Searcy gets bitter dose of North Little Rock

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

It got out of hand early and stayed that way.

North Little Rock scored the first 16 points, led by 25 at the end of the first quarter and continued to pull away Tuesday night for an 80-24 victory over Searcy at North Little Rock High Gymnasium.

Junior guard KeVaughn Allen led North Little Rock with 17 points. He laid in an alley-oop pass from senior guard Anton Beard just before the first-half buzzer to give North Little Rock a 42-8 lead, and both coaches had simple messages for their team at halftime.

“We’ve been in that spot a couple of times and then come out in the second half just sluggish and just going through the motions,” North Little Rock Coach Johnny Rice said. “I think that can push you backwards a little bit. We said to keep the same intensity, don’t change anything.”

Searcy played without its head coach, Jim Summers, and its leading scorer, sophomore Jeremiah Clifton, because both were too ill to make the trip to North Little Rock. Assistant Bryant Turney filled in for Summers.

“I just told them at halftime to focus on what we can do,” said Turney. “We’re obviously going up against one of, if not the best, team in the state. We just said let’s give it our best effort to hopefully prepare us for on down the road.”

North Little Rock’s defensive pressure bothered Searcy from the start as Searcy managed one field-goal attempt on its first nine possessions. The other eight ended with turnovers. The last led to a fast-break layup by K.J. Hill that gave North Little Rock(14-1, 4-0 7A/6A East) a 16-0 lead with 3:10 left in the opening quarter.

“They make you make a decision quick,” Turner said. “They’re either going to force a turnover or a quick shot, and a lot of times quick shots are about the same as turnovers. It’s all due to their pressure and their athleticism.”

Emaje Young led Searcy (6-10, 2-2) with eight points.

Beard scored 14 points for North Little Rock, and Kambrion Dickerson had 12.

“It was just one of those nights where everything we put up went in,” Rice said. “Everything was going our way. They were missing their coach and one of their players. It was just one of those nights.”

Turney offered no excuses.

“They’re about the most talented team I’ve ever seen,” he said. “They have great athletes at every position on the floor. They’re well-coached. There’s just no weaknesses.”

Sports, Pages 21 on 01/22/2014