7A/6A-CENTRAL BOYS

Conway rallies, turns back Catholic

— Conway overcame a nine-point deficit to defeat Little Rock Catholic 56-52 on Tuesday night.

Conway (12-5, 3-2 7A/6ACentral) fell behind 27-18 late in the first half as the Rockets utilized their size and dictated the pace.

The Wampus Cats used a strong run to end the first half and open the second to take the lead. Leading by one point with a little more than one minute to play in the game, Conway got a three-pointer from Tim Boyd. Adrian Moore then converted a three-point play with 29 seconds left to allow Conway to escape.

“When you play Catholic, that’s the kind of game it’s going to be,” Conway Coach James Bates said. “I thought our kids showed a lot of heart in the second half, offensively and defensively.”

Little Rock Catholic (2-10, 1-4) built its first-half lead largely on the post play of Zach Morris and Scott Diaz, whose put back gave the Rockets a 27-18 lead with 1:44 left in the half.

But Conway scored the final five points of the half, including a layup by Boyd, his first points of the game.Boyd made nine three-pointers and scored 36 points in Conway’s victory over Fort Smith Southside on Friday night. But he was mostly held in check Tuesday.

Baskets by Justin Leon and Moore to open the third quarter tied the game, and Leon’s one-hander gave Conway a 35-34 lead. The Rockets pulled back ahead before Boyd answered with a three-pointer and two free throws to end the quarter.

Down 50-47, the Rockets executed a backdoor play for Sam Greenwood to cut the Conway lead to 50-49. The Cats then called timeout and set up Boyd’s three-pointer from the corner. Followinga Little Rock Catholic miss, Boyd got out in transition and passed to Moore for the three-point play.

Moore led all scorers with 16 points, while Boyd added 13 and Dominic Taylor 10 for Conway. Leon had 15 rebounds to go with his nine points. Morris led Little Rock Catholic with 15 points, while Diaz had 13.

Sports, Pages 20 on 01/23/2013

Upcoming Events