VAN BUREN -- North Little Rock's boys could do little wrong through the first 11 minutes of their Class 7A state tournament quarterfinal game.
The Charging Wildcats then did just enough things right over the final 23 minutes to keep Conway out of reach Thursday night and claimed a 67-58 victory over the Wampus Cats in Clair Bates Arena.
Conway^8^13^22^15^—^58
NLR^25^13^15^14^—^67
Conway (15-14): Smith 25, Milton 10, Clardy 9, Williams 5, O’Bannon 4, Bradshaw 2, Maull 2, Taylor 1.
North Little Rock (24-5): Moore 20, Dobbins 15, Fudge 9, Walker 7, Watkins 6, Fresh 6, Ricks 2, Duckworth 2.
Little Rock Central 57, Bentonville 56
LR Central^10^11^21^15^—^57
Bentonville^7^10^22^17^—^56
LR Central (21-9): Rogers 17, Richardson 14, Platt 10, C. Johnson 8, Dudley 3, G. Johnson 3, Jackson 2.
Bentonville (16-11): Hemphill 20, Hutchinson 16, Akbar 7, Costantini 7, Estrada 4, Blackmon 2.
Bryant 50, Van Buren 44
Bryant^12^11^14^13^—^50
Van Buren^8^16^9^11^—^44
Bryant (18-10): Steen 15, Martin 8, Allen 8, Washington 7, Moody 5, Chumley 5, Canada 2.
Van Buren (15-13): Beckner 20, West 12, Stewart 6, Kindrix 4, Salisbury 2.
"We did a great job, I told them, 12 minutes," Rice said. "The energy level dropped, then we were on our heels the rest of the time and hung on."
Rice said he constantly reminded his players this week of North Little Rock's last loss -- a 74-65 decision at Conway to open 7A-Central Conference play. The Charging Wildcats, winners of 13 straight games since that loss, took the message to heart, and Collin Moore had eight of his 20 points in the first 2 1/2 minutes.
North Little Rock then closed the first quarter with seven straight points and took a 25-8 lead, with seven different players scoring at least two points. Shawn Fudge and Deion Dobbins then combined for the next nine points to start the second quarter, and Moore scored again to give the Charging Wildcats a 36-8 cushion with 5 minutes, 40 seconds before half.
"If they play the speed they want to with their halfcourt offense, they're big and physical," Rice said. "They can cram it down our throats, and there's nothing we can do about it.
"It's really not a good matchup for us, really. We were able to make shots early, force some turnovers and get some transition going. That's our strength."
Conway (15-14), however, was determined not to get blown away. The Wampus Cats closed the first half with a 13-2 run and pulled within 38-21 at halftime, then Kylen Milton scored all 10 of his points in the third quarter and pulled Conway within 51-43 before North Little Rock picked up a buzzer-beater by Jarvis Ricks to end the third quarter.
The Wampus Cats would get as close as eight on one more occasion -- 64-56 after a Kendarious Smith bucket with 1:24 remaining -- but couldn't get any closer.
"I'm just proud of the way our guys battled," Conway coach Will Johnson said. "In that second quarter, I put in a couple of guys that hadn't played in a couple of games. They worked and they played hard, and it gave us a chance.
"We stuck with it and gave ourselves a chance. I think our guys our gritty, and our conference has been tough. A lot of our games have been ups and downs, and we had a lot of adversity. I just kept telling them to chip away and be patient."
Moore finished with 20 points and Dobbins added 15 for North Little Rock, which plays Little Rock Central in Saturday's 1:30 p.m. semifinal. Smith had 25 points to pace Conway.
Little Rock Central 57, Bentonville High 56
Raekwon Rogers' putback broke a 44-44 lead and put Central ahead for good as the Tigers held off a late Bentonville charge.
Central (21-9) built up a 55-46 lead on Cameron Johnson's two free throws left, but Asa Hutchinson's 3-pointer pulled Bentonville (16-11) within 57-54 with 10.3 seconds remaining. Bentonville had a chance to tie the game as Rogers missed two free throws, then Hemphill drove into the lane and hoped to be fouled as he hit a layup with 2.7 seconds left.
No foul was called, and Bentonville didn't have another timeout to stop the clock again, allowing Central to escape.
Rogers finished with 17 to lead Central, followed by Donald Richardson with 14 and Jacobia Platt II with 10. Hemphill led Bentonville with 20 points while Hutchinson chipped in 16.
Bryant 50, Van Buren 44
Lowell Washington's 3-pointer with 5:02 left in the third quarter snapped a 29-29 tie and gave Bryant the lead for good in the final opening-round game.
Bryant (18-10) led 37-33 through three quarters and extended it to 46-36 on Marvin Moody's free throws with 2:04 remaining. Van Buren (15-13) did get within 48-42 on back-to-back buckets by Beau Beckner but couldn't get any closer.
Braylon Steen had 15 points and was the only player in double figures for Van Buren, which advances to Friday's late quarterfinal game against Fort Smith Northside. Beckner had 20 points to lead Van Buren while Jordan West added 12.
Sports on 03/03/2017