Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon's Two Teams Come In Second In Classic

Offense was seriously lacking in the finals of the Gurdon Go-Devil Classic Tournament Saturday.

The senior boys and girls made it to the finals, where they each faced Arkadelphia High School teams. Both Badger teams went home with the championship trophies.

The girls hit the court first, with the Lady Badgers posting a 57-35 win over Gurdon's Lady Devils.

Both teams were tight to start the game, with neither shooting particularly well. The Lady Badgers were able to convert more shots early on and took a 6-2 lead at the 5:49 point of the first.

Gurdon had problems with Arkadelphia's press and turned the ball over several trips down the court.

In fact, the Lady Badgers took the first quarter with an 18-6 score, as they hardly allowed the Lady Devils to pass midcourt.

The second quarter wasn't much better for Gurdon, though the girls were able to score a little more.

Unfortunately, the Lady Devils were hit with three fouls before the first points were scored in the second period. When scoring did commence, it was done by the Lady Badgers, who went on a 5-0 binge.

Gurdon finally scored in the period at the free throw line with 5:31 showing, making the score 23-7.

Halftime arrived with the score 31-16 in Arkadelphia's favor.

The first two minutes of the second half saw the Lady Badgers go on a 10-2 run to put the game pretty much out of reach.

The third period ended with the Lady Badgers up 46-24. Both teams added 11 points to their tallies in the fourth quarter.

The game, though, was not without some mirth. The Arkadelphia mascot "Barney Badger" went around the court giving the officials "eye tests".

When the senior boys took over, scoring didn't improve. The Badgers took the trophy with a 37-32 win in a game few fans could believe.

Normally, either team could easily score more than both did in the game.

Gurdon scored the first four points, starting with an Adrian Meeks trey, followed by a free throw, but saw the Badgers go on an 11-1 run for the rest of the period.

Both teams pressed and pressed hard, but the Badgers were able to force more turnovers.

Period one ended with the score 11-5, with fans stunned at the low tally.

The second quarter was a reverse of the first as Gurdon outscored Arkadelphia 11-5 to tie the game at 16-16 at the half.

The pace was typical for Gurdon, frantic, fast and furious.

Both teams fired away, and both mined plenty of iron as neither could consistently put the ball in the hole.

Poor shooting in the third quarter was more than Gurdon could overcome, as the Badgers outscored the Devils 12-3.

The intensity was there, as was the effort, but basketball is all about scoring.

As the game progressed to the final eight minutes, Gurdon trailed 28-19.

The Devils fought hard and managed to outscore Arkadelphia 13-9, but it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit.

The tourney opened Thursday with Strong's Lady Bulldogs getting whipped 53-36 by the Lady Badgers.

The Lady Badgers held leads of 12-10 after one but trailed 24-23 at the half. They rallied in the third to go up 40-34 and stymied Strong in the fourth quarter.

The Badgers made the trip to the finals by whipping Strong's boys 47-38.

Arkadelphia never trailed at the end of a quarter, leading 11-7 after one, 27-10 at the half and 38-19 at the end of three.

Gurdon's teams tangled with Sparkman in the opening round.

The senior girls downed the Lady Raiders 58-39, behind the combined shooting of Tiffany Ware and Vanesha Young, each scoring 15.

The Lady Devils trailed 11-7 after the first quarter, but lit it up from then on. At the half, Gurdon held a 27-21 lead and extended this to a 45-35 advantage at the end of three.

The senior boys dispatched the Raiders 67-57, opening the game with a 24-7 spurt in the first quarter.

By halftime, the Devils lead had been shortened to 35-20 as the Raiders battled back.

Sparkman outscored Gurdon 23-14 in the third, to narrow the margin to 49-43, only to have the Devils turn up the heat for the win.

Strong's teams were more than Sparkman's could handle in the consolation round, as the senior boys won 55-43 and the girls took a 48-25 win.

In the girls game, Strong opened with a 19-5 lead after one, stretching this to a 34-14 margin at the half. By the end of three, the Lady 'Dogs led 46-22.

On the boys side, the 'Dogs opened with an 8-5 score at the end of the first quarter, and trailed 17-15 at the break.

The third quarter saw the 'Dogs rally to take a 31-30 lead and chew the Raiders up in the final eight minutes.

Gurdon's teams won't be in action again until Dec. 28-30 when they play in the Fouke Classic.