In Tuesday's 6A-Central clash with North Little Rock, Conway's Caleb London came calling.
London, a 6-3 junior guard, scored 30 points -- including two free throws with 12.5 seconds remaining that sealed Conway's victory -- as the No. 6 Wampus Cats held off the No. 7 Charging Wildcats 62-55 at North Little Rock.
With Conway trailing 35-28 two minutes into the second half, London scored 13 of the game's next 15 points to put the Wampus Cats (16-5, 7-2) on top for good. It's not the first time London has burned the Charging Wildcats. Last season, London scored 29 points in an overtime victory at North Little Rock.
"That gave us a little bit of a cushion, thank goodness, considering the way we played down the stretch," Conway Coach Brian "Salty" Longing said. "He really came up huge for us, and we really needed that from him."
Turnovers also made a difference. North Little Rock was guilty of nine of its 21 turnovers in the third quarter. Conway committed 14 turnovers.
"We turned the ball over and they never really pressed us, jumped us or trapped us," said North Little Rock Coach Johnny Rice, whose team led 31-26 at the half. "They weren't really forced. We were careless, and that was the difference."
"It's hard to press them," Longing said of North Little Rock. "You try to make them work as much as you can in the halfcourt."
London buried a 15-footer at the 5:47 mark of the third quarter to cut North Little Rock's lead to 35-30 and then made a layup after a steal on the Charging Wildcats' ensuing possession to slice the deficit to 35-32.
North Little Rock's Shawn Fudge hit a layup to increase the Charging Wildcats' lead to 37-32, but London hit three consecutive three-pointers and Conway never trailed again.
"Caleb made big shots every time we made a run," Rice said. "There were a couple of times we would double down to help inside, and he got loose and hit 'em."
London was limited to two free throws in the first quarter and finished the first half with 10 points, but he scored 20 points in the game's final 14 minutes.
"He got to feeling it," Longing said. "He's scored some in conference [play], but he hasn't really had that big game until tonight when we had to have him the most. He really stepped up and provided the spark that we needed."
North Little Rock (18-6, 6-3) played without junior guard Spencer Simes, who was out with flu-like symptoms, and picked up only 8 points from leading scorer Collin Moore. But the Charging Wildcats found an offensive force in guard Craig Collier.
Collier hit five three-pointers and scored a team-high 17 points.
"He makes shots and he doesn't do a terrible job on the defensive end," Rice said. "He opens things up for other people. Hey, if you make shots and play defense, you get more minutes."
A three-point play by senior Kylen Milton gave Conway it biggest lead -- 54-44 -- with 2:38 remaining. North Little Rock got back to within 56-54 with 40 seconds remaining on a three-pointer by Mason Shaw, but London was 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the final 30.6 seconds.
Fudge added 14 points. Moore, who was in foul trouble for most of the contest, finished with 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists.
Milton added 14 points for Conway. Senior Jakilyn Kaiser led Conway with six rebounds.
Conway was 23-of-43 shooting, including a 4-of-12 effort on three-pointers, while North Little Rock was 18 of 41 overall and 7 of 15 on three-pointers.
6A-Central boys
TEAM CONF. ALL
Bryant ............................8-1 17-4
Conway..........................7-2 16-5
North Little Rock ...........6-3 18-6
FS Northside .................5-4 14-9
LR Central .....................4-5 14-7
Cabot .............................4-5 16-6
Catholic .........................2-7 12-11
FS Southside .................0-9 5-17
Sports on 02/06/2019