WEST MEMPHIS -- Alexsis Brown scored eight consecutive points in the fourth quarter to help the Little Rock Central girls to a 46-41 victory over West Memphis.
Brown triggered a 10-2 Central spurt to start the fourth quarter, and she later clinched the game for the Lady Tigers (19-1 overall, 6-1 7A/6A-East) by making three out of four free throws in the final minute of play.
"Coming off a loss to North Little Rock, we knew we needed to get back on track," said Brown, who scored a game-high 19 points. "We needed to play faster and smarter, and we didn't do that in the first three quarters."
West Memphis (14-6, 4-3) trailed 19-14 at halftime, but the Lady Blue Devils hit the Lady Tigers with a 7-0 run out of intermission, capped by a three-pointer by senior Amesha Brown for a 21-19 lead.
But the battle-tested Lady Tigers hit West Memphis with a 10-2 run to start the final quarter behind Brown, and the hosts could not get within four points the rest of the way.
One free throw by senior Sable Greer brought West Memphis to within 41-36 with 2:14 to play, but Abigayle Jackson and Brown -- who converted 7 of 8 free-throw attempts on the night -- made four free throws between them to raise the advantage to 45-36 with a minute to play.
Kiara Williams added 11 points for Little Rock Central, while Bre'Amber Scott scored 7.
Little Rock Central's defense held West Memphis to 4-for-18 shooting from the floor in the second half. The Lady Tigers outrebounded the Lady Blue Devils 14-10 in the final two quarters.
West Memphis was paced by Greer's 11 points, Brown added 10 and Anqanetta Chatt scored 9.
Sports on 02/03/2016