Lonoke's Meadows signs with UCA for football

Lonoke coach Doug Bost, right. speaks during the signing ceremony for football player Justin Meadows, who is going to UCA this fall. (Submitted photo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

LONOKE — Lonoke Jackrabbits football player Justin Meadows is taking his game to the collegiate level.

Meadows recently signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the University of Central Arkansas in Conway next season. The Bears are members of NCAA Division I-FCS and the Southland Conference

Meadows said he was offered a spot to play college football by only UCA and Harding University in Searcy, which is a Division II school.

"I'm very excited because everybody dreams of going to play for a Division I school so when it happens it's just like 'wow and I sleep dreaming or this is actually reality,'" Meadows said, adding that UCA was an academically-good school. 

Meadows has played football since the second grade. 

UCA signed him as a wide receiver.

"It is a dream come true because basally every person that plays sports wants to make it to the next level with it paid for," said Meadows, who plans to major in biology at UCA.

During his career at Lonoke, Meadows caught 40 passes for 918 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,594 yards on 129 carries. He scored 17 touchdowns. He also returned kicks for 462 yards and three scores.

Lonoke's Justin Meadows [8] carries the ball against Beebe during the 2014 season. (Photo by Mark Buffalo)

Lady Bison win district tournament championship

The Carlisle Lady Bison celebrate after beating Clarendon to win the 2A-6 district tournament Saturday night at Palestine-Wheatley High School. (Photos by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

PALESTINE — Once again, the Carlisle Lady Bison are the queens of the 2A-6 district tournament.

Carlisle rallied from a 12-4 deficit to beat Clarendon 53-39 in the finals of the district tournament Saturday night at Palestine-Wheatley High School. It's the Lady Bison's first district tournament championship since 2012.
With the win, Carlisle is now 20-7, it's most wins since the 2013 season when the Lady Bison went 20-10, playing in the Class 2A state tournament at Marmaduke.

In the win over Clarendon, Carlisle led 4-2 before the Lady Lions went on a 10-0 run to lead 12-4 with 2:40 left in the first quarter. 

The Lady Bison went scoreless for over six minutes until Carlisle's Nikita Harper drained a three-pointer with 52 seconds left to make the score 12-7 after one quarter. 

Carlisle scored the first 11 points of the second quarter to lead 18-12 with 3:25 left. Arius McClain scored six points during the run. Kayla Golleher had a three-point play after getting a steal and Kylie Warren hit two free throws. The Lady Bison led 29-15 at halftime.

Carlisle's largest lead was 16 points at 37-21 following six consecutive points by McClain. After a Clarendon basket made the score 37-23, Warren scored on a putback to push the lead back to 16 points. Clarendon then scored five in a row to cut the deficit to 39-28 entering the fourth quarter. 

The Lady Lions made a run and pulled to within seven at 44-37 with 4:22 left in the game. Warren then started a 6-0 run with a layup. Elex McClain then scored off an assist by Golleher and Golleher scored a layup to make the score 50-37 with 1:39 left.

Arius McClain led Carlisle with 17 points. Elex McClain had 10. Warren scored nine. Golleher had eight. Harper and Peyton Hitchings had four points each. NicQuira Burnett added one.

The Lady Bison will play Magnet Cove in the first round of the Class 2A East Region tournament Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Hazen High School. If the Lady Bison win, they will be guaranteed at least three more games, including a spot in the Class 2A state tournament at Marmaduke High School.

Senior Peyton Hitchings accepts the championship hardware for the Lady Bison.

Lady Bison rout Brinkley, advance to district tourney finals

Carlisle's Arius McClain drives to the basket during the first half of the Lady Bison's win over Brinkley in the district tournament Friday night. (Photos by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

PALESTINE — The Carlisle Lady Bison are one step away from reclaiming the 2A-6 district championship.

Carlisle jumped out to a 14-0 lead on Brinkley en route to a 53-25 win over the Lady Tigers in the semifinals of the 2A-6 district tournament Friday night.  The Lady Bison will play Clarendon in the finals Saturday at 5 p.m. The two teams split, winning on their home courts, both finishing 17-1 in conference play.

Carlisle, which is 19-7, last won the district tournament in 2012, beating Augusta in the finals. 

"It's great to be in the finals after not making it last year," Carlisle coach Jonathan Buffalo said. "But just making it is not enough. We want another championship and the one seed in the regional. We want to make it to the state tournament."

In the win over Brinkley, Carlisle led 14-0 with 3:16 left in the first quarter following a outback by Kylie Warren. The Lady Bison led 16-2 after one quarter and 29-11 at halftime.

The Lady Bison put the game away in the third quarter. Arius McClain scored 14 of her game-high 19 points in the third quarter. Waren scored four while NicQuira Burnett and Elex McClain had two points each.

In addition Arius McClain's 19 points, Warren had 11. Elex McClain scored five. Peyton Hitchings and Burnett had four each. Nikita Harper and Blakely Ellis had three points each. Kiara Miller added two.

Peyton Hitchings is fouled while driving to the basket against Brinkley. 

Lonoke teams to play in district tournament

Bryson Jackson

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

The Lonoke Jackrabbits and Lady Jackrabbits are playing in the 4A-2 district tournament this week at Southside Batesville.

Boys tourney

The Jackrabbits are the seventh seed and will play Stuttgart Monday night at 6:30 p.m. They split with them in the regular-season conference play. Lonoke also beat the Ricebirds in the Goldfish Classic in December at the Gina Cox Center.

If Lonoke wins, it will play Central Arkansas Christian at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday. The winner of that game will qualify for the Class 4A East Region tournament, which starts Feb. 24 at Riverview High School in Searcy. 

