Landon McBride Archives

West Side’s Asa Carr goes for a putback against ICC Friday night at Brady-Hipp Arena. **MICHELLE McCARTY PHOTO/Michelle’s Photos**

By LARRY “SCOOP” McCARTY

GREERS FERRY — The West Side Eagles kept its season record perfect and celebrated homecoming with an ugly win

Senior guard Travis Gentry scored a game-high 37 points and proved deadly at the free-throw line as the Eagles (2-0 in 2-1A Conference, 8-0 overall) defeated Izard County Consolidated 59-44 in a conference basketball game at Brady-Hipp Arena on Friday.

Gentry made four of West Side’s 11 field goals (all 2-pointers) and sank 29-of-33 free throws. He missed his first four free throws during a foul-plagued fourth quarter and hit his next 15 attempts. Brenten Knapp scored 11 points.

Gunner Gleghorn led the Cougars with 14 points. Denton Reiley had 12 points while Jude Everett contributed 11 points.

“It’s good to start the conference at 2-0, but we have not played our best yet,” West Side head coach Keith Brown said. “You don’t want to play your best during November. It was an ugly game, but both teams played hard. We will have to play much better in future games.”

The game was marred by three technical fouls against Izard County, two assessed on Cougar head coach Kyle McCandlis. The first technical against McCandlis came during the second quarter and the second technical late in the third quarter that led to his ejection. A third technical foul was assessed to a player — an Izard County fan also was ejected by the officials following McCandlis’ second technical foul.

The Eagles, who had struggled at the free-throw line this season, made 37-of-47 attempts. Izard County made 10-of-12 free throws. Three Cougars fouled out during the fourth quarter.

“I’m proud how we held our composure, especially during the fourth quarter,” Brown said. “Izard County is a good team. We started the game slow, but later found a way to win the game like a good team does. We had been struggling at the free-throw line, but we made a lot of free throws during the fourth quarter.”

Izard County held the lead during most of the first quarter. The Cougars maintained the momentum and took a 12-11 lead into the second quarter.

West Side claimed a 14-12 lead before the first technical foul against McCandlis. Gentry sank the two free throws and the Eagles never trailed again. West Side led 21-16 at halftime and outscored Izard County 14-6 during the third quarter for a 35-22 lead.

“It is going to be a tough conference race again with good teams,” Brown said. “Homecoming caused some distractions, but we played good enough to win.”

The Eagles are participating at the Clinton tournament this week.

Izard County 12 4 6 22–44
West Side 11 10 14 24–59
Izard County Consolidated scorers: Gunner Gleghorn 14, Denton Reiley 13, Jude Everett 11, Landon McBride 6.
West Side scorers: Travis Gentry 37, Brenten Knapp 11, Zack Birmingham 7, Asa Carr 3, Kirby Cothren 1.

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The **West Side Greers Ferry Eagles** punched their ticket to the 1A state finals in Hot Springs on Monday in Greers Ferry. **PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELLE MCCARTY**

By LARRY “SCOOP” McCARTY

GREERS FERRY — The West Side Eagles didn’t take the easy path back to the Class 1A state championship game. West Side, which will make its return to the finals for the first time since 1983, trailed by nine points after three quarters, but rallied to force overtime.

The Eagles made 8-of-11 free throws during overtime and emerged with a 66-62 win against conference rival Izard County at Brady-Hipp Arena Monday. The win was the third this season against the Cougars, all close games.

West Side (28-6) will play Viola, another conference rival, at 7 p.m. Thursday for the state championship at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

Malachi Miller, who led all scorers with 25 points, made 3-of-4 free throws for the Eagles during overtime. Travis Gentry, Jake Ballard and Zach Birmingham each hit 2-of-2 attempts and Ashton Klepko connected on 1-of-2 at the free-throw line.

Birmingham’s two free throws with less than 10 seconds remaining made it a two-possession for a 66-62 lead.

West Side Greers Ferry coach Keith Brown said the Eagles also won the rebounding battle, particularly during the second half.

“A big key in the second half was keeping them from getting an offensive rebound,” he said. “We did a good job of rebounding.”

Ballard followed Miller with 14 points. Caleb Faulkner led Izard County with 23 points, while Coby Everett scored 11 points and Chase Orf had 10 points.

“Ballard hit big shots throughout the game,” Brown said. “Miller also scored well. It was a team win, but those two players were battling and came through for us.”

Brown also credited the team’s mental toughness as another determining factor.

“Our mental toughness was a difference in the game,” he said. “The players have answered the bell all year and are as tough as nails. Nothing fazes them.”

West Side started the game with an 8-2 scoring run, but Izard County quickly answered. The Cougars rallied for an 12-11 lead and held a one-point lead until the final seconds of the first quarter. Miller scored on an inside move as the Eagles took a 16-15 lead going into the second quarter.

Izard County regained the lead midway through the second quarter and increased it later to eight points, 30-22. West Side closed the gap, but the Cougars scored the final five points for a 33-26 halftime lead.

West Side failed to make ground on Izard County during the third quarter and trailed 46-37 going into the fourth quarter.

The Eagles made through move by outscoring the Cougars 19-10 and forced overtime.

Miller made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:56 to go in overtime for a 61-60 lead and never trailed again.

“I’m very proud of this team,” Brown, who is in his third season at West Side, said. “I’m usually a man of many words, but speechless after the game inside the dressing room. The players deserve all of the credit. I thought three years ago they could reach the state finals if I didn’t mess them up too much.”

Izard County 15 18 13 10 6 –62
West Side 16 10 11 19 10–66
Izard County scorers — Caleb Faulkner 23, Coby Everett 11, Chase Orf 10, Noah Everett 9, Denton Reiley 6, Landon McBride 3.
West Side scorers — Malachi Miller 25, Jake Ballard 14, Travis Gentry 8, Nate Bittle 7, Zach Birmingham 4, Brenton Knapp 4, Ashton Klepko 4.