7A/6A-EAST GIRLS
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 52, LR CENTRAL 40
The Little Rock Central girls basketball team is undefeated no longer.
North Little Rock handed the Lady Tigers their first loss of the season, 52-40, on Friday night in Little Rock.
The victory moved the Lady Charging Wildcats (16-4) into a first-place tie with the Lady Tigers (18-1) at 5-1 in the 7A/6A-East Conference. It was Central's first loss since falling to Fayetteville in the Class 7A state semifinals last March.
"We came over here and competed," North Little Rock Coach Daryl Fimple said. "We didn't have anything to lose. All of the pressure was on them. I've been on both sides of it. It's tough. You're going to get everybody's best shot.
"Our kids did exactly what we wanted them to do. That might happen three times a year, and this is one of them."
Three players scored at least 10 points for North Little Rock. Kyra Collier led the Lady Charging Wildcats with 12 points. Amber Hawkison and MacKenzie Tillman each had 10 points.
Central struggled with its shooting, making 11 of 48 field-goal attempts. Bre'Ambre Scott led the Lady Tigers with 10 points. Alexis Brown had eight points, Jada Perry six while Kiara Williams, a University of Arkansas signee, was held to five points.
"We missed some shots we normally make," Central Coach Michael Green said. "You can't take anything away from them. They made shots. It equated to our first loss of the season."
North Little Rock led 13-12 at the end of the first quarter and led 23-19 at halftime. Perry hit a running three-pointer from half-court as time expired to pull the Lady Tigers within 23-22.
The Lady Tigers led 30-29 with 3:56 left in the third quarter, but the Lady Charging Wildcats finished the quarter outscoring the Lady Tigers 7-0 to take a 36-30 lead.
North Little Rock extended its lead to 40-30 with 5:45 to play on layups from Brogan Jones and Hawkison. Central cut the lead to 40-36, but North Little Rock stretched the advantage to 46-36 at the 1:50 mark on Jones' layup.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK (52)
Hawkison 3 3-4 10, Morris 3 3-4 9, Collier 3 6-6 12, Jones 4 1-5 9, Settles 1 0-2 2, Tillman 4 2-2 10. Totals 18 15-23 52.
LR CENTRAL (40)
Scott 4 1-2 10, Williams 1 3-6 5, Jackson 2 0-0 5, Brown 1 6-6 8, Ready 1 2-2 5, Perry 2 0-0 6, Tucker 0 1-2 1. Totals 11 13-18 40.
NLR (16-14);13 10 13 16 -- 52
LR Central (18-1);12 10 8 10 -- 40
Three-point goals -- North Little Rock 1 (Hawkison 1), LR Central 5 (Perry 2). Total fouls -- North Little Rock 14, LR Central 18.
Sports on 01/30/2016