Central holds off West Memphis

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Little Rock Central had four players score 10 or more points and the Tigers withstood a fourth-quarter comeback for a 58-51 victory over West Memphis on Friday night.

West Memphis (6-8, 0-3 7A/6AEast Conference) rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit to make it 52-50 with 1:02 left in the fourth quarter.

Little Rock Central’s Sean Corrothers then missed the front end of a one-and-one attempt, but managed to slip in to stick in the missed free throw to give the Tigers a 54-50 lead.

“That was the key play that won it for us,” said Central Coach Oliver Fitzpatrick. “It took those kind of plays for us to win this one.”

The Blue Devils never recovered and had turnovers on the next two possessions, leading to four consecutive free throws by Central’s Kelton Wilburt and Cameron Johnson to seal the victory.

Corrothers led all scorers with 19 points while Johnson added 12. Central’s Kylen Nichols and Wilburt each scored 11 for the Tigers (5-7, 1-2).

West Memphis, losers of six consecutive, got 12 points from junior point guard Rai East, while Dannie Gatewood scored 9 and Davis hit 8.

Sports, Pages 28 on 01/18/2014