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By Jeff Halpern I Photos by Tommy Land

HOT SPRINGS — Lavaca used a 13-0 run in the third quarter to break open a tie game and beat Magnet Cove 50-34 for the Class 2A State Championship in front of 3,238 fans at Bank OZK Arena on Friday night.

Tied 23-23 midway through the third quarter, Kolby Glidewell, who was named state tournament MVP, started the rally with a three-pointer. He followed on a feed from Jetson Wagner to make it 28-23. Luke Watson added two free throws at the 1:53 mark to make it 30-23 and then Glidewell scored twice on the break to make it 34-23 to end the quarter.

Watson opened the fourth quarter with a drive to make it 36-23 before Magnet Cove’s Kadin Baker made 1-of-2 free throws to stop the streak at 36-24,.

Lavaca didn’t stop. Watson scored on a feed from Wagner to make it 38-24. Owen Tillery finally got a field goal for Magnet Cove at with less than 5:30 to go to make it 38-26. Avery Walker answered for Lavaca with two free throws at the 4:53 mark to make it 40-26, not allowing Magnet Cove to get close for the rest of the night.

“We got focused and didn’t do a lot differently,” said Lavaca head coach Renner Reed, whose team won its first state championship in school history and finished the season at 35-2. “They were getting rebounds and the effort points. We called a timeout and refocused. We stopped them on defense and didn’t let them get the easy buckets.”

Prior to the run, Magnet Cove, which trailed 19-16 at halftime, took a 21-19 lead thanks to basket by Baker and a three-pointer by Tillery. Glidewell scored on a feed from Wagner to tie the game at 21-21. A drive by Wagner put the Golden Arrows up 23-21 before Baker made two free throws to tie the game at 23-23 at the 3:54 mark.

Magnet Cove head coach Matt Williamson, whose team made its first appearance in the state finals, falling to 28-9, refused to blame officiating for his team’s loss, but felt Lavaca was getting away with a lot of physical play.

“I don’t want to blame the officiating, but we were begging for whistles and some missed calls, but we didn’t help ourselves with turnovers,” said Williamson. “The block-charge call is always a tough call and there were times when they slid underneath us and a lot of times they used two hands when defending us which is illegal. We had to battle though that.”

Magnet Cove’s Jace Beckwith said Lavaca’s players had a tendency to use their hands when defending them. Baker said Lavaca’s players did a good job of fronting them and making it hard to get to the ball.

Magnet Cove held a 21-10 rebounding edge at halftime and won the rebounding battle 34-23 for the game. However, Magnet Cove was outscored 20-16 in the paint and had an 8-6 edge in second-chance points. The Panthers shot 12-of-36 from the floor, including 2-of-15 on three-pointers. They committed 21 turnovers which Lavaca converted into 14 points.

Baker led Magnet Cove with 13 points and six rebounds.

“The last game we were out rebounded in was our regional final against Eureka Springs in which we lost (64-55). The big thing was we kept them out of the lane and we held them to 34 points which is really good,” said Reed.

Lavaca shot 16-of-40 from the floor but outscored the Panthers 14-8 from the foul line. 

Glidewell, who was named MVP, finished with 20 points and 4 rebounds. Wagner had 12 points and three rebounds. “I’m speechless,” said Glidewell. “About the 1-minute mark, I was smiling and Coach told me to stop it because the game was not over.”

While Glidewell won MVP honors, Reed praised Watson, who guarded Magnet Cove’s Evin Ashcraft and held him to six points on 1-of-10 shooting.

“He doesn’t get a lot of attention because he’s not a big scorer, but he held their best player to six points and that says a lot about him,” said Reed.

Despite the loss, Williamson was proud of the fact his team made it to the state finals. “I want to thank God for this because he blesses us in so many ways,” he said. “You never want to finish second, but we did something we had never done before.

“This is something we strived for and talked about this when I took over this program five years ago.”

Reed said the state championship is the result of a decade’s worth of hard work he and his past teams had put into the program.

“These guys are tough and easy to coach and have great character,” he said. “We beat some bigger teams, but we play a style of basketball that is not easy to watch. I love these guys. This one is special for our town and our community. These kids have great parents who make sure they do the right thing.

“When I came here 10 years ago, I was adamant about wanting to win a state championship. I had past players who bought in, but these guys found a way to win.”

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