CABOT -- A smothering man-to-man defense and a disciplined approach on offense carried Cabot to a 54-36 victory over West Memphis at Panther Arena on Friday night.
Cabot (15-7, 6-4 7A/6A-East) limited West Memphis (13-10, 6-4) to only two first-half field goals and the Panthers connected on 6 of 11 three-point attempts.
"I told the guys in the locker room before the game to let our defense carry us tonight," Cabot Coach Jerry Bridges said. "We did a much better job of shutting down [West Memphis'] drive off the dribble. They like to drive to the basket and kick out for three-pointers and we did a great job of stopping that."
Cabot allowed only a tip-in by West Memphis sophomore Zachary Byrd in the first quarter and a three-pointer from Darius Hall in the second quarter for the only Blue Devils field goals in the first half.
The Panthers used a patient approach on offense in the second half, as they shot 18 of their 20 free throws on the night in the final two quarters. Cabot sank 14 of 20 free throws.
"I thought we did a good job of keeping them off the free-throw line in the first half, but in the second half we just got lost on defense," West Memphis Coach Larry Bray said.
The Panthers led 19-11 at halftime and extended that to 32-20 by the end of the third quarter.
Junior point guard Bobby Joe Duncan scored all 14 of his points in the second half to share team scoring honors with senior Garrett Rowe. Hunter Southerland added 10 points.
Byrd led all scorers with 17 points.
Sports on 02/13/2016