De'myla Brown made Friday's game a little more suspenseful than North Little Rock Coach Daryl Fimple wanted.
Brown, a 5-6 junior guard, hit the second of two free-throw attempts with 1.6 seconds remaining to give the Lady Charging Wildcats a 47-46 victory over visiting Little Rock Central in a 7A-Central Conference game.
North Little Rock (18-3, 7-1) managed to hold on to the ball from the 1:19 mark until Brown's free throws to claim its sixth consecutive victory.
"She's a good shooter," Fimple said of Brown. "But she struggled a little bit tonight and even struggled on the defensive end. But that was a big free throw for anybody to hit."
North Little Rock survived foul trouble, a 1-of-8 showing on three-point attempts, 8-of-18 shooting from the free-throw line and Central's Erynn Barnum, who posted game-highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Barnum got off a last-second 25-footer that hit the rim as time expired.
"Erynn's been a workhorse all year," Central Coach Michael Green said. "She hates losing. She does whatever we ask her to do -- inside, outside, she brings the ball up the court. She's just a competitor. You've got to love the kid."
Central, which fell behind 9-0 in the game's first six minutes, also struggled from the free-throw line, hitting 9 of 18 shots. The Lady Tigers (13-7, 4-4) turned the ball over 12 times in the first quarter but only 10 more times the remainder of the game.
North Little Rock led 37-35 to start the fourth quarter, but the two teams traded leads six times before the game was decided. Neither team led by more than two points in the game's final 8:54.
North Little Rock played the final 3:18 without 6-2 post player Yo'Myris Morris, who led her team with 13 points and six rebounds. An'nyah Pettus, a 5-10 forward, fouled out with 1:19 remaining.
Barnum hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1:19 left to tie the game at 46-46.
North Little Rock attempted a shot with 50 seconds remaining and got the ball back on a tie ball with 48.6 seconds to play.
North Little Rock did not attempt a shot until Kennady Tucker's short jumper in the final five seconds. Brown managed to grab the rebound between three Central defenders and was fouled.
Her first attempt hit the back of the rim and fell off. After a Central timeout, Brown's second shot went through.
She finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Guard Jordyn Neal led the Lady Charging Wildcats with six assists.
Junior Aniyanna Hall added 10 points for Central, but no other Lady Tigers player had more than five.
CENTRAL (46)
Barnum 8 7-15 23, Hall 5 0-1 10, Smith 1 2-2 4, Cole 0 0-0 0, Green 1 0-0 2, Pendleton 2 0-0 5, Greenwood 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 9-18 46.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK (47)
Neal 2 1-2 5, Hawkison 2 1-2 6, Brown 3 3-6 9, Ott 1 0-0 2, Morris 6 1-4 13, Tucker 2 1-2 5, Pettus 2 0-0 4, Carniagie 1 1-2 3, Mackey 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 8-18 47.
Central (13-7); 8;14;13;11 -- 46
NLR (18-3);13;8;16;10 -- 47
Three-point goals -- Central 1 (Pendleton); NLR 1 (Hawkison). Team fouls -- Central 14, NLR 20. Fouled out -- Morris, Pettus.
Sports on 02/03/2018