7A/6A-EAST BOYS

Central fans disturb end of NLR victory

North Little Rock’s 67-51 victory at Little Rock Central on Friday night was basically a mundane game with a bizarre finish.

Junior guard KeVaughn Allen scored 25 points to help North Little Rock extend its winning streak to 13 games, and while the Charging Wildcats held a safe advantage for the majority of the second half, Central remained close enough to keep the Tigers Fieldhouse packed for the first 31:02 of the contest.

But when University of Arkansas signee Anton Beard hit the first of two free throws with 58.2 seconds remaining, the Tigers’ fans began pouring out of the stands and spilling onto the edges of the court. After a short delay and an unsuccessful attempt to get the exiting fans to remove themselves from the playing area, game officials told the timekeeper to run the final seconds off the clock.

“I’ve never seen a game end like that,” said North Little Rock Coach Johnny Rice, who is now 21-0 against 7A/6A-East teams in his year and a half as the Charging Wildcats’ head coach. “I’ve seen where they’ve come on the floor like that, but I’ve never seen a game just stop.”

Until the strange ending, Allen kept the full house somewhat entertained, hitting four three-pointers and ending a fast break with a dunk that was set up by a steal and a perfectly placed lob pass by Beard early in the fourth quarter.

North Little Rock (17-1, 7-0) led 37-27 at the half and 53-41 after three quarters. The Charging Wildcats, however, never led by more than the final 16-point margin.

“KeVaughn hit some big shots for us when we were struggling,” Rice said. “This game stayed 10 or 12 points but we never could run off with it. … We tried to control the game with our defense, but I don’t think we were completely focused. I mean every long rebound, they got. And every time they got a second chance to score, they did.”

Senior forward Sean Corrothers led the Tigers (5-13, 1-6) with 14 points while Marcus Dortch and Matthew Means each collected six rebounds. Guard Kelton Wilbert came off the bench and added 10 points for Central.

Kahlil Gulley finished with 13 points for North Little Rock. Chibu Ekeh led the Wildcats with six rebounds.

Cameron Johnson connected on a running five-footer with 7:06 left to cut North Little Rock’s lead to 53-43, but when Allen finished off Beard’s steal with his slam dunk at the 5:55 mark, the Tigers were never any closer than 11.

Sports, Pages 24 on 02/01/2014

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