LITTLE ROCK FAIR 66,
JACKSONVILLE 62
It has been a rough week for the Jacksonville Red Devils.
In the last eight days, the Red Devils have fallen from the top of the 5A-Central standings into a third-place tie with upstart Little Rock Fair, thanks in part to a 66-62 loss on the War Eagles' home court Friday night.
Junior guard Jerrick Cole made 34 points to lead Fair (13-8, 5-3) to the victory. A 5-foot-11 junior, Cole and the War Eagles' defense turned the game in the third quarter. He finished with 6 three-pointers, was 6 of 6 from the free-throw line and added 5 more field goals.
In the third quarter he scored 11, including three consecutive three-pointers.
Fair trailed 31-24 at halftime, but the War Eagles built a 45-35 lead going into the final period.
"I did not say anything different at halftime than I usually say, but they came out in the second half and they played really well,'' said Fair Coach Charlie Johnson. "They played like we have been playing the last three games -- together, intensely and real hard.
"He (Cole) shoots like that every game. He has a bad first half; some shots went in, went down and didn't stay. I just tell him to just keep shooting because he is the man. He's the man. He is going to shoot it. He will take a bad one every now and then but you've got to live with it. He might take one bad one, then he might make nine threes in a row. So you have got to live with it."
It was not all Cole's offense. In the third quarter turnaround, Fair held Jacksonville (15-6, 5-3) to 1 of 12 shooting in the period. The Red Devils' offense consisted of a Devin Campbell field goal and a pair of Laquan Smith free throws.
"I thought in the second half we played basketball," Johnson said. "The first half was all one-on-one individual. We did not play as a team."
The Red Devils' offense did not produce much in the second half until the closing moments. They had a stretch where they hit 14 of 15 free throws to stay in the game, a streak that ended with a pair of misses by Smith that could have tied the score with 3:26 left.
Jacksonville got to within two again, at 64-62 with 27 seconds left, but Kris Croom hit two of four free throws in the final 18 seconds, the second one after Jacksonville missed a pair of three-point attempts to tie the game.
Sports on 01/31/2015