North Little Rock survived a double-overtime affair with West Memphis on Tuesday.
Despite the extra wear, Coach Daryl Fimple said the Lady Charging Wildcats have enough in the tank to give top-ranked Little Rock Central a challenge on the road Friday.
"Heck, yeah, we're ready," Fimple said. "We've come to the part of our schedule where we've been waiting for these type of games."
North Little Rock (15-4, 4-1 7A/6A-East) outscored West Memphis 12-7 in the second overtime to earn an 85-80 victory. Central (18-0, 5-0) remained perfect by beating Marion 56-29 on Tuesday, holding the Lady Patriots to nine points and one field goal in the second half.
"Central is extremely talented," Fimple said. "They have size, speed. Just looking at them, they may have eight or nine players who will probably go on to play college."
Central has proven to be awe-inspiring at home. The Lady Tigers are outscoring opponents by an average of 48.3 points a game in three conference games at the Tigers' fieldhouse.
"It a gym where we've played well in," Fimple said. "But it's a difficult place to play. I think they're comfortable there. It's hard to score on them, but it's hard to score on them in general."
Kiara Williams, a University of Arkansas signee, scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Tuesday's victory over Marion, which committed 12 second-half turnovers.
North Little Rock guard Kyra Collier scored 33 points in the victory over West Memphis. Fimple said it was an amazing performance considering the 5-9 senior was involved in an automobile wreck less than 24 hours before Tuesday's game.
"Another driver ran a red light, and Kyra got T-boned," Fimple said. "Luckily, she was hit on the passenger side while she was driving. We were worried about her being sore, but she said, 'Coach, I'm playing.' "
North Little Rock is averaging 65.9 points a game.
"This bunch of mine likes to score, but we don't play defense as well as some teams I've had," Fimple said. "It ought to be an entertaining game."
OSCEOLA
High-scoring Seminoles
Frankie Gathen can't help but brag.
Gathen, who has a combined 15 years of coaching at Osceola, said this year's Seminoles have all the ingredients to make a deep postseason run.
"They've got potential," said Gathen, whose team improved to 10-4 after Tuesday's 76-55 rout of Rivercrest. "We've got a lot of post players. We've got plenty of guards. I rotate 13 players in and out. We wear people down. I think we can play with anybody in the state. I'm not a cocky coach, but I like this bunch."
The Seminoles had six players score 10 or more points in Tuesday's victory, including a 14-point, 18-rebound, 7-block performance from 6-7 junior Darion Gilmore.
"He can jump, make good passes, and he's very adept at blocking shots," Gathen said. "He's the complete package."
Also Tuesday, freshman Michael Caruthers scored 13 points, and sophomore Derrell Brown added 11 points. Senior Jameion Anderson, sophomore Steveon Fowler and senior Kevion Adams all put in 10 points for Osceola.
On Friday, the Seminoles will play at Manila (15-4, 5-1) in a game that will most likely determine the 3A-3 Conference champion. Osceola is 6-0 in league play and defeated Manila 65-56 in Osceola on Jan. 8.
"Manila is a different style of team, but they're a team that is aggressive," Gathen said.
Manila used a 28-point performance from sophomore guard Bradey Woodall to knock off Corning 78-41 on Tuesday.
"Our team's mindset is that they want to go through the conference season unbeaten," Gathen said. "We know it's going to be a battle over there."
BAPTIST PREP
Wrapping it up?
With six conference games remaining, Baptist Prep has a three-game lead in the 4A-4. Friday's game at Ozark is one Eagles' Coach Brian Ross has been pointing to for a while.
"It's a big game for us," Ross said. "They are going to be tough to beat at their place."
The Eagles (13-7, 8-0) defeated Ozark 50-47 in Little Rock on Dec. 18 in the conference opener for both teams. Ozark (14-7, 6-3) is coming off a 64-52 loss at Dover on Tuesday, but the Hillbillies are 4-0 at home against league opponents.
Connor Vanover, the Eagles' 7-2 sophomore post player, scored 18 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and blocked 4 shots in Tuesday's 69-45 victory over Clinton. The Eagles also have gotten a boost from freshman guard Issac McBride, who is the team's top-scoring guard while coming off the bench.
"A credit to him, he doesn't have a big head or anything like that," Ross said of McBride. "He's willing to come off the bench, and he's done a great job in that role. I asked him about it, and he said he's fine with it. And I like having offensive firepower coming off the bench halfway through the first quarter."
Ross said his veteran players are happy the freshman is making a contribution.
"We had a lot of returning players, and they have welcomed [McBride] right in," Ross said. "They are very unselfish in getting him as many looks as they have. I've been really happy with the team chemistry."
