Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

PHS First Conference Game A Loss

It took a fifth period, but the DeQueen Leopards managed to hand the Prescott Curley Wolves their first league loss on the hardwood.

The two squads locked horns in conference action Friday night in DeQueen, a week after the Wolves captured the class AA football title.

When all was said and done, the Leopards escaped with a 72-69 win.

The Wolves trailed throughout the game, tying the contest in the final 10 minutes. DeQueen led 20-19 at the end of one, and was up 33-32 at the break. The Leopards maintained their one-point lead in the third at 48-47, before Prescott rallied somewhat to tie the contest at 58-58 as regulation ended.

C.D. Flemons led the Wolves with 19 points, picking up on the hardcourt where he left off on the gridiron. J.R. Matthews contributed 13, while Jason Webb canned 12. Brock Searcy netted nine, with Barrett Yates sending seven through the nylon.

The Wolves pulled down a total of 27 boards, with Flemons ripping 11 off the backboard.

Both squads turned the ball over nine times.

Rodney Williams led all scorers with 28 for the Leopards, as DeQueen has had plenty of time to prepare for basketball action because their football season ended after 10 weeks. Adam Lites contributed 16 in the win.

The Wolves were 50 percent from the charity stripe as they hit seven of 14 free throws.

It showed Prescott's players were more used to football than basketball as the team sent the Leopards to the line 38 times. DeQueen converted 20 of them.

"Our lack of conditioning was an obvious factor," Hal Landrith, head basketball coach, said. "This, and a combination of poor defensive technique hurt us.

"Seventy-two points is far too many points for us to be giving up. It's hard to beat a team when they shoot 38 free throws. "It wasn't a bad effort when put in this perspective: they have been playing for five weeks and many of our players have been playing for four days, with a new coach who barely knows many of his players, and a new system.

"Hopefully, we can get it together by district tournament time, or it will be a very abbreviated season."

In junior varsity action, the Wolves smacked the Leopards 53-38.

Carlos Welch led the way with 16, while Shane Pipkin netted 10.

The Leopards were led by Freddie Dykes with 13, and Brian Williamson's 11.

The Wolves jumped to an 18-12 first quarter lead and stayed ahead 26-18 at halftime. They widened the gap to 40-24 by the end of the third frame.

On Thursday, Dec. 14, the Cubs thumped arch-rival Nashville 31-25,.

The Scrappers ran off to a 9-5 lead at the end of one and held a slender 11-10 halftime advantage. The Cubs, however, rallied in the third to take a 17-16 lead and bashed the Scrappers in the final six minutes.

Scott Hobbs paced the Cubs with eight, while Jared Yates canned seven. Brandon Wilson sent six through the cords, while Michael Williams and Marchello Young each scored five

Landrith said it was a great team effort because only five players were available. The eighth graders couldn't take to the court because of semester tests.

"We avenged a 44-28 loss to Nashville back on Nov. 6," he said.

The Wolves and Cubs will take a break for the holidays, but will practice regularly.

They will return to the hardwood Jan. 2, 1996, when they host Nashville in conference play.