RISON - Jude Roberts laid one in off the glass with about 1 minute left to break a 72-72 tie as the Woodlawn Bears closed out the game with a 6-1 run to knock off the two-time defending state champion East Poinsett County Warriors, 78-73, in the first round of the Class 2A State Basketball Tournament Tuesday evening at the Poyen High School Athletic Complex.Woodlawn now advances to the quarterfinals to play the winner between Barton and Mountainburg, which are scheduled to play at 8:30 p.m. tonight (Wednesday, March 4).Roberts’ bucket put the Bears up 74-72 but EPC’s Jacob Gaines was fouled on the Warriors’ ensuing possession, putting him at the line with 41 seconds left. He made the first free throw but the second was no good, and Jake Allred eventually hauled in the rebound and fed it to Roberts on the other side of the court. Roberts streaked down the sideline and made a perfect bounce pass to an open Ethan Saeler under the basket who laid it in for a 76-73 Woodlawn lead with 28 seconds left.As Gaines tried to drive to the basket to answer for EPC, Roberts reached in and knocked the ball away where Evan Donnell came up with it for Woodlawn with 18 seconds left. After the Warriors fouled twice to get the Bears to the free throw line, Allred knocked down both attempts with 13 seconds left to make it a two-possession game at 78-73, essentially sealing the game for Woodlawn.After seeing what he described as a disappointing shooting performance in the regional tournament, Adair said he was glad to finally see several players step up at the same time in the same game.The Bears had four players score in double figures and Woodlawn hit 12 3-pointers overall. Roberts led all scorers with 37 followed by Allred with 14, Saeler with 13 and Donnell with 12. Roberts hit five from deep while Donnell drained four and Allred three. Saeler was a perfect 7-of-7 at the free throw line.“We finally got a game where four people...
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