West Memphis' defense stingy

WEST MEMPHIS -- The West Memphis boys used a stifling defense, and the Blue Devils offense committed a season-low 10 turnovers in a 50-23 victory over Paragould.

West Memphis (16-2 overall, 8-1 6A/5A-3 Conference) held the Rams (8-9, 2-7) to just three field goals through the first three quarters and held the visitors to 2-of-15 shooting from three-point range.

"I thought it was a good overall effort, and we especially guarded the perimeter well," first-year West Memphis Coach Marcus Brown said. "We were very aggressive on defense at the start of the game, and we got [Paragould] into the bonus situation early, but our defense was very good."

With a six-day layoff, the Blue Devils started sluggishly on offense, although they made 5 of their 10 shots from the field to lead 11-7 after the first quarter.

West Memphis kicked it into gear late in the second quarter when junior point guard Cavin Paige scored 6 of his 8 points by drawing a foul and converting a three-point play on a drive to the basket. That helped the Blue Devils accumulate a 23-11 halftime advantage.

The hosts put the game away by scoring the first 14 points of the third quarter. West Memphis made 10 of 18 shots from the field in the second half while forcing Paragould into five third-quarter turnovers and 15 for the game.

West Memphis outrebounded Paragould 23-16.

Senior guard C.J. Prackett scored a game-high 12 points for West Memphis. Senior Curtis Washington added 10 points and sophomore Chris Moore scored eight.

Paragould got seven points from Hunter Wilmes and six from point guard Derek Schollenbarger.

Sports on 01/20/2018

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