BATESVILLE, Arkansas - The Mark Martin/Lyon College Invitational Tournament got underway on Monday night at Becknell Gymnasium with lots of fireworks.
(2023 Mark Martin/Lyon College High School Invitational Tournament photo Gallery DAY 1)

Searcy 62, Cedar Ridge 29 (Girls)
In Game 1 of the day, the Searcy Lady Lions (8-2) defeated the Cedar Ridge Lady Timberwolves (4-4) 62-29 behind 19 points from Zaniyah Johnson. Searcy got 13 points from London Flowers and Sara McCain scored 11 in the victory.
The Lady Lions led 12-11 after a tight first quarter, then behind the three-point shooting from Johnson, led 26-18 at halftime. Searcy outscored Cedar Ridge 18-3 in the third quarter and 18-8 in the fourth period to roll into the tournament semifinals against the Thayer Lady Bobcats on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
Cedar Ridge was led by Emilee Pankey with 14 points, while Klara Gooch scored nine.


London Flowers goes up for a shot as Lady Timberwolves' Klara Gooch tries to stop her. (Emma de Brum)


Manila 55, Wynne 54 (Girls)
In Game 2, the Manila Lady Lions (6-1) trailed by 11 points heading into the final quarter, but outscored the Wynne Yellowjackets (6-3) 24-14 and Bailey Wilson made a three-pointer with 13 seconds left to tie the game at 54-54, then came up with a steal and was fouled with 2.9 seconds remaining. Wilson sank the second free throw of a two-shot foul to lift the Lady Lions to a 55-54 victory.
The Lady Yellowjackets led 11-0 before Manila scored in the first quarter. Wynne led 13-4 when the first period ended and 23-19 at halftime. Behind 18 points from Zarriah Adams and 17 by Jada Green, Wynne took a 40-31 lead heading in to the fourth period.
Lucy Farmer led Manila with 15 points, Jenna LaRose, who sparked the fourth quarter rally for the Lady Lions, scored 13 points and Wilson finished with 10. The Lady Lions will await the winner of the Nettleton-Gosnell game at 6 p.m. on Thursday night.


Manila's Jenna LaRose goes up for a shot while Wynne's Kylia Cody tries to block it. (Photo by Emma de Brum)


Thayer 72, Southside 30 (Girls)
Game 3 on the night went to the Thayer Lady Bobcats (1-1) in a 72-30 win over the Southside Lady Southerners (4-4). Hadley Meyer led Thayer with 21 points, while Abby Bowers scored 16 and Kayden Hilles added nine points.
Thayer led 13-7 after the first quarter and outscored Southside 27-5 in the second period to lead 40-12 at halftime. It was 59-22 by the end of the third quarter with Meyer doing most of the damage with eight points in the period. She added seven more at the beginning of the fourth quarter before retiring to the bench for the rest of the game.
Sierra Carter led Southside with nine points, while Chaney McCnace added six and Rose Branscum scored five.
Thayer will play Searcy on Thursday night.


Thayer's Hadley Meyer gets two of her game-high 21 points in a 70-32 win over Southside. (Photo by Emma de Brum)

Cedar Ridge 60, Southside 58 (Boys)
The fourth game featured a rivalry game between the Cedar Ridge Timberwolves (9-1) and the Southside Southerners (1-5).
Southside came out on fire and took a 17-12 lead by the end of a fast-paced first quarter behind five points from Tyler Carter and four points from Kaden Williams. The Timberwolves trailed by as much as 10 points in the second period, 27-17, but Caden Griffin and Kyle Provence led a charge back that got Cedar Ridge within six points by halftime, 31-26.
Thanks to a three-point play from Williams and five straight points from Tanner Elumbaugh, the Southerners increased their lead to 43-29, but Cedar Ridge came back with a Griffin three-point play and an offensive rebound put-back. Provence added two free throws to cut the Southside lea to 45-38 heading into the fourth quarter.
Kade Barber completed a three-point play to start the period, then Southside was issued a technical foul that resulted in two free throws from Matt Hendrix. After Elumbaugh canned a three-pointer, Trey Allen hit a trey for Southside to make it 51-45, but a second technical foul was called on the Southerners. Hendrix made one of two free throws.
Later in the period, Southside had built a 55-47 lead behind the scoring of Cameron Foree, but Easton Griffin put back an offensive rebound for Cedar Ridge and Provence nailed a three-pointer. Caden Griffin got a steal and put in a layup to cut the Southside lead to one point with 2:27 left to go.
Caden Griffin added two free throws to put the Timberwolves up by two points and a basket from Barber made it a 59-56 lead with 1:41 to go. Clifton Pate put in a basket for Southside to cut it to one point, but with five seconds remaining, Provence made one of two from the free throw line to give the Timberwolves a two-point cushion.
Caden Griffin led Cedar Ridge with 24 points, Barber finished with 12 and Provence added 10 in the win that puts the Timberwolves in the tournament semifinals on Thursday afternoon at 4:45 against the Searcy Lions, who received a bye in the first round.
Southside will play on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. against the Loser of Wynne vs. Batesville. Carter led Southside with 17 points, while Williams had 13 and Elumbaugh finished with 12.


Cedar Ridge's Caden Griffin goes up for a shot against Southside's Kaden Williams in a thriller that the Timberwolves won 60-58. (Photo by Emma de Brum)