Little Rock Central basketball Coach Brian Ross had one eye on Little Rock Catholic, and the other on next week.
The strategy worked out just fine.
Central, with a spot in next week's state tournament already secured, used Friday night's 6A-Central finale with Catholic as a dress rehearsal for Thursday's first-round matchup with Rogers.
Ross wanted the Tigers to win, and they did, holding off Catholic 41-34 at the Rockets' gymnasium.
But what Ross really wanted the Tigers to do was to embrace a survive-and-advance mentality.
"We just treated this like it was our first game in the state tournament," Ross said of the Tigers (16-10, 6-8).
That meant digging in on defense, and playing keep-away on offense during the game's final four minutes.
The Tigers used their long arms and quickness to frustrate Catholic on its offensive end, and then milked minutes off the clock with the Rockets (12-16, 2-12) trying to rally.
"Whatever it takes to win a game," Ross said.
Central, led by AJ Williams' 16 points, outscored Catholic 11-0 midway through the first quarter to turn an 8-5 deficit into a 16-8 lead.
It was an advantage it would never relinquish even though Catholic closed to within two on several occasions.
Catholic rallied behind the all-around play of junior Charles Daniel, who led all scorers with 18 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and operated as the Rockets' primary offensive facilitator.
Catholic pulled within 34-32 midway through the fourth quarter, but Central turned two steals into a 38-32 lead.
"That's not a good matchup for us," Catholic Coach Todd Ezzi said of Central spreading the floor late. "They make it tough to score."
Sports on 02/23/2019