CONWAY -- Fort Smith Northside center Jaylin Williams filled the stat sheet during his matchup against West Memphis forward Chris Moore on Friday night, but it was well-timed plays from Williams' supporting cast that allowed the Grizzlies to escape in overtime.
Senior guard Garrett Keller's driving lay-up with 1:15 to in the extra session snapped a 47-47 tie, and two free throws from Noah Gordon in the final moments helped Northside steer clear of the Blue Devils and eke out a 54-52 victory in the John Stanton Classic at Buzz Bolding Arena.
"It wasn't pretty at times, but when you're playing against a really good team, you're going to have an ugly game occasionally," Fort Smith Northside Coach Eric Burnett said. "It was two heavyweights really going at each other, and it was a big game for both sides. We had other guys step up when we had to have them, and we were finally able to finish down the stretch.
"But I sure am happy that I've got Jaylin Williams on my side. He did it all when we needed him to."
Williams, a 6-11 senior who's committed to the University of Arkansas, finished with 19 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 2 steals for Northside (6-4), which will head into next week's Coke Classic on a high note after fending off a hard charge from the Blue Devils. Gordon added 10 points while Keller had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals.
Moore, an Auburn commit, had 13 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals for West Memphis (7-3). Senior guard Immanuel Hoard finished with 16 points while junior guard Jordan Mitchell chipped in 14 points.
The game, however, was billed as a battle between two of the state's top players in Williams and Moore, and neither disappointed. But the grind-it-out flow of the game favored Northside, and West Memphis Coach Marcus Brown admitted that style, along with turnovers late, hurt his team.
"That's the kind of game they wanted, and we knew that going in," he said. "We tried to speed them up a little bit, but we had some ill-advised shots, ill-advised passes that kept us from doing what we needed to do.
"We played hard, but we've got to execute better when we play in games like this."
Neither team shot the ball well in the first half. Northside snatched its first lead, 19-18, when Gordon drilled a three-pointer with 2:46 left in the second quarter. Williams extended it on the Grizzlies' next possession with a 10-footer before Moore answered with a tip-in on the other end. Williams, again, countered with a step-back three-pointer that enabled Northside to end the quarter on a 6-0 spurt and give the Grizzlies a 27-20 lead into halftime.
"[Williams] was huge, especially in that second quarter," Burnett said. "He controls the game on both ends of the floor for us. He alters shots, he rebounds, he scores. ... Jaylin is a difference maker. He shows that night in and night out, and he kept us in a good position throughout that first half."
Another three-pointer from Williams at the start of the third quarter quickly pushed the Grizzlies' margin to 30-20, but Northside went 3 of 12 from the field for the remainder of the period. That cold stretch of shooting gave West Memphis the opening it needed to flurry back.
The Blue Devils outscored the Grizzlies 17-7 over the time frame, with senior guard Kylan Sykes hitting a three-pointer near the end of the quarter to tie it a 37-37.
West Memphis briefly took the lead with just under two minutes remaining on a pair of free throws from Mitchell. Northside regained the advantage and had a 47-44 lead before West Memphis senior guard Deon Williams hit an off-balanced three-pointer at the buzzer to send it to overtime.
"We'll take this one," Burnett said. "We let a few games like this slip away at the tournament in Peoria a few weeks ago, but we finished this time, and I was happy to see that."
LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 56, BENTONVILLE WEST 53
The Tigers used a 17-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to turn the tables on the Wolverines and pull out a victory.
Junior guard Corey Camper scored 16 points and junior forward Kiyler Hudson had 12 points and seven rebounds for Central (4-3), which trailed 29-26 at halftime and 48-34 midway through the third quarter before its run. Senior guard Karter Allen added 9 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals.
Senior guard Dillon Bailey scored 24 points to lead Bentonville West (2-4), which hit just 1 of 11 shots in the final quarter. Sophomore forward Riley Buccino finished with 9 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals.
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 60, SYLVAN HILLS 41
Seniors Lawson Jenkins and Jajuan Boyd combined to score 44 points for Har-Ber (8-2), which trailed for a total of 25 seconds in rolling past Sylvan Hills.
Jenkins, a Missouri Southern signee, scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half while Boyd had 16 of his 21 points in the opening half for the Wildcats, which outrebounded the Bears 38-25.
Sophomore guard Nick Smith and senior guard DeShaun Fowlkes each had 13 points for Sylvan Hills (5-2). The Bears made just 4 of 20 shots over the first two quarters to trail 30-16 at halftime.
LITTLE ROCK CATHOLIC 56, LITTLE ROCK McCLELLAN 51
Senior guard Nathan Johnson scored 15 points and classmate Sam Hannah had 11 as Catholic (3-4) held off a late surge from McClellan.
Will Kleine, also a senior guard, had 10 points for the Rockets, who led 26-25 at halftime.
Senior guard Eric Woods hit four three-pointers and finished with 16 points for McClellan (1-6), which has dropped three games in a row. Senior forward Patrick Martin and junior guard Kendrick Ester each had 14 points.
Sports on 12/21/2019