5 A-CENTRAL

Jacksonville strikes quickly

An almost perfect start was enough for the Jacksonville Red Devils.

Jacksonville began with a flurry of fast-break baskets. It led by as many as 15 points in the first half, then held on for a 77-67 victory over the Little Rock McClellan Lions on Friday night at the Devil’s Den.

It was Jacksonville’s third game since Tuesday, and Red Devils Coach Victor Joyner said that made a quick start particularly important.

“We knew we had to have close to a knockout punch early, or at least get some breathing room, so we could rest our players some,” Joyner said.

On consecutive possessions, each following missed shots by McClellan, Jacksonville (21-3, 11-0 5A-Central) got a layup by sophomore guard LaQuawn Smith, a three-pointer by senior guard Sergio Berkley and a pull-up eight-footer by junior forward Tedric Wolfe to take a 13-2 lead midway through the first quarter.

A layup by Wolfe gave Jacksonville its largest first-half lead, 36-21, with 2:53 left in the second quarter.

“Our big problem was they came out with so much more energy than we had,” McClellan Coach Chris Threatt said. “It’s a credit to them, but we gave them about 10 points to start the game by not even contesting their shots. They don’t need our help.

“We need to play for 32 minutes, and I thought we played for about 21.”

Wolfe and senior center Kanaan Jackson led Jacksonville with 17 points each. Junior guard Devin Campbell scored 11, and Smith and Berkley had 10 each.

Sophomore guard Andre Jones scored 25 points to lead McClellan (13-10, 6-4). Junior guard Keith Hayes had 19.

Hayes scored the first two points of the second half to pull McClellan to within 41-32, but Jacksonville scored the next 11 points and led 52-32 after senior center Damarion Freeman hit two free throws with 3:19left in the third quarter.

A layup by junior guard Tyrin Hollis pulled McClellan to within 61-53 with just more than four minutes left in the fourth quarter.

“We were leg heavy,” Joyner said. “I ain’t never seen so many kids putting their hands up to come out the game, but McClellan pushes your pace. They make you have to play. They get and go, they press you. I mean, they make you play.”

On Jacksonville’s next possession, a front-end miss on a one-and-one by Smith looked as if it might give McClellan legitimate room for hope, but Smith - with all of his teammates at the opposite end - somehow managed to rebound his miss and lay it in to give Jacksonville a 63-53 lead with 3:52 left.

McClellan would get no closer than eight points.

“They were making a run right then, and then he gets that rebound layup,” Joyner said. “They were making a run. They were right in the game.”

Sports, Pages 24 on 02/15/2014

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