75-FOOTER AN APPETIZER TO HALL'S KEY FTS

Senior Maurio Goggins drained a 75-footer to end the third quarter, but it was his free throws with 23.5 seconds left that allowed Little Rock Hall to escape with a 62-58 victory over visiting Jacksonville in the first round of the 6A-East Conference Tournament. Goggins, a 5-10 guard, finished with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals as the Warriors earned a shot at top-ranked Jonesboro on Tuesday. Jacksonville will play at home against Searcy on Tuesday in an elimination game. Hall (16-10) missed its first 12 field-goal attempts but wound up hitting 18 of 53 from the floor while enjoying a 35-27 advantage on the boards. Jacksonville (12-14) was 20-of-45 shooting and committed 16 turnovers. "I think we controlled the glass when we needed to," Hall Coach Jon Coleman said. "I think that was really the difference in the basketball game. We are a little bit bigger than them, and that was one of the keys to the game. I think when it counted we controlled the glass." Goggins' shot from the opposite free-throw line gave Hall a 41-33 advantage heading into the final eight minutes. Issac Beal and Grant Jackson each hit two free throws in the first 90 seconds of the fourth quarter to expand Hall's lead to 45-33. Jacksonville was not done. Senior Tyree Appleby, who led the Titans with 20 points, scored 12 points during a four-minute span as Jacksonville scored 22 of the next 31 points. His three-pointer with 1:35 to play gave Jacksonville a 55-54 lead. Hall senior forward Josh Nichols tied the game with a free throw with 1:26 remaining, and his putback 41 seconds later gave the Warriors the lead for good. "They just made a few more plays down the stretch than we did," Jacksonville Coach Victor Joyner said. "We became a little impatient at the end. We had some turnovers at some inopportune moments." "We got a few stops on Appleby, and then we just executed down the stretch," Goggins said. "We hit free throws and got some rebounds. That's what did it for us." Jacksonville had a chance to tie with 38 seconds left but DaJuan Ridgeway's layup rolled off the rim and into the hands of Antonio Smith, who was fouled. With the Warriors in the double bonus, Hall's Tyree Tillman went to the free-throw line. The game officials caught the mistake before Tillman could shoot, putting Smith on the free-throw line to shoot the two shots. Joyner claimed unsuccessfully that the Warriors sent Tillman to the line deliberately and asked the officials to give Hall a technical foul. Coleman said "it was an honest mistake." "When a coach purposely deceives someone at the free-throw line, and the ball went live when the officials gave the ball to [Tillman], that should have been a technical foul," Joyner said. "I didn't know who was supposed to be on the free-throw line," Coleman said. "It was an honest mistake, and I really don't know about that rule. It's something I've got to look up." Smith, who was 1 of 6 from the line prior to that incident, hit both free throws to give Hall a 59-55 lead. Jacksonville's Chris Williams completed a three-point play with 26.6 seconds left, but Goggins responded with two free throws with 23.5 seconds left. Jacksonville missed two three-pointers on its next possession. Nichols completed the scoring with a free throw with 2.7 seconds left. Tillman finished with 10 points, and Smith had 9 points and 9 rebounds for Hall.

Little Rock School District Athletics

75-FOOTER AN APPETIZER TO HALL'S KEY FTS

Photo Credit: Hall Athletics