LITTLE ROCK — Little Rock Hall Coach Jon Coleman would like to see his Warriors play with a little more consistency. But then again, he liked what he saw Tuesday night.
Sophomore Javan Perry sparked a 14-0 onslaught to start the second quarter ,and the Warriors went on to take a season-opening 69-49 victory over North Little Rock at Cirks Arena.
Perry finished with 12 points, eight coming in the first four minutes of the second quarter.
“When we played that benefit game at Fort Smith Northside, we scored in bunches,” Coleman said. “Our early-season tendencies have shown we can do that. I would really like us to be a little more consistent, but I like the way we’ve been able to score a lot in a short amount of time.”
North Little Rock (1-1) led 11-5 with 3:55 to play in the first quarter, but the Charging Wildcats did not hit another field goal until Jamicah Gibson beat the halftime buzzer with a three-pointer.
In between, North Little Rock’s six-point advantage became a 33-21 halftime deficit.
“That was disaster,” North Little Rock Coach Richard Alexander said. “We got rattled when they started pressing us. We just kind of lost it. We were throwing the ball away. We were jacking jump shots. You’ve got to keep your composure against the press.”
Perry started the second quarter assault with a three pointer and a 12-footer that gave Hall a 12-11 lead with 6:55 to play in the half.
Quan Jones added a three pointer and Aaron Walton followed with three consecutive field goals to push the Warriors’ lead to 21-11.
North Little Rock’s Reggie Bryles ended Hall’s scoring string with a field goal, but the Perry added another three pointer and Walton added another layup to increase the Warriors’ lead to 26-12.
“We were looking more to our defense in the first quarter,” Perry said. “In the second quarter, we wanted to score. Once we did, I could feel the momentum start to go our way.”
North Little Rock was never any closer than 10 points the rest of the first half. Hall’s biggest advantage was 60-34 with 4:35 remaining.
Walton and Myles Taylor also scored 12 points each for Hall. Jones finished with a team-high six assists.
Bryles led North Little Rock with 17 points, while Chris Campbell added nine.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK (49) Green 2 0-0 4, Gibson 1 2-2 5, Ware 2 0-0 4, Hollister 1 0-0 3, Cooper 1 0-0 2, Bryles 4 8-13 17, Campbell 4 0-0 9, Coleman 1 3-4 5. Totals 16 13-19 49.
LITTLE ROCK HALL (69) Gulley 0 1-2 1, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Berete 1 0-0 2, Dillard 1 2-2 4, Jones 2 2-2 7, Portis 0 3-4 3, Perry 4 2-2 12, Scaife 3 1-2 7, Walton 6 0-2 12, Taylor 4 4-6 12, Banyard 4 1-2 9. Totals 25 16-24 69.
North Little Rock (1-1) ...............11 10 10 18 - 49 LR Hall (1-0) .......................... 7 26 16 20 - 69 Three-point goals - NLR 4 (Gibson, Hollister, Bryles, Campbell), Hall 3 (Perry 2, Jones). Team fouls - NLR 22, Hall 18.
Sports, Pages 25 on 11/24/2010