By Scott Loftis
SLoftis@CarrollCoNews.com
The Eureka Springs Highlanders are going back to the regional tournament.
The Highlanders clinched a regional bid with a 66-45 victory over Yellville-Summit in the second round of the 2A-1 district tournament Tuesday night at Highlander Arena. The win sends Eureka Springs to the district tournament semifinals against Ozark Mountain at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
It’s the second consecutive regional tournament appearance for Eureka Springs, which won the regional on its home floor last season with a victory over eventual state champion Lavaca in the championship game.
The Highlanders and Yellville-Summit split their two regular-season meetings this season, with Eureka Springs hanging on for a two-point victory in Yellville and the Panthers winning by 18 points at Highlander Arena in mid-December.
But everything went the Highlanders’ way on Tuesday.
“It was one of those games where we got ahead of them early,” Eureka Springs coach Brian Rambo said. “They actually made a bucket right at the end of the first quarter to tie it, but we always felt like we were in control of the game. That was pretty odd because the first time we played them, we kind of got on our heels a little bit and had to play catchup and then at their place it was just back and forth. So we were expecting the game Tuesday night just to be a slugfest and a tight game. But it just never felt like we weren’t comfortable at any point in the game. It was a really nice feeling.”
Senior Dylan Johnson led the Highlanders with 24 points while classmate Shane Holloway added 22. Junior Michael Lester scored nine and senior Elijah Williams chipped in five points.
“I think we’re playing good basketball right now,” Rambo said. “Dylan played really well again and Shane had the game of his life come at the right time. So I really think we’re playing good basketball. Any game I thought was going to be a coin flip in the tournament, now I feel like we have a little bit of an advantage.”
Eureka Springs also got a boost from freshman guard Kenner Leavell — one of six freshman brought up from the junior high squad for the postseason.
“He’s about 5-foot-5,” Rambo said. “He’s a small little guard. But when he came in the game, he injected so much energy into my bunch. He just really affects the game. I was hoping he’d be able to come in and do that and take care of the basketball. Being on the big stage like that, I didn’t know how he would react but he came in and hit a big three in the game and got the crowd involved. That was huge for him and huge for our team.”
Now, the pressure is off the Highlanders for the rest of the district tournament. With a regional bid wrapped up, Rambo’s team is now playing for seeding in the regional.
“I told my guys, we’re playing free basketball now,” Rambo said. “We were playing for our lives the first night and now we get to play some free basketball and just play for a seed.”
Eureka Springs’ game against Ozark Mountain is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Highlander Arena.
The 2A West regional will be played at Hector beginning Wednesday, Feb. 22.
Eureka Springs’ girls lost to Cotter 57-30 Tuesday night, ending the Lady Highlanders’ season.