HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

It’s all good, Coach

Forward’s gutsy shots net victory

North Little Rock’s T.J. Francis (right) shoots over Jonesboro defender Aaron Washington during Friday’s game in North Little Rock. The top-ranked Charging Wildcats, led by Thomas Alexander’s 30 points and 16 rebounds, beat second-ranked Jonesboro 75-63 in a 7A/6A-East Conference game at North Little Rock Arena.
North Little Rock’s T.J. Francis (right) shoots over Jonesboro defender Aaron Washington during Friday’s game in North Little Rock. The top-ranked Charging Wildcats, led by Thomas Alexander’s 30 points and 16 rebounds, beat second-ranked Jonesboro 75-63 in a 7A/6A-East Conference game at North Little Rock Arena.

— Thomas Alexander may not have gotten high marks for his fourth-quarter shot selection Friday night, but no one can argue with the North Little Rock senior forward’s results.

Alexander scored 30 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, leading the top ranked Charging Wildcats to a 75-63 victory over No. 2 Jonesboro in a 7A/6A-East Conference game in front of an estimated crowd of 2,190 boisterous fans at North Little Rock Arena.

Alexander’s ill-advised shots included a 12-foot turnaround shot two minutes into the final quarter that he made while running away from the basket and a three-pointer with 1:26 remaining when Charging Wildcats Coach Johnny Rice would have preferred his team milk a little time off the clock.

“He’s a very confident kid, and we want that,” Rice said. “I told him that was an awful shot but that I was glad it went in. I said, ‘Do you know all the bad things that can happen if you missed it?’ I don’t know if he understood me or not, but there were nine or 10 bad things that could have happened to one good thing that did happen. Hopefully, we’ll learn from it.”

North Little Rock (21-1, 10-0) held as much as an 18-point lead in the third quarter before Jonesboro (20-4,8-2) whittled the advantage to six points with 2:08 remaining.

After Aaron Washington, a 6-5 sophomore, scored back to-back baskets to bring the Hurricane to within 68-62, North Little Rock 6-5 reserve center Cameron Williams scrambled for a loose ball under the Charging Wildcats’ basket and hit a two-pointer.

On Jonesboro’s next possession, Williams picked up a defensive rebound and set up Alexander’s three-pointer, which all but ended Jonesboro’s hopes of a comeback.

“Thomas Alexander played out of his mind tonight, and I mean that in a good way.Don’t take that as a bad thing.” Jonesboro Coach Wes Swift said. “But did he take some ill-advised shots in the fourth quarter? From a coaching X and-O book on how to play basketball, probably. But to his credit, he knocked them down.”

Alexander got the Charging Wildcats’ offense started, scoring his team’s first six points. The first field goal came after a midcourt steal and the next two field goals came on tip-ins.

“I want to come out and play with energy,” Alexander said. “That’s how I want to start every game.”

The teams traded leads six times in the opening quarter, but North Little Rock finished the first eight minutes with a 17-15 lead. Washington scored the first field goal of the second quarter to tie the game at 17, but North Little Rock scored the next 10 points - a three-pointer from seniorguard Dayshawn Watkins and seven consecutive points from Thomas - and never trailed again.

Leading 36-28 at the half, North Little Rock extended its lead to 54-36 with 3:25 left in the third quarter.

Sophomore Marquise Pointer helped spark Jonesboro’s 9-3 run to end the quarter, scoring six of his nine points in the final 2:43 of the quarter.

Jonesboro scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to pull within 57-49 with 6:41 to play. Alexander answered with his 12-footer that came with him sprinting away from the basket.

“Those shots looked good when they left his hands,” said Watkins, who finished with 15 points and six assists. “I was fine with it. He was making them.”

Alexander’s two-pointer didn’t knock out Jonesboro, but it was foretelling shot for his three-pointer five minutes later.

North Little Rock was 27 of 51 from the floor and 14 of 21 from the free-throw line; Jonesboro was 23 of 55 from the floor and 13 of 29 from the line. North Little Rock enjoyed a 38-33 rebounding advantage.

“I thought the whole difference in the basketball game was the pure shooting,” Swift said. “They knocked down shots. We didn’t knock down shots.”

Junior guard Kahron Ross led Jonesboro with 17 points, but he was only 6 of 13 from the line. Washington added 16 points and had a team-high six rebounds.

Sports, Pages 19 on 02/09/2013

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