7A-CENTRAL BOYS

NLR takes squeaker in 3 OTs

It took three overtimes for the North Little Rock Charging Wildcats to walk away 94-91 winners over the Fort Smith Northside Grizzlies at North Little Rock Gymnasium on Friday night.

That the game didn't go to a fourth came almost as a surprise.

It was dominated by senior point guards and a junior shooter from Northside, but two free throws by sophomore forward Collin Moore gave North Little Rock (20-5, 11-1 7A-Central) a three-point lead with 19.2 seconds left in the third overtime.

Senior point guard Tevin Brewer had scored 25 points and junior shooting guard Isaiah Joe had poured in 36 points when Northside prepared for its final possession.

Twenty minutes after the last buzzer, North Little Rock Coach Johnny Rice sat in his office and pointed at a white plastic board with the names of Northside players written in grease pencil. Brewer's and Joe's were the only ones on the board

"See, we knew who we had to guard," Rice said. "But that's not to say they don't have some other very talented players, so I was just thinking that with that much time left, we were probably going to go to another overtime."

Northside (18-7, 9-3) worked the ball into the front court in search of a three-pointer. None came. With time winding down, Brewer banged a leaner from 20 feet off the rim. He rebounded his own miss and missed a final three-pointer over tight coverage.

Senior guard Jarvis Ricks led North Little Rock with 23 points. Senior forward Deion Dobbins and senior guard Desmond Duckworth each scored 18 points. Moore scored 14, including 9 in the 12 minutes of overtime.

"Jarvis Ricks has played so well for us," Rice said. "He's done such a great job of keeping us organized. Tonight he always got us into what we needed to be in."

"It was just a great ballgame between two championship teams," Northside Coach Eric Burnett said. "It was two teams making plays all night. We just couldn't get that final play when we needed it."

Sports on 02/18/2017

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