Lonoke is matched up with Riverview in the semifinals, which would be played Thursday at 7:45 p.m. The finals are Saturday at 7:15 p.m. 

The boys seeds are: 1. Helena-West Helena Central, 2. Riverview, 3. CAC, 4. eStem, 5. Heber Springs, 6. Stuttgart, 7. Lonoke, 8. Southside Batesville and 9. Newport. 

Keiunna Walker

Girls tourney

The Lady Jackrabbits are the fourth seed and will play the winner of CAC and West Helena onTuesday at 6:30 p.m. If Lonoke wins that game, it will qualify for the regional tournament and play top-seed and defending Class 4A state champion Riverview in the semifinals Thursday at 4 p.m. The championship game is Saturday at 6 p.m.

The girls seeds are: 1. Riverview, 2 eStem, 3. Heber Springs, 4. Lonoke, 5. CAC, 6. Stuttgart, 7. Southside Batesville, 8. West Helena and 9. Newport. 

Lady Bison win conference title; Bison rally to beat McCrory

Carlisle's Arius McClain is fouled by McCrory's Caroline Lane during the first half of the Lady Bison's 17th-conference win Friday night at Bison Arena. (Photos by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

Lady Bison clinch second seed

CARLISLE — For the fourth consecutive season, the Carlisle Lady Bison are conference champions.

Carlisle routed McCrory 66-52 to finish 2A-6 play at 17-1, tied with Clarendon for the top spot in the conference standings Friday night at Bison Arena. Carlisle will be the second seed in the district tournament while Clarendon will be the top seed. 

Carlisle will play in the semifinals of the district tournament Friday at Palestine-Wheatley at 7 p.m. The championship game is Saturday at 5 p.m.

Carlisle coach Jonathan Buffalo is proud of what his team has accomplished so far this season. 

"That is four years in a row winning at least a share of the conference championship," Buffalo said. "That is quite an accomplishment. My one senior [Peyton Hitchings] has been on three in a row. 

"But we talked about this in the locker room after the game. Our bigger goals are still with us. We still want to win the district tournament and we still want to go to the state tournament.You set yourself up by doing well in the district tournament. It will be tough but hopefully, we're up for the challenge."

By getting the second seed, the Bison are already qualified for the Class 2A East Region Tournament, which starts Feb. 24 at Hazen. 

In the win over McCrory, the game wasn't as close as the final score indicates. Carlisle led 32-12 after one quarter and 54-22 at halftime. It was agreed upon by both coaches to run the clock the entire second half.

Kylie Warren led Carlisle with 21 points. Arius McClain had 12. Scoring nine ear were NicQuira Burnett and Elex McClain. Blakely Ellis and Taylor Cullun had four points each. Nikita Harper had three. Scoring two each was Kayla Golleher. Heather Bowlan and Hitchings had one point each.

Caroline Lane, the great niece of Carlisle mayor Ray Glover, led the Lady Jaguars with 22 points. 

Bison coach Jayson Lowery talks to his team during a timeout Friday night against McCrory.

Bison rally for sixth on-court win

The Carlisle Bison, which had to forfeit four wins because an ineligible player during the first semester, won their second game of the second semester by rallying to beat McCrory 66-60 on senior night.

McCrory led 31-25 at halftime and 41-40 entering the fourth quarter.

The Jaguars went on a 13-4 run to lead 54-44 midway through the final eight minutes.

However, the Bison then turned it on by outscoring the Jaguars 22-6 the remainder of the game.

Play got rough at times and technical fouls were called on both teams. McCrory coach Jeremiah Quattlebaum was hit with one while Carlisle senior Brynden Weems was hit with one of his own late in the closing seconds.

With the win, Carlisle was able to secure the seventh seed in the 2A-6 district tournament, which is being held this week at Palestine-Wheatley. 

Carlisle finished conference play at 3-15, having received a forfeit win from Marvell, which used an ineligible player. The Bison also beat Hazen at Hazen's new arena a few weeks ago.

In the win over McCrory, Garnell Harris finished with 26 points. He was 14 for 16 from the free throw line, including 9 of 10 in the fourth quarter.

Weems had 19 points. JaMarious Harper and Ty Golleher had six points each. Scoring three each were Zach Caviness, Gray Amanden and JeSean Harper. 

"For three quarters we had an all out war," Carlisle coach Jayson Lowery said, who called a timeout when McCrory went up 10. 

"Statistics told if they scored again the chances of us pulling out a win were in single digits," he said. "Jonathan Buffalo [assistant coach] and I talked away from the bench. I had one idea but was risky. It would require using one of my freshman that had just moved up and had only one official practice with our senior high."

That player is JeSean Harper.

"My main scorers had been doing their job all game but had to be tired," Lowery said. "I had saved all my timeouts for the fourth quarter on purpose. My scorers would have to tough it out without real breaks, my two best defenders would have to play lights out and the freshman would add to the speed of the game. So we took the gamble."

From there, the Bison rallied to get the win.

"During timeouts, my senior, who had his senior year ended by injury — Dominic Castleberry — pumped up his team and was practically a third coach. His hunger for the game was inspiriting the others. In those four magical minutes, we outscored McCrory by 16 points."

The Bison will play Palestine-Wheatley on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. The winner of that game will play KIPP-Delta and Marvell on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. The winner of the game will play in the semifinals Friday at 8:30 p.m. against second-seed Clarendon. If the Bison get to that game, they will play in the regional tournament at Hazen.

The boys' finals are Saturday at 6:30 p.m.