When conference rivals meet during the regular season, the teams usually have at least three weeks before they see each other the second time around.
Teams from the 7A-Central Conference are having to wait only three days.
Top-ranked Little Rock Central’s girls will play tonight at No. 3 North Little Rock.
“It’s a rival game, the kids are going to play hard,” North Little Rock Coach Daryl Fimple said. “The kids all know each other. They play in the summers. It’s something big and it usually has conference championship implications on it. I’m sure there will be a packed house at our place, probably 3,000 people, standing room only. It will be a wonderful game and it will be really, really good for high school girls basketball.”
North Little Rock (18-2, 6-1) rallied for a 64-56 victory Tuesday in front of a jampacked Tiger Fieldhouse, ending a nine-game winning streak for Little Rock Central (19-2, 6-1).
North Little Rock trailed 42-33 midway through the third quarter, but the Charging Wildcats outscored the Lady Tigers 31-14 the remainder of the game.
“No doubt, no doubt,” said Central Coach Michael Green, when asked if he thought tonight’s game would be just as intense as Tuesday’s. “Like I told my kids, ‘all we have to do is regroup.’ We’ve got two days. We’ll go over there and I expect the same game but with different results.”
Junior guard Amber Hawkison led North Little Rock with 17 points and senior Mackenzie Tillman scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half.
Central went more than five minutes without a point during the fourth quarter thanks to North Little Rock’s time-killing possessions, one of which lasted 2½ minutes.
“Two or three weeks ago I don’t think we could have done that,” Fimple said. “We probably would have thrown it in the stands or taken out a couple of cheerleaders. It would have been a pretty bad deal.”
Central sophomore Jordan Greenwood led her team with 18 points while three other Lady Tigers — Abigayle Jackson, Bre’Amber Scott and Erynn Barnum — each added 12.
AUGUSTA
A long shot
Augusta guard Alonza Tripp scores the majority of his points off steals and on fast breaks. Last Friday, the 5-7 junior added a 75-footer to his resume.
With 1.9 seconds left in the third quarter, Tripp’s desperation shot from the opposing free-throw line went off the glass and through the net to give the Red Devils a fivepoint advantage over Palestine-Wheatley. Augusta eventually won 55-51.
“At first I’m thinking, ‘why is he shooting?’ ” Augusta Coach Roy Daniels said. “I’m glad he did.”
Tripp is averaging 20 points, 7 steals and 5 assists for the Red Devils (8-12). But Daniels said one of the last things he wants to see is Tripp taking a jump shot.
“It’s ugly,” Daniels said. “He doesn’t have the best-looking shot, but he gets a lot of steals and he knows how to get to the basket and score.”
Daniels said the long shot was a first for him as a coach.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Daniels said. “It was unbelievable.”
NETTLETON
Strong in the fourth
Nettleton is the state’s lone remaining girls unbeaten team. A solid fourth quarter of Tuesday’s 58-46 victory over Valley View helped the Lady Raiders remain that way.
“I didn’t feel we made the necessary adjustments to the way the game was being called until the fourth quarter,” Nettleton Coach Jason Smith said. “We finally decided to just play. I was proud of the kids for that. The fourth quarter was really good.”
Nettleton (22-0) held a 25-24 halftime advantage and had increased that lead to 39-35 by the start of the fourth. The Lady Raiders outscored Valley View 19-11 in the final eight minutes.
Juniors Bailey Booker and Jordan Elder each scored 13 points for Nettleton. Both scored 10 points in the second half.
“I thought that we guarded better,” Smith said of his team’s fourth quarter. “I thought we did a good job on the boards all night. I just thought we buckled down a little bit and I thought our press wore them down some. And then we had some kids to step up and make some plays.”
Sophomore Mya Love, who was held to seven points Tuesday, leads the team at 13.1 points a game. Elder is averaging 11.9. Sophomore Dasia Young is averaging a teamhigh 7.3 rebounds.
LAST-SECOND SHOTS
Jonesboro (21-0) is ranked No. 7 in the latest MaxPreps Xcellent 25 boys poll and the Hurricane are at No. 16 in the MaxPreps Computer Rankings. … Fayetteville’s Lady Bulldogs are ranked No. 23 by USA Today. There are no girls team from Arkansas in the latest MaxPreps rankings. … Jasper’s Lady Pirates earned their 43rd consecutive conference victory Tuesday night with a 74-42 victory over Lead Hill. Senior Cassie Emerson led Jasper with 25 points. … The Norfork Lady Panthers have hit a state-record 278 three-pointers this season. The previous record was 275, set by Marmaduke in 2012-2013. … University of Arkansas signee Daniel Gafford scored 11 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and blocked 4 shots in Tuesday’s 88-50 victory over Hot Springs. The Wildcats held Louisiana Tech-signee Exavian Christon to 15 points.