BRACKNEY, MILLER TAKE GAME OVER FOR JUNIOR HIGH BEARCATS

Twice in Mena Thursday night the Booneville Junior High Bearcats trailed by eight. Both times they responded and eventually pulled out a 40-34 win to snap a two game losing skid.

Down 31-23 to start the final quarter it was Sadler Miller and Drake Brackney answering the challenge.

Both had scored 5 points through three quarters. Brackney (shown in a game earlier this season) would finish with 15 and Miller 12 as the two accounted for all 17 fourth quarter Bearcat points.

Miller hit a pair of free throws and Brackney hit three 3s on one assist from Hayden Daniel and two from Edwin Garcia and the Bearcats (3-2) were in front 34-31 with 3:51 to play.

Miller scored with 2:43 left to make it 36-31 and match the largest lead of the night for the Bearcats.

After a Mena turnover with 2:24 to play the Bearcats played catch until Mena finally started to foul with 1:07 left.

Single free throws by Brackney and Miller pushed the lead to 38-31 with 37.2 seconds remaining and Miller again made it a two possession game with a basket with 14 seconds left.

Mena had led 13-5 with 2:47 to go in the first half and 13-8 after a Garcia 3 with 2:16 still remaining. Between the 1:39 mark and 0:29 second mark of the second quarter the Bearcats scored eight straight to take their first lead at 16-15.

Callen Montalvo had a basket and Miller, who had four steals got one on a loose all and threw to Garcia for a basket and buckets by Brackney and Miller made it 16-15.

Threes from Brackney and Miller in the first 45 seconds of the second half made it 22-17 but an Aayden Rhinehart free throw would be the only point for the Bearcats the rest of the quarter allowing Mena to open a 31-23 lead.

Jr Girls

A third quarter shutout gave the Junior High Lady Bearcats (2-3) some hope, though they were still down 22-13.

A pair of Chloe Walker free throws again cut the deficit to 9 and Walker scored again with 2:15 to play to once more allow the Lady Bearcats to trail by a single digit at 28-19 but Mena scored 8 unanswered to close it out.

Mena also ran off 8 straight after an Emma Fox basket opened the scoring and led the rest of the way.

Alycin Pearcy had three points in the final minute of the opening quarter to cut it to 8-5 but an Evelyn Rogers basket would be the only second quarter points for the visitors and Mena led 22-7 at the half.

7th Grade

Colt Whithouse scored 10 points and the Seventh Grade Bearcats (2-0) had four different players hit a 3 pointer in a 29-10 win over Mena.

It was 13-2 at halftime and 29-10 before an extra five minute session in which both teams scored 2 points.

Aiden Akers and Max DuPree both scored 4 points.

The Seventh Grade Lady Bearcats were up 16-0 after the first half and 24-11 prior to the extra session when both teams scored 6 points.