Conway Coach Brian Longing thought the Wampus Cats needed to get off to a fast start Tuesday at Little Rock Catholic.
"They play so well at home," he said. "Nobody wants to come here because they shoot the ball so well."
Conway (19-6, 10-3 6A-Central) did get off to the fast start, hitting six three-pointers in the first half, running to a 39-15 halftime lead on the way to a 70-43 victory over the Rockets (12-15, 2-11).
"The years we have come down here, we played real flat and they jumped on us," Longing said.
The Wampus Cats held a 18-9 lead after the first quarter and increased that to a 24-point advantage at the half.
At that point, Catholic guard Charles Daniel began to cause problems for Conway.
"That Daniel kid is such a good point guard. He could start for any team in the league," Longing said. "He does it all. You can't contain him with one guy, it takes a team effort. He did a great job for them in the second half."
It wasn't all Daniel, Longing said, pointing to the Conway defense and calling it awful. Conway did manage to outscore Catholic 21-18 in the quarter and held a 60-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
"Daniel same out and went to the rim the entire quarter," Longing said. "It felt like he scored 30 points in the quarter, not really sure how many he did score. We have to contain the ball. It wasn't like he was shooting long threes, he was scoring at the rim. He's the best player on the team. You have got to guard him."
Daniel, who scored 14 of Catholic's 18 points in the third quarter, had a game-high 19 points. Guard Josh Dawson added 18 for the Rockets, hitting four three-pointers.
Kylen Milton had 15 points for the Wampus Cats, while Terry Clardy chipped in with 13. Caleb London added 11.
"We're obviously fighting for a higher seed," Longing said. "As long as we're playing good basketball and play better basketball this time of the year, we will take what we can get in seeding."
Conway finishes the regular season at home with Bryant on Friday.
"It doesn't matter if we are playing for seeding or just a game to finish the season, we are playing the hottest team in the state," Longing said. "That really matters."
Sports on 02/20/2019