Sports Special: North Little Rock, Maumelle playing for basketball titles this week
North Little Rock faces Little Rock Central on Thursday; Maumelle goes up against Jonesboro on Saturday
Maumelle vs. Jonesboro
7 p.m., Saturday at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs
TV: Arkansas PBS
Buy tickets by clicking here
NOTE: Tickets for the 2021 Centennial Bank Basketball Finals will be available to the public at noon the day before the game
Let’s go, Maumelle playing for title
Maumelle High School opened in 2011 and Michael Shook has been the coach of the basketball Hornets that entire time.
The decade long run has been remarkable in its success.
Nine of those 10 years saw a state tournament appearance and on Saturday, at 7 p.m. Maumelle will be playing in its third state championship game when they face the Jonesboro Hurricane at Bank OZK Arena in the final high school basketball game of the year.
Maumelle is the only public school in Pulaski County that hasn’t won a state championship, besides the newly opened Little Rock Southwest, and Shook has the tools to rectify that on Saturday.
Leading the way is Junior guard Carl Daugherty Jr., who lead the Hornets past Sylvan Hills in the semifinals on Monday night at Hot Springs High School with 19 points . But it was a balanced effort as junior forward Nico Davillier had 13, senior guard Josh Denton added 12, senior forward Darvis Rasberry had 11 and, finally, junior guard Riley Wade was also in double figures with 10.
Daugherty has Division I offers, while Denton has been offered by Division II schools to play next season. Rasberry has also caught the attention of college recruiters and Davilllier will for sure play in college, but it will be football instead as he’s considered one of the state’s best defensive lineman and has offers from Arkansas, Auburn and other top programs.
Maumelle (20-5) was the No. 3 seed from the 5A-Central going into the state tournament but the top two seeds were Little Rock Parkview and then Sylvan Hills, so Maumelle was in good company in the conference.
Jonesboro is 23-3 on the season and won back-to-back state titles in 2017 and 2018 when now Arkansas Razorback guard Desi Sills played there. The Hurricane have long held a reputation as being one of the state’s better high school basketball programs and that’s something current coach Wes Swift has only maintained.
Jonesboro senior guard Keyln McBride has scored 1,000 points in his career and had 19 as the Hurricane routed Parkview on Monday to get to the finals.
Jonesboro’s three losses were to North Little Rock and Little Rock Central, the two teams playing for the 6A title, and also to Little Rock Christian.
The Hurricane are on a 19-game winning streak and haven’t lost in 2021, as all three losses came in December 2020.
Maumelle Roster
0 - Jaylon Smith, G, 5-11
1 - William Konyaole, F, 6-3
2 - Carl Daughtery Jr, G, 6-2
4 - Cayden Mc Gee, G, 5-9
5 - Riley Wade, G, 6-1
11 - Joshua Denton, G, 6-5
20 - Darvis Rasberry, F, 6-4
23 - Nico Davillier, F, 6-5
24 - Kaleb Thurman, F, 6-6
50 - Andrew Chamblee, C, 6-7
North Little Rock playing for a title, again
North Little Rock vs. Little Rock Central
1 p.m., Thursday at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs
TV: Arkansas PBS
Buy tickets by clicking here,
NOTE: Tickets for the 2021 Centennial Bank Basketball Finals will be available to the public at noon the day before the game
North Little Rock basketball coach Johnny Rice has spent the last nine seasons running the Charging Wildcats program and has led his team to be among the state’s very best.
On Thursday, at 1 p.m. at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs, Rice will lead North Little Rock into its sixth state championship game in those nine seasons, with titles coming in 2018 and a historic three-peat with wins in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Rice is a North Little Rock lifer as a graduate of the high school and was a player on the 1986 state runner-up team.
On the other side is Brian Ross at Little Rock Central. Ross grew up in Ozark before he moved with his family to Little Rock and graduated from Arkansas Baptist, where he also played.
Ross, RIce and their teams have played twice this season and both were wins for Central.
The Tigers are coming into the game on a six-game winning streak and have gone 17-1 since the Christmas break.
Paid subscriptions make this reporting possible
North Little Rock is 20-2 on the season, while Central is 24-4. The losses are to Little Rock Christian, Parkview, Marion and Fort Smith Northside.
Central’s player to watch is sophomore guard Bryson Warren, who is considered one of the country’s top prospects in his class.
North Little Rock counters with a pair of senior guards in D.J. Smith and Tracy Steele Jr. along with Ke’Lel Ware and Ubong Etim upfront. Ware is a 7-foot center and a top junior prospect while Etim, 6-8, has signed with Bowling Green. This might be Rice’s most loaded team in terms of college prospects with Smith, Steele, Ware and Etim are all expected to play in college.
North Little Rock has won a total of 14 state championships, while Central has won 19, including last year’s co-championship with Conway.
North Little Rock roster
0 - Jaden Smith, G, 5-10
1 - Tracy Steele, G, 6-3
2 - Deangilo “D.J.” Smith, G, 5-11
3 - Charles Maris, G, 5-10
4 - Kareame Cotton, F, 6-2
10 - Kel'el Ware, C, 7-0
11 - Ubong Abasi Etim, F, 6-8
13 - Joshua Evans, G, 5-10
20 - Mario Frazier, G, 6-2
21 - Joseph “Reed” Miller, G, 6-0
22 - Peyton “Kai” Davis, G, 6-2
23 - Kelon Jackson, G, 6-3
32 - Alan Ingram, G, 6-3