HARRISON — It was closer than the scoreboard showed.
Tuesday night in the Class 1A State Basketball Tournament being held at North Arkansas College, the Jasper Pirates had three bad trips down the floor in an one minute stretch that resulted in Marked Tree securing a first round win over the Pirates.
Marked Tree defeated Jasper, 56-38.
Jasper could have thrown in the towel at halftime, however, the Pirates didn’t.
Three straight points by the Pirates, which included a bucket by Blake Williams and a free throw by Malijah Campbell, cut the Marked Tree lead to single digits at 40-31, with 2:58 left in the third.
Jasper didn’t score again and the aggressive Indians scored two baskets before the quarter ended. Both of the field goals were after collecting an offensive rebound.
The Pirates started the fourth with a basket from Spencer Traywick after he got a pass from Sawyer Willis.
The Indians responded with a score.
Traywick scored for the Pirates after Williams picked off a pass while laying on the floor.
Neither team scored until nearly two minutes later. Williams attempted a 3-point shot and was fouled.
He hit the first and third free throws to cut the score to 46-37.