Wright paces Central off bench

By Brandon Marcello

Posted: November 24, 2009 at 4:16 a.m.

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By J.T. Wampler
Central’s Caylee Wright drives to the basket as Rogers Heritage’s Ali Johnson defends during Monday’s game at Central.

Sheila Neal shuffled her lineup Monday, and Springdale Central got a much-needed boost off the bench in a 37-23 victory over Rogers Heritage in the teams’ conference opener.

The Central coach bumped starter Caylee Wright to a reserve role for the game, but she still propelled the Lady Warriors with a game-high 11 points in the dominating win.

“All of them have been taught to take it to the basket and create offense, but tonight it seemed like we played a lot better,” Neal said. “We were struggling the first couple of games just gelling and being a team.”

Central (2-2, 1-0 Northwest Arkansas Athletic Conference) cooled from the floor after hitting its first two shots of the contest, and even lost the lead in the second quarter to Heritage (0-3, 0-1). Still, the Lady War Eagles couldn’t do much with the scoreless streak and turned the ball over 12 times.

Meanwhile, Central dominated the offensive glass for a 32-10 advantage in shot attempts in the first half.

“We still don’t value the ball like we should,” Heritage coach Mike McClure said. “We were fortunate early that they missed a few. I’d like to attribute that to our defense, but they did miss a few they normally make.”

Central missed 19 consecutive shot attempts, fell to a 10-8 deficit to start the second quarter and battled back with a 12-3 run that was keyed by Wright. She scored six points during the stretch, including a three-pointer with 2 minutes, 14 seconds remaining in the first half to lift the Lady Warriors to a 22-15 lead at halftime.

Wright also had two steals, each resulting in fastbreak points. She flashed for a steal and layup on the other end of the court to give Central its largest lead, 37-21, with 38 seconds remaining.

Central forced 22 turnovers and Ashley Gray finished with 11 points alongside Wright. Lacey Murray paced Heritage with eight points.

In eighth-grade action, Abbey Foreman scored 10 points to lead Central to a 50-21 win over Greer Lingle Middle School.

Central travels Monday to Fayetteville Woodland, and Heritage will take part in the Benton County Invitational next Tuesday at Siloam Springs. The Lady War Eagles will face cross-town rival Rogers to open the tourney at 6:15 p.m.

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