Prior to the beginning of the 2024 -25 LHSAA basketball season the consensus opinion was that Arcadia would be a contender for the district 1-1A crown in both the girls and boys divisions. 

On Friday, the two Hornet squads looked the part as Arcadia swept Jonesboro-Hodge by a 53-17 score in the girls game and 69-50 in the boys contest. The losses saddled the JHHS boys with an 0-2 mark in 1-1A play and dropped the Tigers to 5-14 overall. The Lady Tigers fell to 9-12 overall and 1-1 in district competition. Arcadia’s girls, ranked #1 in Division IV among “non-select” schools, improved to 18-3 overall and 2-0 in district play while the Hornets now stand at 10-5 and 1-1. 

Arcadia 53 JHHS 17 (girls): The defending Divison IV state champions proved why they hold the top ranking again this year as the Lady Hornets jumped out to a 22-8 first-quarter lead that ballooned to a 40 -11 margin at the half. Morgan McGee led JHHS with 6 points, followed by Tyya Davis with four. Jaylena Jackson made J-H’s only three-pointer of the contest and both Nesha Johnson and Sanaa Tatum made a basket each. 

Arcadia 69 JHHS 50 (boys) A slow start spelled doom for JHHS as the Tigers managed only seven first-quarter points and just 16 by the half. Ariy’un Bradford got hot after the break to score 12 of his team-high 14 points while D. J. Palmer tallied 13 points. Dylan Hayes added six, Samuel Combs finished with five, and Kamerin Bradley scored four points. Both Tysen Burks and Pierce Ulloa tallied three points each and C. Gray added a basket for the Tigers. 

JHHS will travel to Haynesville on Friday for three games with the junior varsity getting things started with a 5:00 pm tip-off followed by varsity girls and boys action.