WOODLAWN - Raylon Lawson scored 28 points as the Woodlawn Bears wrapped up second place in the 8-2A regular season standings with a 66-43 win over the county rival Rison Wildcats last Thursday night in the Carl Jones Sports Complex Gym.
By virtue of finishing second, the Bears are automatically in the 8-2A District Tournament semifinals to be held at 5:15 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at Gurdon. By virtue of making the semifinals, the Bears have already assured themselves of making the Class 2A South Region Tournament to be held Feb. 23-25 at Fordyce.
The Bears will face the winner between Junction City and the Gurdon/Rison winner in Friday's semifinal. Should Woodlawn win, it would play in the district tournament championship game at 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18. There will be no consolation game this year.
The Bears ended the regular season winning four straight league games and eight of their last nine. Their only setback during that stretch was a 71-54 loss at league-winner Fordyce.
Woodlawn completed the regular season with a 14-8 record overall and a 9-3 mark in conference action. Fordyce went undefeated in league play to win the 8-2A regular season title.
Rison, meanwhile, finished the season 2-12 overall and 2-10 in conference play after falling to Ouachita on Friday. The Wildcats will be the no. 6 seed heading into this week's district tournament at Gurdon, and would need to advance to the district semifinals to continue their season.
The Bears went into last week needing a win against Parkers Chapel or Rison to secure the no. 2 seed. They got that last Tuesday when Landen Booth had one of the best games of his career to score 27 points and lead Woodlawn to a 77-66 home win over Parkers Chapel.
The Wildcats got off to a good start against the Bears last Thursday night when Thomas Wilson drilled the first of two from behind the arch to give Rison an early 3-0 lead. Owen Morrison's lay up extende...
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