LITTLE ROCK FAIR
Back-to-back victories
A night after posting a 22-point victory over a key conference rival on the road, Little Rock Fair had to scrap to put away a struggling opponent on the War Eagles’ home court.
Fair defeated Beebe, 52-37, in a make-up game Wednesday night, but the War Eagles (15-4, 5-2) were anything but in command.
War Eagles Coach Charlie Johnson had a hard time explaining his team’s effort.
“It was real hard to find any motivation, and you could see that by the way we played,” Johnson said. “We were sluggish. We didn’t execute our offense as well as we should have. We just played down to the level of our competition.”
Junior post player Kris Bankston scored 19 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and had 3 blocks, 3 assists and 2 steals. Jerrick Cole, who had 21 points against Little Rock McClellan on Tuesday, was held scoreless in the first half Wednesday. Cole finished with 13 points. Guard Nick Jones added 11 points.
“We’ve got to bring the A-game every night,” Johnson said. “I knew we might have been emotionally drained tonight, but still, we can’t fall into that trap. We’ve got to play like it’s a rivalry game every night.”
Beebe (3-12, 0-7) led 7-4 after one quarter and 13-12 midway through the second quarter before Fair began to pull away. The War Eagles led 22-14 at the half and 38-20 after three quarters.
Beebe senior Bryson Bell hit five three-pointers to account for all of his team-high 15 points.
Beebe’s girls scored the first 25 points on their way to a 65-15 victory over Fair. Junior Kierston Miller came off the bench to led the Lady Badgers (16-4, 7-0) with 15 points. Senior Gracie Turner added 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds. For Fair, junior Jabreonia Veasey scored all 15 of her team’s points.
Camden Fairview’s girls defeated White Hall 66-30 on Wednesday behind a 21-point effort from junior Mikeya Haygood. Senior Khenedy Fletcher added 15 for the Lady Cardinals.
Fairview’s boys notched a 54-44 victory over White Hall. Senior Kimonte Wilson’s 11 points paced the Cardinals. White Hall junior Trevonne Hall led all scorers with 18 points.
Jasper’s girls held a 42-4 halftime lead on Bruno-Pyatt before finally taking a 61-16 victory in 1A-1 East action. Junior Cassie Emerson scored 16, and senior Bailey Pruitt had 13 for the Lady Pirates (22-5, 12-0).
Jake Wynn’s 30 points lifted Valley Springs (24-4, 11-1) over Bergman, 86-47 in a 3A-1 East game. Dalton Hogue added 17 for Valley Springs. Tyler Hinson put in 20 for Bergman. Valley Springs’ girls (25-4, 12-0) topped Bergman 58-47 behind 22 points from Payton Tennison. Jessi Van Lear led Bergman with 17 points.
LAST-SECOND SHOTS
Little Rock Parkview's boys have won 33 consecutive conference games. The Patriots' previous conference loss came to Little Rock Hall at the end of the 2012-2013 season. Parkview will host Hall on Friday. ... Van Buren Coach Randy Loyd earned his 700th career coaching victory Saturday when the Pointers topped Catholic, 56-34. In 22 years at Van Buren, Loyd is 348-244 with three conference titles and 14 state tournament appearances. His overall record is 701-362. He also coached at Johnson County Westside and County Line. ... Vilonia's girls stayed unbeaten in the 5A-West on Tuesday with a 67-46 victory over Little Rock Christian. Sarah Brantley scored 16 points and Sydney Wader added 14 for the Lady Eagles (13-6, 6-0). ... Izard County (23-6, 8-0) clinched its third consecutive 1A-2 North title Tuesday with a 54-38 victory over Calico Rock (20-7, 6-3). Andrew Walker led the Cougars with 18 points and 13 rebounds. ... Izard County's girls also claimed a share of the conference title with a 65-52 victory over the Lady Pirates. Kennedy Cooper scored 19 points and Abby Brashear 13 points for the Lady Cougars (23-4, 8-0). ... Valley Springs improved to 23-4 and 10-1 in the 3A-1 East with a 71-50 victory over Mountain View. Jake Wynn led the Tigers with 21 points. The Lady Tigers improved to 24-4 with a 73-53 victory over Mountain View. Payton Tennison's 20 points led Valley Springs. ... Poyen's girls avenged an earlier loss to Mountain Pine with a 66-50 victory in 2A-5 action Tuesday. Kai Montiho led the Lady Indians with 14 points, while Emma Goodman and Lindy Shope added 11 points each. Poyen hosts England, the No. 1 team in Class 2A, tonight.
Sports on 01/28/2016