Several local teams got out of the gate with wins in the vaunted King Cotton Holiday Classic as White Hall, Pine Bluff and Jonesboro all secured victories on the first day of the prestigious event.
White Hall opened the tournament in a 65-64 thriller over Grissom (AL) with sophomore guard Jai’Chunn Hayes pouring in a game high 30 points – including the eventual winning basket – with less than twenty seconds left in regulation. The Bulldogs would then survive several late close range misses at the basket as time expired to allow them to escape with what Coach Josh Hayes called “the biggest win in the school’s history.”
Although the Bulldogs failed to scratch out a victory in their first appearance in the premier event only a season ago, they now face Green Forest HS (GA) today at 5:30 with a championship in their sights.
Green Forest fell 57-46 to Windermere (FL) in their tournament opener on Tuesday.
Jordan Harris and Courtney Crutchfield paced a balanced attack for hometown favorite Pine Bluff as the Zebras also found their way into the win column with a 46-38 win over Elkins (TX). Harris finished with 15 points and Crutchfield chipped in 12 as they never trailed and led by as many as 18 points midway through the third period.
While Jonesboro posted an impressive win over Newton (GA) and UConn commit Stephon Castle. The Hurricane limited Castle to only scored only six points on 2-for-10 shooting in 16 minutes of action.
Deion Buford-Wesson led the Hurricane with 14 points.
Mills University proved to be the only causality for Arkansas in dropping a 55-47 verdict to Silsbee (TX).
Two of the most anticipated entries – St. John Bosco HS (Bellflower, CA) and South Shore HS (Brooklyn, NY) were forced to drop out of the tournament due to travel issues around the country.
The King Cotton Holiday Classic continues until Thursday at the Pine Bluff Convention Center with 14 teams from around the country vying for two bracket championships in the three-day tournament.
Faulkner County Focus Sports 