WEST MEMPHIS -- Sophomore Zachary Byrd sat out the first half, but came off the bench in the second half to score 11 points to lead West Memphis to a 62-53 victory over North Little Rock.
Byrd also secured 7 rebounds and the Blue Devils (15-11, 8-5 7A/6A-East) hit all six of their free throws in the final two minutes.
"No particular reason we didn't play Zach in the first half," said West Memphis head Coach Larry Bray. "He's a sophomore and we wanted to see how long we could go with all our seniors on Senior Night. But he stepped up and did a great job on the boards in the second half."
West Memphis led 27-22 at halftime, but North Little Rock (13-12, 7-6) tied the game 29-29 early in the second half after a steal and a basket by Jarvis Ricks.
Later, the Charging 'Cats got a three-pointer from B.J. Walker, who scored 10 points, to cut West Memphis' lead to 35-34.
That's when Blue Devil senior guard Dylan Gazo deposited two consecutive threes to give the hosts a 41-34 edge.
"That was the big moment of the game," Bray said. "Dylan was a little hesitant on his shot tonight, but those two were big."
Gazo struck again after Ricks hit two free throws to make it a 42-40 West Memphis lead. Gazo hit a three-pointer and senior Robert Harris added another to make it 48-40 with 3:37 to play.
The closest North Little Rock got after that was three points with 1:27 to play, but Byrd hit two free throws and Harris hit from in close for a 60-53 cushion for the Blue Devils.
Harris paced West Memphis with 13 points while Gazo's four three-pointers gave him 12.
North Little Rock's Adrian Moore led all scorers with 17 points, while Walker scored 10.
Sports on 02/24/2016