North Little Rock's boys followed up last week's rout of nationally-ranked Richardson, Texas, by taking down another powerhouse Saturday.
Corey Washington went 8 of 10 from the floor and finished with 17 points to lead the Charging Wildcats to a 63-62 victory over Orlando (Fla.) Dr. Phillips in the City of Palms Classic at Fort Myers, Fla.
The senior forward added 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks for North Little Rock (7-1), which trailed 39-27 at halftime but picked things up in the second half to walk away with the win over Florida's reigning Class 7A champion. Kel'el Ware had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Nick Smith ended with 14 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds. Ty Fredrick added 11 points.
"We were down 12 at half, and [Dr. Phillips] had 15 points on just careless turnovers," North Little Rock Coach Johnny Rice said. "I thought we played a really, really bad first half, but to be down only 12 ... I didn't feel like we were out of it. And we kept fighting.
"I was super proud of the guys because they could've quit two or three different times. We'd cut it to six or eight, and then we'd turn it over or give up second or third looks, and they'd hit a three or something. But the guys never quit."
The Charging Wildcats' second-half surge could be attributed to the way they shot in the secnd half. North Little Rock outscored Dr. Phillips (4-2) 36-23 after halftime, including 23-12 in the third when it hit five three-point shots. The Charging Wildcats were 15 of 20 (75%) in the second half after going 11 of 20 (55%) in the opening half.
North Little Rock, ranked No. 11 in the country by ESPN, trailed 51-50 going into the fourth quarter but was able to finally run down the Panthers. In the tournament's second round, the Charging Wildcats will face either No. 2 IMG (Fla.) Academy or Ballard. Ky.) on Monday at 7:45 p.m.
"We just kept on plugging," Rice said. "We started getting the ball inside, started scoring in transition a little bit. That really opened things up for us."
Riley Kugel had 24 points while both Denzel Aberdeen and Ernest Udeh had 16 points each for Dr. Phillips, which outscored North Little Rock 42-32 on points in the paint. The Panthers also held a 14-0 edge on points in the paint as well as a 25-19 rebounding cushion. But the Charging Wildcats committed seven turnovers and forced 22, many of which they turned into points.