Lonoke sweeps Southside Batesville in 4A-2 action

Lonoke's Riely Rowton, right, fights for the ball with Southside's Ashton Ford. Also pictured for Lonoke is Eboni Willis. (Photo by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

lonokecountysports@gmail.com

Lady Rabbits hold on to beat Southside

LONOKE — The Lonoke Lady Jackrabbits held off a second half rally to beat Southside Batesville 41-36 in a 4A-2 conference game on Tuesday night at the Gina Cox Center.

Lonoke led 22-9 at halftime and 24-9 early in the second half on a jumper by Jarrelyn McCall. 

The Lady Southerners scored 11 consecutive points to cut Lonoke's lead to 24-20. 

Lonoke's Ashlyn Allen the scored four consecutive to push the Lady Jackrabbits lead to 28-20.

However, Southside did not go away. 

Southside's Ashton Ford scored six in row for the Lady Southeners to make the score 32-30 with 2:24 left.

Lonoke's Eboni Willis hit a short jumper with 2 minutes left. Lonoke then hit 7 of 8 free throws in the 1:13 to secure the victory.

McCall led Lonoke with 12 points. Willis had 10. Kerasha Johnson scored 7. Amanda Sexton scored 6. Allen had 4. Riely Rowton had 2.

Ford led Southside with 17 points.

Lonoke is now 1-1 in league play. 

Lonoke's Justin Meadows looks to make a move to the basket against Southside Batesville. (Photo by Mark Buffalo)

Jackrabbits pull away in second half

LONOKE — The Lonoke Jackrabbits bounced back from a loss to Guy-Perkins on Monday to beat Southside Batesville 41-29 on Tuesday.

The Jackrabbits fell to the Thunderbirds in the first round of the Conway St. Joseph Tournament before beating Southside in a 4A-2 conference game. Lonoke is now 2-0 in league play. 

Lonoke trailed 7-5 after one quarter. The Jackrabbits shut out the Southerners in the second quarter but only scored four points — all in the final 1:19 of the first half. Justin Meadows converted a three-point play and Jawaun Bryant hit a free throw.

The third quarter was close until Bryson Jackson hit consecutive three-pointers late int he quarter to give the Jackrabbits a 25-17 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Lonoke continued the run in the fourth quarter as the Jackrabbits went on a 9-2 run to lead 34-19 with 3:15 left in the game. 

The closest that Southside got the remainder of the game was 10 points at 34-24. 

Meadows led Lonoke with 9 points. Jackson had 7. Scoring 6 each were Yancy Cooney and Brenton Bryant. Byron Fair had 5. Jawaun Bryant had 4. Scoring 2 each were Nick Bates and Anthony Morris. 

Braden Mead and Hunter Tatum led Southside with 7 points each.