THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Cabot High School Athletics

Defense is something the Cabot boys’ basketball team always wants to hang its hat on, but outside shooting is becoming what this year’s Panthers are known for. The Cabot boys made nine 3-pointers and added their second trophy in as many weeks to the school trophy case on Saturday, beating county rival Lonoke 65-36 in the championship game of the Cabot Pre-Holiday Classic. That tournament win followed the Panthers’ first-place finish in the Van Buren tournament a week earlier. Cabot demolished Searcy 77-38 on Friday to advance to Saturday’s matchup with the Jackrabbits. Cabot coach Jerry Bridges, not one to be easily satisfied, wasn’t entirely pleased with his team’s effort in Saturday’s 29-point victory. “I thought our defensive intensity was a lot better against Searcy,” Bridges said. “I think we played better in the second half, but we don’t need coach getting on them at halftime to play hard. We need to come out stronger than we did. But overall I’m happy with them. These kids are work ing hard and they’re becoming a better team each and every week, okay.” Hitting 9 of 20 3-point attempts is good, but not as good as hitting 15 of 23, which the Panthers did in the semifinals against Searcy. The Panthers (8-1) are shooting better than 50 percent from 3-point range so far this season. Cabot made 10 of 18 3-point attempts in their first-round game against Pulaski Academy. Senior guard Jalen Brown made seven 3-pointers and scored 32 points in that game. He added six more in eight attempts and scored 26 against Searcy. He was a mortal 3 for 7 with 14 points against Lonoke on Saturday. “We got more people involved today and I wanted to see that,” Bridges said. “You never complain when a kid gives you 30 points, but you want to be a balanced team. We’re going to have to be in this league we’re in. Christian Weir got involved today and that was good for him and us. Noah Allgood got his thing going and we’re going to have to have an inside presence. So that was big for us, especially against a team like Lonoke that has some good inside players. Noah had to work for those points.” Brown’s 14 points led the Panthers while Weir added 12 and Allgood 10. The Panthers shot better from 3-point range than they did from the foul line, where they hit just 4 of 9 free throws. Cabot jumped out to a 17-6 lead over the Jackrabbits in the first quarter. That was helped by a Jared Vance 3-pointer that was turned loose well after the buzzer, but counted by the officials. That lead, however, was down to 27-21 by halftime, and even that could’ve been closer if not for another dubious bit of officiating at the end of the second period. Lonoke’s Tony Bryant was undercut while taking about a 40-foot shot at the buzzer to end the half. Despite the foul that wasn’t called, the shot rattled around the rim before bouncing out. The officiating, however, played no role in Cabot’s defensive dominance in the third quarter. The Jackrabbits managed just one field goal while turning the ball over eight times, including three Cabot steals. The Panthers outscored Lonoke 25-6 in the third to take a dominant 52-26 lead into the fourth quarter. Lonoke went 0 for 6 from 3-point range 10 of 19 from the foul line. The Jackrabbits only managed eight shot attempts in the third quarter and missed seven of them. Post player Tyriqe Jackson led Lonoke (4-5) with 14 points while Bryant finished with 8.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Cabot High School Athletics

PANTHERS EARN SECOND TROPHY

RAY BENTON

The Arkansas Leader | 12/13/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Cabot High School Athletics