FORT SMITH -- In its first game as the sole leader of the 7A-Central, Fort Smith Northside once again put its 3-point shooting skills on display in a 61-43 victory over Little Rock Catholic.
The Grizzlies (18-6, 9-1), the defending 7A state champion, made 10 3-pointers in the game and built a 33-9 lead 12 minutes into the game before cruising to the easy homecoming win.
"I told the team before the game to focus because we cannot over look anyone," Grizzlies coach Eric Burnett said. "To come out like we did at the start of the game and get control early means we were ready to play."
Northside, and Catholic as well, emptied their benches for much of the second half, the biggest lead being 51-26 with 3:50 left in the third period. Eleven different players scored for Northside, led by Kentrell Jacobs with 17, including four 3-pointers, which Isaiah Joe added 10.
"It's always good to see those (reserves) come into the game," Burnett said. "Our student section gets excited to see those guys come into the game, and in turn our guys get hyped up. Sometimes I don't think how important it is to have the fans come out and cheer for our kids. They get excited to hear our fans. It makes us want to play hard and play well in front of them."
Jenkins scored nine points in the first quarter to lead to Grizzlies to a 23-4 advantage. Northside drained five three points in the first quarter, but its zone pressure also forced 8 Rocket turnovers, including two 10-second violations.
"We shot the basketball well and played good defense," Burnett said. "I thought our zone pressure hurt them. We got a lot of turnovers in the first half (10)."
Noah Slater scored 5 points in the first four minutes of the second quarter, fueling a 10-5 spurt as the Grizzlies built its biggest lead of the first half at 33-9.
Phillips Allison scored nine points to lead Catholic, which used a 10-4 spurt in the final 2:38 to climb to within 37-19 at halftime.
Northside can really take control of the 7A-Central race this week with games at Conway Tuesday and a potential showdown at home Friday against North Little Rock.
"We have a big week, but we have to concentrate on Conway," Burnett said. "Going to Conway is going to be tough. They got a lot of dunks on us the first time. If we look ahead, Conway will do to us what they did to North Little Rock."
Fort Smith Northside 61, Little Rock Catholic 43
LR Catholic 4 15 12 12 -- 43
FS Northside 23 14 14 10 -- 61
Little Rock Catholic (7-15, 1-9): Allison 4 1-1 9, Daniel 2 3-5, 7, Edington 3 0-0 7, Pruss 3 0-0 6, Porter 1 2-3 5, Flanagan 2 0-0 4, Schildnecht 0 3-4 3, Dawson 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 9-13 43.
Fort Smith Northside (18-6, 9-1): Jacbos 6 1-2 17, Joe 2 5-5 10, Releford 3 0-0 9, Slater 2 0-0 5, Travis 2 0-0 4, Thorne 1 1-2 4, Williams 1 2-2 4, Keller 1 0-0 2, Myers 1 0-0 2, McKinley 1 0-0 2, Perkins 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 9-11 61.
Girls: Fort Smith Northside 59, Mount St. Mary 31
The Lady Bears (21-2, 8-1 7A-Central) led 21-0 after a quarter and easily dispatched of the Belles (2-20, 1-9) to remain in a tie for first place with North Little Rock.
Next week, Northside goes to third-place Conway, then hosts North Little Rock.
The Lady Bears pulled away to a 36-9 halftime lead and led by more than 30 points in several instances in the second half.
Sara Bersher's game-high 14 points paced Northside, which had 14 players score. Allison Allgood's 10 points led Mount St. Mary.
Fort Smith Northside 59, Mount St. Mary 31
Mount St. Mary 0 9 12 10 -- 31
FS Northside 21 15 13 10 -- 59
Mount St. Mary (2-20, 1-9): Allgood 10, Sagar 7, Snook 6, Tarini 4, Ceccherini 2, Meadors 2.
Fort Smith Northside (21-2, 9-1): S. Bershers 14, Coleman 7, Green 6, Tillery 5, Stewart 4, Evans 4, Carey 3, Wolfenbarger 3, Tampus 3, Mays 2, O'Neal 2, Knauls 2, West 2, T. Bershers 2.
Preps Basketball on 02/10/2018