JOHN STANTON CLASSIC
WEST MEMPHIS 60, FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 56
CONWAY -- Corliss Brewster might have been late to the scoring party Friday night, but that did not stop the 5-11 senior guard from having a major impact.
Brewster scored all nine of his points in the final six minutes as West Memphis rallied for a 60-56 victory over Fort Smith Northside in the John Stanton Classic at Buzz Bolding Arena.
West Memphis (9-1) scored 17 consecutive points in the fourth quarter to turn a 50-40 deficit into a 57-50 advantage. Brewster scored all of his points on three-pointers, hitting a shot from the right corner with 3:27 remaining to tie the game at 50-50 and his final three-pointer 35 seconds later to give the Blue Devils the lead for good.
"We came into a timeout [in the fourth quarter] and told our guys we haven't found [Brewster] all night," West Memphis Coach Marcus Brown said. "And he's one of our better three-point shooters. But he played great on defense, which we need some of the other guys to do."
Chris Moore, the Blue Devils' 6-6 junior who was the All-Arkansas Preps Sophomore of the Year for 2018, led West Memphis with 13 points, 14 rebounds, 8 blocks, 4 steals and 4 assists. Two of Moore's steals came in the final 59 seconds. Senior guard Terry Burgess also scored 13 points for West Memphis.
Northside senior guard Javion Releford hit six three-pointers and led his team with 21 points. Jaylin Williams, a 6-10 junior, added 10 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals.
West Memphis led 29-24 at the half, but Northside outscored the Devils 24-9 in the third quarter.
"It brings us together," said Moore when asked what the comeback victory meant to his team. "We had a bad third quarter. That was one of the worst quarters we've played all season. ... Coach got us in the huddle and told us we have to start communicating."
Northside (6-4) went almost five minutes without scoring in the final quarter.
"We relaxed and stopped playing defense," Northside Coach Eric Burnett said. "We let them hit three threes in a row. Nobody knew that [Brewster] was in the corner to those threes. We didn't chase down loose balls on the floor and we turned it over four straight times while they were on that run. They got the momentum and when you do that you just ride it."
West Memphis hit 3 of 7 free-throw attempts in the final 1:10 and finished 15 of 21 at the line. Northside was 8 of 15 from the line, which included a 1-for-4 effort in the fourth quarter.
Sports on 12/15/2018