West Memphis got hot from the three-point line in the first half, then held on with ball-control offense in the second half for a 55-46 victory at Little Rock Central.
The Blue Devils (14-11, 7-5 7A/6A-East) rolled to a 33-22 lead at halftime on the strength of six three-pointers, three of which came from senior guard Ahmere Albert, who ended the night with nine points.
"It didn't surprise me to see West Memphis come out hot like that," Little Rock Central Coach Oliver Fitzpatrick said. "All you gotta do is schedule a game against us, and everybody seems to shoot lights out."
West Memphis opened the second quarter with back-to-back three-pointers. Brandon Atwood hit the first one, then turned it into a four-point play after being fouled. Dylan Gazo, who had two threes on the night, made the second one.
Gazo's other three-pointer came with two seconds left before halftime to give the Blue Devils the 11-point lead at halftime.
Central (12-12, 5-7) sliced the West Memphis lead to 36-34 with 3:19 to play in the third quarter, but the Blue Devils answered with a putback by Robert Harris, who scored 11 points, and four more points from sophomore Zachary Byrd, who led West Memphis with 12 points.
West Memphis spread the floor in the fourth quarter and took only layup attempts and free throws the rest of the way.
Defensively, the Blue Devils gave up a game-high 25 points to Central's Cameron Johnson and eight more from Jacobi Platt, but no other Tiger scored more than two points.
Sports on 02/20/2016