LITTLE ROCK — Guards step up for Hall
Little Rock Hall boys Coach Jon Coleman did not like what he was hearing about the performances of the Warriors’ guards.
After Tuesday’s 57-52 victory over Little Rock Parkview, Coleman said he is hoping the majority of that talk will stop.
“I’ve seen these guards develop right before my eyes,” Coleman said following Tuesday’s key 7A/6A-Central victory at Charles Ripley Arena. “It’s just a joy to watch them get better each and every game. A lot of people have criticized them and doubted them. The only thing they’ve done is kept working. I’m just tickled to death at how they’re progressing.”
While Hall (12-5, 4-0) rode a 23-point, nine rebound effort from 6-10 senior Bobby Portis for its offense, the team’s guards did the little things that allowed the Warriors to escape with the victory.
Senior Evan James hit four free throws in the final 20.9 seconds that kept the Patriots from getting a potential game-tying shot.
Junior Anthony Black hit two three-pointers in the game’s final nine minutes, and senior Javon Perry also hit two late free throws and had three assists. The three guards combined for 20 points.
“Evan is one of our newcomers that we’ve been grooming to be one of our lead guards,” Coleman said.
“We’ve been putting a lot of pressure on him. He’s been uncomfortable, but I’ve had a long talk with him and told him to just relax and play basketball. [On Tuesday] you could see that he played relaxed and it just took a big weight off his shoulders. I was proud of his defensive effort.”
“We’ve told Evan he needs to come out of his comfort zone,” Portis said.
“He’s really come on and his confidence is soaring.
He’s been one of our best defenders.”
NORTH LITTLE ROCK BOYS Long trip survived
North Little Rock’s team bus arrived back at school at 1:15 Wednesday morning after its 7A/6AEast trip to Mountain Home, but Charging Wildcats Coach Johnny Rice wasn’t complaining after his team brought home a 69-51 victory.
“We were a little sluggish early, and we didn’t shoot it real well in the first half,” Rice said. “But we got our transition game going in the second half and shot it a little better. ... The thing I was worried about is that we haven’t played [Mountain Home] in several years, and our players didn’t know much about them.”
Senior forward Thomas Alexander scored a team high 16 points, while guard Dayshawn Watkins added 13. North Little Rock (17-1, 5-0) led 31-26 at the half and outscored the host Bombers 21-10 in the third quarter.
“Alexander had a good game,” Rice said. “When he’s hitting his perimeter shot, he’s dangerous because that makes him a very hard match for others to defend.”
WEST FORK BOYS
Ferrell hits No. 500
The way David Ferrell sees it, he managed to reach a special milestone with a special team.
Ferrell earned career coaching victory No. 500 on Tuesday night when the West Fork Tigers defeated Green Forest 68-31. The Tigers are 17-3 this season, 4-1 in the 3A-1 West.
Ferrell’s son, Josh, is a senior on this year’s team, as are three other seniors who David Ferrell has been guiding since they were in the third grade.
“It was a big victory for me, but having a son on this team just adds to it,” David Ferrell said. “I’ve been a part of this group for a long time.”
In 24 years of coaching,Ferrell has a combined record of 500-196. He is 448-173 at West Fork. He has been a part of 19 20-victory seasons and has had two 30-victory campaigns. He has never had a team with a losing record.
“It’s more program than personal,” he said. “[Tuesday night] was special, but all of those victories would not have been possible without a lot of great players. ... We’ve had some good teams who had good players who had good parents. It’s taken a lot more than me to get to this point.”
MALVERN GIRLS Hitting the boards
Malvern juniors Alivia Huell and Akasha Westbrook combined for 30 rebounds in the Lady Leopards’ 52-33 victory over Arkadelphia on Tuesday night.
Huell had a huge night, scoring 12 points to go with 18 rebounds, 7 steals and 3 blocks. Sophomore guard Raven Baker led Malvern in scoring with 17 points.
“Baker is really playing well,” said Malvern Coach Jess Martin, whose team improved to 19-1 and 8-0 in the 4A-7. “She’s averaging about 18 points a game, but we’ve got three more that are getting 10 or more. It’s a good problem to have.”
Junior Tiffany Murdock added 11 points and handed out seven assists against Arkadelphia, while Westbrook finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocked shots.
