Having been scheduled as an away game against the Warren Lumberjacks on January 3, the contest was agreed to be changed to a home contest for Monticello in order to exchange the Warren home contest to be the first varsity basketball game to be played in the new Lumberjack Arena on Friday, January 27, in what would prove to be a classic game between the two rival schools.
Coming into the contest, Monticello would enter the contest in the fourth position in the 8-4A with Warren being a game behind the Billies in fifth,
With Warren being awarded the opportunity to host the 4A South Regional Tournament, the Lumberjacks would have to defeat the Billies to keep their tournament chances alive.
For the Billies, Monticello needed a win against the Lumberjacks to move one step closer to securing a spot in the Regional Tournament.
Warren would control the opening tip, but it would be Monticello to get on the board first on two points by Quay Rhodes with 7:35 on the clock.
Tejon Tensley would extend the lead to 5-0 after connecting on a three-pointer with 7:05 remaining in the quarter.
Warren’s Neondre Thomas would get the Lumberjacks on the board with 4:38 showing on the clock, cutting the Billie lead to 5-2.
The Billies would go on to outscore the Lumberjacks in the quarter 16-9 with the quarter being capped off by Jagger Hines scoring the last five points for Monticello in the quarter.
Monticello’s scoring would hit a lull in the second quarter with the Billies getting scores from Luke Jones, Jeremiah Daniels, and Rhodes for six points in the quarter.
Warren’s Antonio Jordan would become the hot commodity in the second quarter, scoring 11 of the Lumberjacks 23 points in the quarter to give the Lumberjacks a 10-point, 32-22, lead heading into the half.
Monticello would regain the momentum in the third quarter behind Rhodes’ nine points as the Billies’ defense would hold the Lumberjacks to four points in the quarter, outscoring the Lumberjacks 19-4 in the quarter to regain a five-point, 41-36, lead heading into the fourth quarter after going on a 19-0 run before Warren’s Malik Day stopped the Billies’ scoring run with a three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Lumberjacks would score the first three points of the fourth quarter to cut the Billie lead to two points, 41-39, with 5:28 remaining in the contest.
Jeremiah Daniels would increase the Billie lead to four points, but Warren would come back to score the next three points to cut the lead to one-point, 43-42, with 4:09 remaining,
Luke Jones would give the Billies a 45-42 advantage with 3:50 showing on the clock, but Warren’s Jordan would pull the Lumberjacks within one point with 2:33 remaining in the contest, 45-44.
Jordan would connect on a three-pointer with 41 seconds remaining in the contest to put the Lumberjacks up 47-45, but Monticello’e Jagger Hines would connect on a three-pointer with seconds remaining on the clock to put the Billies up one-point, 48-47.
With mere seconds remaining in the contest, the Lumberjacks would get the ball into the hands of Jordan, driving the length of the court to connect on a shot as time expired to hand the Billies a 49-48 defeat.
Leading the Billies in scoring was Quay Rhodes with 15 points followed by Luke Jones with 12.
Jagger Hines added eight points, Tejon Tensley with seven points, and Jeremiah Daniels rounding out the scoring with six points.
Warren’s Antonio Jordan led all scorers with 28 points.
With the loss, the Billies and Lumberjacks are now tied for the fourth spot in the 4A South Regional.
For the Lumberjacks, Warren will face Stuttgart, Crossett, Star City, Hamburg, Little Rock Mills, and Watson Chapel in their final games of the regular season.
Warren has lost to Stuttgart 54-45 at Stuttgart, 66-40 at Watson Chapel, and a 76-30 lose at home to Little Rock Mills.
The Lumberjacks hold wins over Crossett, Hamburg, and Star City.
For Monticello, the Billies will host Star City, who they defeated at Star City 64-55.
The Billies will travel to Hamburg and hold a 65-48 win over the Lions.
The Billies will travel to Watson Chapel on February 7. The Wildcats hold a victory over the Billies, defeating Monticello at Dan Coston Fieldhouse, 54-45.
Monticello will host Crossett on February 10 and Little Rock Mills on February 14.
Monticello holds a win over Crossett, 56-49, with Mills holding a win over Monticello, 72-41.
The Billies will close the regular season on the road against Stuttgart, who defeated the Billies at home 77-68 on January 24.
The current standings in the 4A-8 Conference has Watson Chapel in the top spot with an overall record of 18-7 and 8-0 in conference play, Little Rock Mills with an overall record of 12-10 and 6-2 in conference play. Stuttgart is listed third with an overall record of 12-4 and 6-2 in conference.
Monticello and Warren are listed in the fourth and fifth spots with Monticello having an overall record of 6-14, 4-4, and Warren with a record of 5-7, 4-4.
Star City has a record of 9-12, 2-6, Crossett with a record of 5-18, 1-7, and Hamburg with a record of 4-11, 1-7.
