JAMMIN’ FOR JACKETS

Fayetteville good enough, breezes past LR McClellan

— Fayetteville hit Little Rock McClellan hard in the first half and never looked back.

Senior guard Jawan Smith had 14 points and Fayetteville handily beat McClellan 64-47 on Thursday night at the Joe Johnson Jammin’ for Jackets Tournament at George Cirks Arena in Little Rock.

Fayetteville (8-1) led 36-23 at halftime. Both teams exchanged blows early, and the Bulldogs took a slight advantage when 6-10 senior center Tyler McCullough grabbed a rebound and scored on a putback for a 10-6 lead at 11:50. Fayetteville then used a 15-2 run spurred by a big dunk from Manuale Watkins to take control.

Senior guard Akee Johnson hit a contested jumper that pulled McClellan to 28-20 with four minutes remaining in the half, but the Bulldogs went on another run to pad their lead.

Four of Fayetteville’s starters had at least five points at halftime, while Jason Hendrix scored eight points and was the only Mc-Clellan starter with more than two points in the half.

“I thought it was sloppy,” Fayetteville Coach Kyle Adams said. “It was not one of our better games.”

McClellan (0-2) made the first two baskets of the second half but couldn’t maintain the momentum. Fayetteville responded with authoritative dunks in transition, and senior guard Cameron Paschke hit a three-pointer that gave Fayetteville a 49-27 lead at 11:08. Fayetteville led 60-37 heading into the final five minutes.

“We need to be better tomorrow against North Little Rock or we’re in for a rude awakening,” Adams said.

Watkins added nine points and six rebounds for Fayetteville. Hendrix led Little Rock McClellan with 10 points.

HALL 64, CENTRAL 32

Bobby Portis scored 22 points as host Little Rock Hall hammered Little Rock Central in a first-round game.

Hall (4-2) led 40-14 at halftime. The Warriors scored the game’s first six points as Portis, a 6-10 University of Arkansas signee, dominated in the paint with powerful dunks.

Central was made just 4 of 19 shots in the first half, and five of the Tigers’ points came off free throws. Hall was 15 of 28 from the floor in the first half.

“We just wanted to come out and play hard and bring a lot of intensity,” Hall Coach Eric Coleman said.

Portis scored the first four points of the second half and the first six for Hall. Both teams played mostly substitutes in the second half.

Coleman attributed the blowout to putting more emphasis on getting the ball to Portis.

“We didn’t get him enough touches our last basketball game,” Coleman said. “Today we wanted to play from the inside-out.”

Javan Perry added 12 points for Hall. Chibueze Ekeh led Central with nine points.

MILLS 65, LR FAIR 62

Cornelious Jordan’s steal and layup with 16 seconds to play allowed the Comets (4-1) to take a come-from-behind victory over the War Eagles (3-4). Little Rock Fair led 48-33 with 13:09 to play before junior guard Shaquon Fletcher helped spark the Mills rally. Fletcher scored 15 of his team-high 21 points in the game’s final 10:27.

Fletcher also made seven steals and drew two charging fouls in the final 53 seconds to aid in the comeback, but Mills Coach Raymond Cooper said the charging fouls were not exactly a positive for his team.

“Right now our defense is bad,” Cooper said. “We’re having to take charges on the back end because we’re making so many mistakes, like gambling for the ball. We’re not very disciplined, and we’re leaving ourselves in bad position.”

Behind 20 first-half points from senior guard Alex Bernard, Fair grabbed a 42-29 halftime advantage. Bernard managed only one field goal in the final 16 minutes and finished with 22 points and five assists. Senior forward Allante Plant added 21 points and eight rebounds for the War Eagles.

Mills picked up 17 points from Kaylong Tappin, 11 from Jordan and 10 from Devin Campbell, who connected on a four-point play with 1:25 to play to tie the game at 62.

Sports, Pages 21 on 12/07/2012

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