Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Teams Exit Fast From Tournament

Gurdon's Go-Devil teams didn't fare well in the Southwest Arkansas Invitational Tournament in Saratoga recently.

The Lady Devils made their exit after one brief appearance, while the Devils played two games before returning home.

The Lady Devils had a bye in the first round of play, which gave them the chance to see what other teams were doing.

On the other hand, the Devils had a first round date with Lockesburg, and cooked the Blue Darters 48-42.

The Darters opened with a 16-12 first period lead in the contest, but the Devils rallied to take a 26-25 advantage at the break.

Gurdon extended its lead in the third, as the Devils outscored their foes 14-11 to go up 40-36.

D.D. Sheppard paced the Devils with 22 points, while Cliff Hunter scorched the nets for 11, including a trio of three-pointers.

Other first round action shaped up like this: Delight beat the Nevada Lady Jays 37-27; Nevada's boys dumped Bright Star 82-56; both Genoa teams left early as the girls fell to Mineral Springs 50-43 and the boys succumbed to Blevins 81-69. Nashville beat Bradley 62-40 in girl's action; while Bradley's boys returned the favor, sending the Scrappers home 60-45; and Saratoga whipped Lockesburg's girls 54-28.

Gurdon's girls opened the second round as they fell to Delight's Lady Bulldogs.

The Lady Devils led 16-10 at the end of the first eight minutes and were in command 31-24 at the half.

However, the girls faltered in the second half as the Lady 'Dogs began clawing their way back. At the end of three, it was 42-37 Gurdon, but the Delight crew outscored the Lady Devils 14-6 in the final stanza.

Tabitha Thomas led the Lady Devils with 18 points, including a trey. Wanda Cornish followed suit with 12.

Shalisa Norton owned the offense with 29 points, while Candi Gordon netted 15.

The Lady Devils were 14 of 29 in free throw shooting, while Delight was three of seven.

The Devils met host team Saratoga in the second round of boys play, only to step into a hornets nest.

The Bulldogs routed the Gurdon squad 106-68 in the contest.

There was no indication at the start of the game it would be so lopsided.

In fact, the squads were locked at 27-27 after the first eight minutes came to a close. Saratoga took a three- point lead at the half as they led 49-46.

The third period doomed the Devils as they were outscored 24-7 and saw the 'Dogs take a 73-53 lead. Gurdon played better in the final quarter, but the 'Dogs won it 33-17.

Hunter led the Devils with 18 points, including two threes. Sheppard and Cory Marsh each netted 11, while Eric Hatley and Wade Griffin scored 10 each. Griffin had a pair of treys also.

Saratoga was led by the hot hand of Jason McDonald, who scored 37 and was a perfect seven for seven at the line. Tim Green canned 14 and Luke Bradley sent 13 through, while Marlon Stuart scored 10.

Gurdon was four of 10 at the line, while the 'Dogs were 21 of 26 in free throws.

The remainder of the games in the second round saw: Wickes's girls beat Nashville 77-62; Bright Star's girls dropped Saratoga 51-41; Blevins beat Mineral Springs in girls action 52-33; Delight whipped Bradley 63-54 in boys play; Mineral Springs edged Wickes 64-59 in the boys bracket and Nevada's boys ended Blevins' run 78-69.

The semifinal round saw the Blevins Lady Hornets rip Bright Star 56-36; Mineral Springs routed Delight in boys action 51-35; Wickes' girls dumped Delight's Lady 'Dogs 62-38; and Saratoga's Bulldogs sent the Jays to defeat 73-58.

Blevins' Lady Hornets captured the title with a 50-37 win over a tough Wickes team.

On the boys' side, Mineral Springs clipped Saratoga 70-67.