By Pat Dailey (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
BERRYVILLE, Arkansas — Everything was falling for Berryville’s Ty Allen on Friday night on his way to a career-high 35-point night.
The Berryville senior guard capped his breakout performance by swishing a three-quarters court heave at the end of the third quarter to propel the Bobcats to a 92-80 victory versus Valley Springs.
Allen beat the buzzer with a two-handed launch from the three-point line on the Tigers’ side of the floor.
“I threw it up and said, ‘Oh my, that’s in,’” Allen said.
It was no fluke. Allen victimized Valley Springs with a half-court bomb earlier this month.
“Those are shots I practice when I’m messing around in the gym,” he said. “You get bored, so you start throwing them up from deep. I actually think that contributed to my game tonight.”
Allen’s night started modestly enough. He had just three points in the first quarter. But not even Valley Springs super sophomore Lawson Jenkins could keep pace with Allen in the second half and in particular the third quarter. Allen nailed a trio of 3’s while scoring 14 points in the third period alone.
“One person on our team is going to have a night every night. We have that kind of ability,” Allen said. “Tonight, my teammates were getting me looks. I was getting good, solid screens and coming off the screens, I was getting open looks. My shots were going in. It was just my night.
“The simplest way to put it is I was feeling it.”
“His teammates kept trying to find him,” Berryville coach Brent Compton said. “They knew he had the hot hand.”
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Allen enjoyed his scoring duel with Jenkins, who led Valley Springs with 30 points. Jenkins, whose mother Kimberly played college ball at Arkansas, made four 3-pointers.
“Going back and forth with him, it was crazy because it was so fun,” Allen said. “We’ve been playing basketball against each other for several years. There’s a little bit of a rivalry, but it’s mostly friendship.”
“The sky is the limit for the kid,” Compton said. “It was all we could do to hold him to (30). He shoots the ball so well. It doesn’t matter where he is on the court. We tried to mix up guys on him to keep them fresh.”
Berryville (17-6) put up 51 points over the second and third quarters
“It’s a big game for us, with District seedings coming up,” Compton said. “A win like this will get some people’s attention.”
Jarrett Ray backed up Allen with 19 points.
Compton valued the 16-point contribution from 5-foot-7 guard Zach Webb.
“You’re not sure he can play his appearance,” Compton said. “But by the end of the game you can see that he got the job done.”
Berryville is 7-2 in conference play and Valley Springs (21-7) is 6-2.
Valley Springs 17 20 22 21 – 80
Berryville 18 26 25 23 – 92
VALLEY SPRINGS (80) – Dalton Audeoud 14, Lawson Jenkins 30, Ethan Flud 18, Ethan Garvin 13, Teagen James 3, Briley Saumer 2. BERRYVILLE (92) – Zach Webb 16, Scotland Lucas 5, Ty Allen 35, Jarrett Ray 19, Kyler Kendrick 10, Aaron Cisco 5, Cody Allen 2.
Lady Bobcats go to 22-1
Berryville’s girls completed a long-awaited sweep of Valley Springs by rolling to a 55-36 triumph Friday.
Earlier this season at Valley Springs, Berryville pulled out a two-point win. The wins marked the first time anyone on the Lady Bobcats’ roster has beaten the Lady Tigers.
“To get over that hump is huge,” Berryville coach Daniel Cornelison said. “Beating Valley Springs was something the girls wanted to do. It means a lot to us.
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“Valley Springs is a perennial powerhouse. They’re not going to bow down to anybody, so we knew we had to play. Our focus was intensified. With the exception of a few hiccups, we played our gameplan from start to finish.
Berryville (22-1) needed just 11 field goals. The Lady Bobcats netted 32-of-39 free throws.
Kelcee Hopper’s 16-point night saw her make 10-of-11 free throws and Baylea Smith hit 10-of-12 free throws en route to her 15 points.
Valley Springs 8 9 12 7 – 36
Berryville 14 13 13 15 – 55
VALLEY SPRINGS (36) – Brylee Graddy 15, Madison Moore 6, Hayley Patrick 6, Alyssa Karr 2, Kylie Jo Kilgore 3, Bailey Bryant 4.
BERRYVILLE (55) – Baylea Smith 15, Hannah Morrell 5, Aspen Smith 1, Kelcee Hopper 16, Lexy Anderson 11, McKayla Hussey 3, Jordan Estepp 4.
