The Mountain Home High School basketball teams were able to pull off a sweep at home over Nettleton, and the girls’ game featured a battle between state-ranked teams.
The Lady Raiders came in as the top-ranked team in Class 5A and fourth overall by the Arkansas Sports Media, but they were handed a 46-39 loss by the Lady Bombers, who are currently tied for fifth in Class 5A. Nettleton led for much of the game going up by as much as three possessions, but Mountain Home kept it fairly close throughout. The Lady Raiders were up three at the end of the third quarter, but they were held to just two points in the final period. The Lady Bombers took the lead mainly by shooting 10 of 12 from the free throw line in the last quarter, and that includes a technical foul assessed to Nettleton head coach Jason Smith. Mountain Home went on to win by seven, and Dell Leonard picked up his 350th win as the head coach of the Lady Bombers.
Anna Grace Foreman led Mountain Home with 17 points, and Emma Martin added 13. For the Lady Raiders, Elauna Eaton scored 14 points, and Briley Pena chipped in 11.
The Lady Bombers improve to 15-3 on the season and 4-1 in the 5A-East, and Nettleton falls to 17-3 and 4-1. Both teams are part of a four-way tie for first place in the league with Jonesboro and West Memphis.
Mountain Home’s boys followed with a down-to-the-wire game, as they got past the Raiders 41-39. The Bombers led 2-1, but after Nettleton got the lead back, they kept it into the fourth quarter. The Raiders scored the first two points of the final period to go up 11, but Mountain Home scored the next 13 points to take the lead. The game would have three more lead changes and two ties. Wyatt Gilbert was held scoreless in the first three quarters, but came alive in the final period for nine points, and no basket was bigger than his last one. With just a few seconds left and the game tied, Gilbert took the pass from Satch Harris on the right wing and hit a jumper just inside the three-point line. Nettleton tried one last heave to beat the buzzer, but it didn’t go in.
The Bombers were led by Mat Jones with 22 points. Devares Whitaker also had 22 for the Raiders.
Mountain Home is now 11-7 overall and 2-3 in the league. Nettleton drops to 4-12 and 1-4.
Both Mountain Home teams will be back on the road Tuesday to meet Searcy.
Elsewhere in 5A-East boys’ action, Jonesboro routed Searcy 79-41, West Memphis pounded Paragould 79-23, and Marion defeated Greene County Tech 76-63. On the girls’ side, Jonesboro beat up on Searcy 54-24, West Memphis topped Paragould 47-32, and Marion destroyed Tech 69-38.
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