Basketball

McLeod 39, Bradley 57

McLeod’s varsity boys’ basketball squad battled a couple of teams before Christmas on the hardwood.

The first game for the Longhorns was against Bradley, a team from Arkansas, Dec. 21.

McLeod had a halftime lead of, 20-18, but Bradley outscored McLeod 39-19 in the second half which sealed a, 57-39, win for the Bears.

Tyler Williams, Nos Gryder and Keldyn Schubert each scored eight points for the ’Horns, Silas Murdock added six points, Mason Teer four, Casey Smith three and Austin Gilmore two.

McLeod 64, Maud 33

The very next day, Dec. 22, McLeod took on Maud.

The Longhorns came out of the gate on a 21-7 run after one quarter of play and had a, 27-12, lead at the break.

McLeod finished off the, 64-33, win over the Cardinals with a second half run of 37-21.

Casey Smith led the way with 16 points, Tyler Williams added 14, Austin Gilmore had nine, Nos Gryder seven, Silas Murdock six, Nathan Parker four, Braden Parker three, Mason Teer three and Keldyn Schubert two.

In the JV game McLeod won, 41-23, behind Braden Parker’s 10 points and Kannon Dempsey’s eight.

Queen City 53, Atlanta 42

Two rival towns separated by a city limit sign collided Dec. 22, when Queen City visited Atlanta.

The contest was tight but the Lady Bulldogs came out on top, 53-42, after the final buzzer sounded.

Jamecia Cook led QC in scoring with 21 points, Lauren Carrell added 18, Nyla Harrison six and Ciera Bradley four.

Queen City 34, Arkansas High 37

The Lady Bulldogs dropped a close game to Arkansas High Dec. 28, by a score of, 37-34.

Hannah Fitts and Alex Larry scored nine points each, Serenity Oden added five points, Mallori Stringer had three and Jamecia Cook, Lauren Carrell, Trinity Oden and Gracie Weeks each scored two points apiece.

Linden-Kildare 44, Rivercrest 43

Linden-Kildare’s varsity girls’ basketball team battled Rivercrest Dec. 22.

The game was a seesaw clash near the end but didn’t start out that way as the Lady Tigers took a, 27-18, lead at halftime.

In the second half Rivercrest tried to exploit L-K by drawing plenty of fouls, and by the end of the third quarter L-K was only up by two points.

With just a little over four minutes left in the contest L-K was hobbled as one of its guards hurt her shoulder.

With 1:30 left on the clock, both of L-K’s starting guards fouled out of the game and the Lady Tigers fell behind by one point with both teams in the bonus.

It was a back-and-forth affair with Rivercrest taking a one point lead with 20 seconds left.

Rivercrest attempted to press the Lady tigers with a smothering defense but L-K broke through it.

Madi Ebarb had an opportunity to take the goahead shot but passed the ball to LaSonya Nard who was able to turn and shoot from just under the free throw line.

The ball fell through the net with just over eight seconds left in the game.

Rivercrest called a time out and at that moment Coach Allen advised the ladies to apply pressure on the inbounds.

Leah Brown forced them to the sideline with Ebarb cutting them off at that points.

Rivercrest made a bad pass with Nard closing out which forced a rushed shot to be taken by Rivercrest as time expired.

The shot was off and L-K escaped with a nail-biting, 44-43, win.

Nard picked up a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Madi Bynum added 10 points with three boards, Brown had six points with 12 rebounds, Hannah Brown posted five points with seven boards, Sydney Hampton had four points with three rebounds, both Ebarb and Kaycee Neville had two points and Rylee Burns pulled down one rebound.

Linden-Kildare 55, Clarksville 46

Linden-Kildare’s varsity boys’ basketball team made the trek north to face the Clarksville Blue Tigers in the 16-2A district opener for both teams Dec. 18.

L-K trailed by 10 points after the first quarter but a furious rally in the second frame put the Cass County Tigers up by three at the break.

The game was close throughout the third stanza but L-K held on to take a, 42-40, lead into the final quarter of play.

L-K put on a 13-6 run to take the, 55-46, decision and its ninth straight win.

Chase Bynum controlled the pace of the game from the point guard position with 16 points, six assists and eight steals.

Jordan Swanson and Puff Peters both played huge inside of the paint with both reaching double figures in rebounds.

Swanson picked up a double-double and led all scorers for the day with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Linden-Kildare 52, Rivercrest 66

Linden-Kildare, winners of nine consecutive matches since losing its first two games of the season, had a tall order to fill against the state-ranked Rivercrest Rebels Dec. 22.

This would be the Tigers’ second district contest. The Rebels came in 8-0 and ranked No. 4 in the state in the latest 2A polls.

Rivercrest came out firing and quickly raced to a, 17-5, lead.

The Tigers trailed, 25-10, after one quarter of play and, 46-23, at the half.

L-K was down by 20 at the end of three but in the final quarter the Tigers scratched and clawed its way back into the game.

The Tigers went on a nice 13-3 run which pulled them within 10 but couldn’t capitalize on opportunities late in the game.

L-K (9-3, 1-1) took on James Bowie Dec. 29.