JONESBORO — Another strong first half helped Jonesboro earn another Barry Pruitt Hurricane Classic championship.
Jonesboro built a 17-point halftime lead in Saturday's championship game against Fayetteville. The Hurricane led by as many as 21 points during the second half and never allowed the Bulldogs closer than eight on the way to a 51-39 victory at Don Riggs Hurricane Gym.
Coach Wes Swift's teams have won seven of the last nine championships in Jonesboro's annual home basketball tournament, including the last two. The Hurricane (5-1) dispatched West Memphis, Pine Bluff and Fayetteville to win this year's tournament.
"The first half yesterday and the first half today were strong defensively. We gave ourselves a cushion in both games," Swift said after Saturday's championship game. "Offensively we got a little stagnant in that second half. One of the hardest things to do is learn to play with a lead, when the other team gets really going downhill and they're going to get it to their best players no matter what, and then you have to continue scoring."
Devarius Montgomery and Kylen Kelly combined for 13 points in the second quarter as Jonesboro outscored Fayetteville 21-4 to take a 31-14 halftime lead.
Five Jonesboro players contributed points as the Hurricane opened the second quarter with a 10-0 surge. Isaac Harrell sank a turnaround jumper; Kelly made two free throws; Deion Buford-Wesson scored on a drive; Phillip Tillman hit a jump shot; and Montgomery scored inside as the Hurricane took a 20-10 lead less than three minutes into the period.
Jonesboro ended the first half on a 9-1 run that included two baskets from Kelly and a three-point play from Montgomery.
"We got it rolling offensively for the first time," Swift said. "We've just kind of been spitting and sputtering a little bit offensively. We really got it going in that second quarter."
Montgomery made two free throws to give Jonesboro its largest lead, 39-18, with 4:38 remaining in the third quarter. The Hurricane still led by 20, 42-22, after a Buford-Wesson 3-pointer at the 2:58 mark.
Fayetteville (6-1) scored the last seven points of the third quarter to pull within 42-29. The Bulldogs drew within nine at 44-35, but C.J. Larry drilled a 3 that gave the Hurricane a 47-35 lead with 4:04 to go.
After Fayetteville scored the next four points, inching within eight, Tillman hit a jumper to give Jonesboro a 49-39 lead at the 1:47 mark.
Montgomery scored Jonesboro's final basket with 20 seconds to play, giving him a team-high 15 points.
"You just see what the dude does. He's never going to have 44 points in a game or anything; the dude just wins," Swift said. "He was so active tonight. We almost want to put him on the all-tournament team even though the numbers may not be what some of the others are. He just wins, man."
Buford-Wesson was named tournament MVP after scoring 39 points in three games, including seven in Saturday's final. Tillman, who scored 10 points Saturday, and Harrell were also on the all-tournament team.
Jaiden Wilson, an all-tournament selection, led the Bulldogs with 12 points. Ornette Gaines, a 6-4 junior who scored 60 points in Fayetteville's first two tournament games, had only seven points Saturday.
Swift said the Hurricane didn't do anything out of the ordinary to defend Gaines, an all-tournament selection who scored 32 points in his team's overtime victory over Nettleton on Friday.
"It's too early for us to be running and jumping, knocking people off the ball, getting it out of their hands. We're not ready for that yet," Swift said. "You try to shrink his space, limit the amount of touches he gets. He looked tired; I'll just be honest with you. It could be that last night's game may have had some effect on him."
Jonesboro travels to Jacksonville on Tuesday. The Hurricane's next home game is Dec. 20 against Marion.
