LITTLE ROCK — Little Rock McClellan’s boys can now shift its focus to another showdown with Jacksonville after surviving a major test from Pulaski Academy on Tuesday night.
McClellan withstood a late charge from the visiting Bruins and made enough plays down the stretch to pull out a 50-41 victory.
“At this time of year, you’ve got to take a win any way youcan get one,” McClellan Coach Christ Threatt said. “That’s the bottom line. When you’re playing a team like Pulaski Academy, a team that’ll be in the playoffs unless the bottom falls out, you’ve got to take the wins any way you can.
“And we’ll definitely take this one.”
Akee Johnson scored a team-high 11 points for McClellan (15-6, 9-1), which remained tied with Jacksonville atop the 5A-Central standings. Derrick Hardy added nine points, while Jason Hendrix also finished with nine points but grabbed 15 rebounds.
Jacksonville will travel to McClellan on Friday, with the winner taking over sole possession of first place.
But Threatt said he is just happy to get this one out of the way.
“We knew [Pulaski Academy] were going to come inhere and compete for 32 minutes,” he said. “We missed a lot of easy layups, lot of easy buckets, and they took advantage of that. Earlier in the year, this is a game that we would have lost.
“But that’s why it’s not a one-month season. It’s a long season.”
Marcus Wallace had 14 points to pace Pulaski Academy (9-6, 6-3). Brandon Brady finished with 12 points and Tyler Colquitt added four points and 11 rebounds.
Sports, Pages 21 on 02/06/2013