JAMMIN’ FOR JACKETS

NLR sophomore plays like veteran, flusters Fayetteville

— Kevaughn Allen had already produced a couple of standout games prior to Friday night, but the North Little Rock sophomore’s 27-point effort against Fayetteville was an eye-opener.

Allen hit four three-pointers and helped sparked an eight-point outburst midway through the second half to help the Charging Wildcats earn an 83-69 victory over the Bulldogs in the semifinals of the Joe Johnson Jammin’ for Jackets Tournament at George Cirks Arena.

Allen scored 17 of his points in the game’s final 11:10 to help North Little Rock (5-1) turn a close game into a rout.

“He’s unbelievable. He’s got great potential,” Fayetteville Coach Kyle Adams said. “He shoots the ball extremely well. He’s difficult to guard because he can bounce it. He attacks the rim, but he’s also very patient. He protects the ball well. I was very impressed with him.”

Fayetteville (8-2) picked up 23 points and five steals from senior guard Jawan Smith and 17 points and six rebounds from Manule Watkins. The Bulldogs and Charging Wildcats traded leads 13 times in the first half and four more times in the second half before North Little Rock began its final push.

“Not everybody’s going to score 20 to 25 points every night,” North Little Rock Coach Johnny Rice said. “Sometimes we’ll need them to get rebounds and do other things, but we needed Kevaughn to score, and he did it tonight.”

Fayetteville’s 6-10 center Tyler McCullough, who finished with 11 points and six rebounds, hit a layup with 10:20 remaining to pull the Bulldogs to within 48-47.

From there, North Little Rock made its game-deciding surge, scoring the next 10 points. Senior forward Nicholas Scott hit a 3-footer to start the outburst and Allen followed with a three-pointer and 10-footer. Dayshawn Watkins capped the 10-point surge with a three-point play.

North Little Rock finished by hitting 31 of 51 attempts from the floor, including 18 of 24 in the second half.

“I thought we attacked the rim really well,” Rice said. “We tried to bring big Tyler out on the floor a little bit so it would open up the rim for our shots. I thought that was kind of successful.”

Watkins produced another 20-point effort, including a 5-for-5 effort from the free throw line. Senior Cameron Williams added 12 points, and senior Thomas Alexander scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

“I going to give [North Little Rock] all the credit. Those young men can play,” Adams said. “That’s a great basketball team. That’s why we came down here. We wanted to see the best teams in the state.

“I think North Little Rock is one of the best teams in the state, and I think we’ve got the potential to be there, but we weren’t tonight. We didn’t guard as well as we needed to against a team like that.”

PARKVIEW 62, MCCLELLAN 30

I.J. Ready returned to the Patriots’ lineup, scoring 14 points and handing out eight assists as Parkview (4-1) rolled over McClellan (0-3).

Ready, who was forced to miss Thursday’s game against North Little Rock because he had collected two technical fouls in a victory over Memphis Hamilton last week, also had three assists as the Patriots built a 37-20 halftime lead.

Anton Beard led Parkview with 22 points and Daryl Macon scored 13.

McClellan, which was guilty of 19 turnovers, was led by Akee Johnson’s eight points.

FAIR 63, CENTRAL 40

Senior guard Alex Bernard hit six three-pointers and finished with 34 points as the War Eagles (4-3) defeated the Tigers (3-5).

Bernard scored 20 points in the first half for the second game in a row as the War Eagles jumped out to a 41-20 halftime advantage.

Allante Plant added 13 points and nine rebounds for Fair, and Demarius Robinson scored nine points.

Eric Nichols led the Tigers with 12 points, all of which came in the second half. E.J. Crawford added 10.

Sports, Pages 23 on 12/08/2012

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