Sophomore Kyra Collier scored 10 of her team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter as the North Little Rock girls defeated West Memphis 60-50 Tuesday night in a 7A/6A-East game at North Little Rock arena.

The Lady Charging Wildcats (16-6, 7-2) made 13 of 19 shots in the second half after trailing 27-22 at halftime.

“We’ve been so up and down all year long shooting, but we’ve improved on that lately,” North Little Rock Coach Darryl Fimple said. “When you make shots it makes the coach look good.”

Junior Alexis Hamlet scored a game-high 22 points for West Memphis (16-6, 8-1). Her three-pointer at the halftime buzzer gave the Lady Devils a lift heading into the second half, but North Little Rock took charge quickly in the third quarter by hitting 7 of 11 shots.

Collier’s spin move and basket near the end of the third quarter gave North Little Rock a 39-35 advantage, and Malica Monk - who finished with 15 points - added a key three-pointer. Collier added a 15-foot jumper from the wing with 3:31 to play to give North Little Rock a 52-40 lead.

“We were keying on Monk for most of the game,” West Memphis Coach Shelia Burns said, “but it was Collier who really killed us.”

North Little Rock’s defense against Hamlet in the second half was crucial.

“We had to get up on her, but when you do that you’ve got to have some help because she can drive past you,” Fimple said. “We did a good job just making her work for her points.”

Brogan Jones added 10 points for North Little Rock.

LaCarie Jordan added nine points and Danisha Turner chipped in eight for West Memphis.

Sports, Pages 21 on 02/12/2014