Cavemen rally past Nashville

NASHVILLE, Ark.-Cave City was on fire Friday night in the Scrapper Arena during the 4A State Basketball Tournament, and it's going to get hotter for the Cavemen tonight against Little Rock Baptist Prep and 7-foot-3 junior Conner Vanover.

The Cavemen (31-3) buried eight treys, five coming in the final seven minutes of the game to eliminate host Nashville, 56-44.

Nashville (26-5) led by as many as nine points in the second half, and was still up 40-33 with 7:07 left to play when 5-4 guard Rustin Wooldridge scored his first points on a long 3-pointer.

The Scrappers' final lead was 42-39 when Blaine Bacon swished his fourth trey of the night and sixth on his way to a game-high 25 points.

Bacon was whistled for his third foul with 5:57 left in the third quarter, and immediately called for his fourth on a technical. Still, he played the final 13 minutes without fouling out.

Six-foot-6 Matt Miller scored 18 for the Cavemen, pulling down seven of his nine rebounds in the fourth quarter. Cave City's 6-foot-8 Joe Patterson was relatively quiet offensive with three points, but led all players with 10 rebounds.

Nashville won the battle on the glass, 31-28, but the Cavemen out-rebounded the Scrappers 12-4 in the final eight minutes.

C.J. Spencer was the Scrappers only consistent weapon with 18 points and seven rebounds.

There were five ties and nine lead changes in the first quarter. The Scrappers escaped with a 14-12 lead on a 25-foot rainbow by Jamarta Gilliam at the buzzer.

Nashville built a seven-point advantage in the opening seconds of the second period. Gilliam swished another rain-maker, and Spencer scored to make it 19-12 with 7:05 left in the half.

The Cavemen would rally back behind the outside shooting of Bacon, who scored 10 of his 12 points-nine on treys. Miller had 10 points for Cave City.

Spencer's ninth and 10th points of the game came with 41 seconds left before intermission to give Nashville a 27-26 edge at halftime.

The Scrappers out-rebounded the taller Cavemen, 17-13 in the first half, both teams combining for 12 turnovers, seven by Nashville.

Cave City plays Baptist Prep at 7:30 p.m.

Today's action tips off at noon with a girls' game between Pottsville and Berryville. The other semifinal features Pocahontas against Monticello. Pottsville's boys play Pea Ridge at 1:30 p.m.

 

Cave City    12    14    7    23    -    56

Nashville    14    13    11    6    -    44

CAVE CITY (56): Miller 7 4-5 18; Wooldridge 2 0-0 6; Bullard 1 0-0 2; McSpadden 0 2-2 2; Bacon 8 3-4 25; Patterson 1 1-2 3, TOTALS 19 10-13 56.

NASHVILLE (44): Hopkins 1 6-10 8; Finley 2 0-0 6; Spencer 9 0-0 18; Gilliam 3 0-0 8; Adams 2 0-2 4, TOTALS 17 6-12 44.

3-point goals: CC-Bacon 6, Wooldridge 2. NASH-Finley 2, Gilliam 2. Team fouls: Cave City 12, Nashville 17. Fouled out: Hopkins. Technical foul: Bacon.

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