W. Memphis holds off Cabot

7A/6A-EAST BOYS

WEST MEMPHIS 53, CABOT 44

WEST MEMPHIS -- The West Memphis boys rode season-best shooting through the first three quarters to defeat Cabot 53-44.

West Memphis (9-7 overall, 2-1 in 7A/6A-East) made 7 of its first 10 three-point shots and hit 10 of 15 attempts from the field in the first half.

The Blue Devils also got 39 bench points, outscoring the Panthers by 24 in that category.

"We went five in and five out tonight for the first time all season," West Memphis Coach Larry Bray said. "We were originally supposed to play each group two hard minutes at a time. We went longer than that, but the point I kept telling the guys in practice was that there's no reason why they shouldn't play as hard as they can for two minutes at a time. It worked well. I don't know if we'll continue to do it, though."

The Blue Devils came out with the hot hand, running up a 17-2 advantage after the first quarter. Cabot (10-5, 1-2) missed all seven of its field-goal attempts in the first quarter, but the Panthers finally found the stroke in the second quarter.

They cut a 15-point deficit to six by hitting 6 of 9 shots from the field in the second quarter, including 3 of 5 from the bonus arc.

Despite several leads of 10 or more points in the second half, the Blue Devils couldn't shake Cabot. West Memphis led 37-21 in the third quarter, but the visitors got within six points twice in the fourth quarter by making 4 of their first 7 three-pointers.

West Memphis sealed the victory with a layup from Darius Hall, who had a key block in the final minute, and two free throws by Ahmere Albert with 20 seconds to play.

Substitute Robert Harris scored all 16 of his game-high total in the second half, including a 2 of 2 effort from three-point range. Damarious Hudson and Dylan Gazo added nine points apiece.

Cabot got 12 points from Jalen Brown, while Hunter Southerland scored 10.

Sports on 01/16/2016

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