BEARCATS CLOSE CLASSIC WITH WIN OVER ACORN

The Booneville Bearcats completed a four game first week of the season for players moving over from football with a 55-36 win over Acorn on the final day of the 11th Bearcat Classic Saturday afternoon.

The win followed a narrow loss in Hackett on Friday night.

On his way to 22 for the day it was three Noah Harrel 3s accounting for the first nine points of the day for the Bearcats on Saturday.

Harrel hit a fourth 3 before the opening quarter ended and it was 14-3, margin that would be unchanged at the end of the quarter as Wesley Fonseca answered just the second Tiger field goal.

The Bearcat lead grew to as many as 15 a couple of times in the second quarter – the second when Jace Washburn bounced an inbound pass off a Tiger’s back, collected it and scored an easy layup to make it 24-9.

It was still a 13-point lead when the second half got underway though Acorn would trim the deficit to a single digit only to have Aiden Carter (shown in a previous game) make it 36-25.

For the next 2:44 Acorn managed to get within 36-30 only to have Dakota Mattson hit a 3 to make it a 39-30 lead.

The Tigers scored first to start the final quarter and were down 39-32 but baskets by Mattson and Harrel made it a double digits again and another by Carter did the same with 3:03 to play.

A pair of free throws by Harrel had the lead at 13 and Acorn scored just once over the final 4:27.

After a 3 by Fonseca made it 50-36, Nick Widener and Rylie Swint accounted for the final five points to set the final 19-point margin.

Along with Harrel, Fonseca was in double digits with 10 and Mattson scored nine. Jace Washburn pulled down 12 rebounds and Harrel had 10 of his own, in addition to four steals, and six assists.

On Friday night Hackett scored the first seven points but a free throw by Washburn, and 3s from Mattson and Fonseca got the Bearcats within 8-7.

Hackett scored the next seven again and would go on to lead by as many as eight before Carter started what would be an intermission included 8-0 Bearcat run with a free throw and a field goal.

Harrel and Fonseca accounted for the initial second half scoring to tie the game at 22-22.

Hackett immediately responded and eventually by six but Washburn scored before the third quarter buzzer to cut it to 32-28.

That started a 7-0 run that saw a pair of baskets by Fonseca give the Bearcats a 33-32 lead with 6:40 to play.

That started a series of lead changes that included 3s by Hackett to take the lead and one by Harrel that did the same. Another by Harrel would tie it at 38 with 3:16 to play

Hackett scored the next five points and held the Bearcats off with free throws after a basket by Macolen Tillery that made it a one possession game with 26 seconds remaining.

The Bearcats will open Conference 3A-1 play on Tuesday night at home against Cedarville. There is no JV game and the boys game will follow the girls game, which tips off at 6 p.m.

Junior Boys

The Junior High Bearcats beat Hackett 39-30 on Friday in their only action of the week. They did so with a defense that turned four steals into eight points to turn a 24-22 deficit into a 30-24 lead, eventually leading by 10 going to the final quarter.

The Junior High Bearcats will close a four game set that includes games by both seventh grade teams and the Junior High Lady Bearcats at Cedarville tonight.