Fort Smith Northside hasn't had much court time together this season, but the Grizzlies were in sync enough Thursday night to walk away with a victory.
Denarion Whitmore scored 32 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as Northside (1-0) withstood a scoring onslaught from Pine Bluff's Courtney Crutchfield to beat the Zebras 88-79 in the Hooping For Hoodies Classic at North Little Rock's Charging Wildcat Arena.
Daemarion Savoy had 18 points, Marco Smith ended with 16 points and seven rebounds, and Derek Shepard poured in 12 points for the Grizzlies, who are still getting acclimated to one another after several of their players just returned from an extended season in football.
"This is really just our third practice with all the guys," Northside Coach Eric Burnett said. "We're still trying to get some of them in basketball shape, but I thought we played well. I'm glad to see us come from behind, too.
"To me, that says we've got a little dog in us."
Northside needed that extra bite to offset what Crutchfield was doing for the Zebras.
The junior finished with 38 points for Pine Bluff, which was coming off an 79-52 loss to Little Rock Central on Tuesday. Jabarr Spellman had 15 points, and Zae Barnett contributed 13 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals.
The Zebras got off on the wrong foot in this one when they were assessed a technical foul before the game even started because of a uniform infraction.
Shortly after that, Smith sailed through the lane for an easy dunk with the game barely 15 seconds old. But Pine Bluff got in step behind Crutchfield, who scored on an array of mid-range jumpers and driving lay-ups over the next seven minutes to put the Zebras ahead by quarter's end.
The teams were tied 27-27 after a putback from Whitmore, but a 15-footer from Barnett started a 15-3 run for the Zebras, who eventually led 46-40 at the half.
Crutchfield continued his hot shooting in the third quarter, yet the Grizzlies were able to slowly chip away at their deficit until they regained the lead midway through. Northside, who harassed the Zebras into 11 turnovers in the quarter, closed on a 14-3 spurt, keyed by a pair of three-point plays from Whitmore and Savoy, to turn a 53-49 deficit into a 63-56 advantage.
The Grizzlies pushed their lead to 69-59 on another three-point play from Whitmore with 6:29 left in the game, but a lay-up from Spellman began a 13-4 flurry that pulled Pine Bluff with 73-72.
However, a free throw from Robert Lester ignited an 8-2 run that put Northside back in control.
"I love to see guys step up and make plays when we need them," Burnett said. "That's really encouraging. We've just got to keep getting them in shape because I really expect some good things out on them.
"We've got a chance to be a good team, but we've got to be disciplined, work hard and be coachable. If we do that, we're going to be OK."
BRYANT 62, DUMAS 37
Elem Shelby drilled 3 three-pointers on the first three possessions of the third quarter for Bryant (2-0), which led 31-19 at half before a 17-4 run to open the second half blew the game open.
Shelby finished with 16 points, R.J. Young had 12 points and Darren Wallace collected 9 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks for the Hornets. Cedric Jones also scored nine points.
Raylen Spratt tallied a game-high 20 points for Dumas (0-2).