior Marcus Washington with 12 points and sophomore Kevin Brown with 10 points.
Hughes led 22-10 after the first quarter, 34-18 at the half and 55-28 at the conclusion of three quarters of action.
On Tuesday, Hughes could not withstand highly ranked Parkers Chapel, losing 60-57.
Marcus Washington missed a three pointer at the buzzer as the Hughes rally came up short. Hughes trailed 30-26 at the half and 45-38 at the end of three quarters of play.
Washington led the Blue Devils with 15 points and David Dowden had 10 points.
Parker's Chapel is 14-1.
Hughes will return to action on Dec. 30, at Wynne The seven-game road trip will end at Monette for a non-conference tilt with Buffalo Island Central.
Head Boys Basketball Coach
JONESBORO -- The Nettleton Lady Raiders' faces stayed the same after the first quarter, but it looked like a new team walked on the floor for the rest of the game.
The Lady Raiders overcame a 5-point deficit in the first quarter to rout Harrisburg 65-42 in the second round of the 3A-4A-5A girls' Northeast Arkansas Invitational tournament at the Convocation Center Tuesday.
The young Nettleton squad trailed 15-12 at the end of the first quarter, but outscored Harrisburg 22-12 in the second quarter.
The first 8 Nettleton points came from sophomore guard Lindsay Farris, who hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter to keep the Lady Raiders in the game. Farris finished the game with 19 points.
Amanda Watts provided answers to Farris' scoring, with 8 of Harrisburg's first 11 points. Watts led the Lady Hornets with 19 points.
Early in the second quarter, sophomore Jordan Rupard put the Lady Raiders on top 16-15 with a jumper in the lane.
The Lady Raiders pushed the lead to five points with 3:02 remaining in the second quarter after a '3' by junior Lyndsey McVay.
Rupard scored 10 of her 18 points to help give the Lady Raiders a 34-27 halftime lead.
Nettleton pushed its lead to 12 points with 3:46 left in the third quarter on a '3' from Farris to put the Lady Raiders on top 45-33.
Megan Simpson scored six straight points in a 9-0 Nettleton run in the fourth quarter that put the game out of reach for Harrisburg at 65-40. Simpson finished with 10 points.
In other 3A-4A-5A action, Westside beat Gosnell 42-29 and Highland dominated Brookland 60-29.
In the A-AA division, Cave City topped Rector 44-33, Weiner defeated Maynard 54-44 and Izard County Consolidated won 59-46 over Tuckerman.
Play continues today and Thursday in the girls' bracket before the tournament breaks for the Christmas weekend.
The Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots were scheduled to play Hampton Tuesday in their final game at Charleston.
As of press time today, there were no results from the tournament.