7A-6A-EAST BOYS

NLR’s fast start scorches Central

North Little Rock’s Thomas Alexander (left) grabs a rebound over Little Rock Central’s Kyle Nelson during the Charging Wildcats’ 87-44 victory over the Tigers on Friday in North Little Rock.
North Little Rock’s Thomas Alexander (left) grabs a rebound over Little Rock Central’s Kyle Nelson during the Charging Wildcats’ 87-44 victory over the Tigers on Friday in North Little Rock.

— Thomas Alexander scored 10 of his 15 points in the game’s opening three minutes as top-ranked North Little Rock quickly took any drama out of Friday’s 7A/6A-East outcome with struggling Little Rock Central in front of a near-capacity crowd at the Charging Wildcats Arena.

North Little Rock scored the game’s first 12 points on its way to an 87-44 victory in a contest matching teams going in opposite directions.

The Charging Wildcats (17-1, 6-0) won their 16th consecutive game. Central (3-11, 0-6) suffered its seventh consecutive loss.

Alexander, a 6-5 senior forward, said the Charging Wildcats simply followed the instructions of Coach Johnny Rice.

“Coach told us get off to a fast start and that’s what we did,” said Alexander, who had two three-pointers, a layup and an ally-oop dunk in the game’s first 3:08.

“I thought we played with energy and that’s what I wanted,” Rice said. “We had our best crowd that we’ve had in a while and we wanted to play with some energy in front of them.”

The Charging Wildcats did not disappoint their fans. North Little Rock hit 12 of itsfirst 18 shots from the floor and held a 30-10 lead after the first quarter. The Cats held a 9-0 lead before Central took its first field-goal attempt. North Little Rock hit 6 of its 10 three-pointers in the game’s first seven minutes.

Sophomore Kevaughn Allen led North Little Rock with 24 points, while guard Jawan Eldridge added 14 points and senior guard Dayshawn Watkins scored 12 points. Watkins also had five of his six assists in the first quarter. North Little Rock out rebounded Central 44-23 with Thomas grabbing a team-high eight.

“We’ve gotten off to good starts at home,” Rice said. “We didn’t at Mountain Home or Cabot, but we have here, and I’m hoping that continues.”

Central’s Sean Corrothers scored a team-high 15 points, but no other Tiger scored more than six.

Sports, Pages 26 on 01/26/2013

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