MAGAZINE GIRLS From half court
Kenzie Graham hit a shot from 45 feet as the final horn sounded to give the Magazine Lady Rattlers a 55-53 victory over visiting Mountainburg on Tuesday night.
Graham, a 5-9 senior, hit the half-court shot to finish with a team-high 17 points.
“We had lost the ball with 12 seconds left and had to foul,” Magazine Coach Randy Lloyd said. “They were shooting a 1-and-1 with five seconds left. We got the rebound and got the ball to Kenzie. She took two or three dribbles and even made a spin move to get around one of their defenders. They weren’t going to foul us, but they had a couple of girls with their hands in her face.
She shot it while she was in between two of their players.”
Lloyd said Graham’s last second heave sailed just over the front of the rim.
“Our side of the gym went crazy and their side of the gym went quiet,” said Lloyd, whose team improved to 20-2 and 9-1 in the 2A-4 West. “And of course she got mobbed by her teammates.”
SHORT SHOTS
Maumelle (12-9, 8-1) is tied for the 4A-4 Conference lead after taking a 76-68 home victory over Pottsville (16-4, 8-1) on Tuesday.
Sophomore Gary Burton led the Hornets with 17 points.
Robert Wingate scored 10 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked 10 shots in West Fork’s 68-31 victory over Green Forest on Tuesday.
Gosnell earned its sixth consecutive victory Tuesday when Rod Jones hit two free throws with 8.9 seconds remaining to give the Pirates a 59-58 victory over Brookland in a 4A-3 game. The Pirates (17-3, 7-3) were led by Trey Howe’s 29 points and five assists.
Brookland (17-5) suffered its first conference loss.
Wednesday’s boys SYLVAN HILLS 59, LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN 52 Freshman Cordy Winston led the Bears (5-8, 2-4) with 14 points in a 5A-Central victory over the host Warriors (3-13, 0-6). Ronnie Hinton added 13 and David Johnson 11 for Sylvan Hills, which led 27-20 at the half. Cole Hendrixson scored 12 to lead Little Rock Christian.
Wednesday’s girls LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN 63, SYLVAN HILLS 32 Rachel Ruddell made six three-pointers and finished with 24 points as the Lady Warriors (11-8, 5-1 5A-Central) topped the visiting Lady Bears (6-7, 4-2). Molli Pugh added 12 points and Anna North 10 for Little Rock Christian, which led 38-20 at the half.
Tonight’s games
4A-3 GIRLS Gosnell at Brookland Pocahontas at Jonesboro Westside Valley View at Highland 4A-4 Dardanelle at Waldron Dover at Booneville Pottsville at Subiaco Academy 4A-8 DeWitt at Monticello
3A-1 EAST Flippin at Marshall 3A-3 Corning at Osceola Harrisburg at Piggott Hoxie at Manila 3A-4 Atkins at Charleston Lavaca at Danville Mansfield at Lamar Paris at Two Rivers 3A-5 Fountain Lake at E Stem Perryville at Jessieville 3A-7 McGehee at Fordyce Smackover at Drew Central 2A-2 Sloan-Hendrix at Pangburn
2A-3 GIRLS Augusta at Cross County Buffalo Island at Marked Tree East Poinsett Co. at Rector Riverside at McCrory 2A-4 WEST Magazine at Hackett Union Christian at Johnson Co. Westside 2A-4 EAST Hector at Bigelow 2A-5 Mountain Pine at Abundant Life 2A-7 EAST Hampton at Rison Parkers Chapel at Strong Woodlawn at Bearden
1A-1 WEST Kingston at Mulberry Scranton at Haas Hall St. Paul at County Line 1A-1 EAST Jasper at Deer 1A-2 SOUTH Bradford at SS Bee Branch Concord at Shirley 1A-3 Black Rock at Armorel Hillcrest at Weiner Ridgefield Christian at Bay 1A-5 Academics Plus at Sacred Heart Guy-Perkins at Lisa Academy NLR Lisa Academy at Nemo Vista Wonderview at Mount Vernon-Enola NONCONFERENCE Bruno-Pyatt at Norfork Marmaduke at Crowley’s Ridge
Sports, Pages 21 on 01/24/2013