Varnado’s Wildcats suffered an 89-63 loss to Jonesboro-Hodge in the opening round of the Class 1A state playoffs on the road Friday.
Gary Crumedy led the Wildcats with 23 points, which included two 3-pointers.
Armontee Kemp posted 12 points.
James Williams tallied nine points while Adrian Bickham posted seven, Jadarrell Magee recorded six, JoNathan Green posted four and Jaheim Hooks added two. Williams hit a 3-pointer for Varnado.
The 23rd-seeded Wildcats finished the season with an 11-12 record.
“We lost a lot of close games,” Varnado coach Brett Cooper said. “We just couldn’t finish the close games. We were one game away from the district championship. We weren’t blown out of many games, we just dropped a lot of close ones.”
Varnado lost five games by four points or fewer.
The Wildcats had nine seniors — Crumedy, Green, Kemp, Magee, Williams, Cameron Allen, Jacorrius Bickham, Ardarryl McGowan and Jeroderick Robinson.
“They’re a talented group of kids,” Cooper said. “They play just about every sport. They’re athletic. I just hate that we lost in the first round.”
No. 10 Jonesboro-Hodge (14-10) advanced to the regional round to face seventh-seeded Lincoln Preparatory School (15-12). Lincoln Preparatory School defeated No. 26 Montgomery (11-13), 66-36, in the opening round.