Amauri Williams turned in an impressive 6A-Central Conference debut Friday night.
Williams, North Little Rock's 6-2 freshman, scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds -- 8 on the offensive end -- as the Charging Wildcats knocked off rival Little Rock Central 59-29 at the Tiger Fieldhouse.
Williams scored four points and grabbed three rebounds early in the first quarter, but rarely touched the ball the remainder of the half.
"She disappeared for a little bit, but [senior guard] Jordan Neal got her back involved in the third quarter," North Little Rock Coach Daryl Fimple said. "[Williams] is a handful. If we play through her, she's going to cause problems."
North Little Rock (7-6, 1-0 6A-Central) never trailed, scored 14 of the game's first 16 points and held Little Rock Central to nine points in the second half.
Little Rock Central (5-7, 0-1) got as close as 25-20 at the half thanks to Ariyanna Hall's 13 first-half points, but the Tigers managed only one field goal in the third quarter and trailed 45-23 entering the final eight minutes.
"I thought we played really well in the second half," Fimple said. "We were kind of sluggish in the first half. We finally settled down and got on a run.
"We only allowed them three points in the third quarter. We did a good job of not letting them have a whole lot of second shots in the second half."
Senior De'Myla Brown scored 14 points, Arin Freeman put in 10 and Kennady Tucker followed with 9 for the Lady Charging Wildcats.
North Little Rock outrebounded the Tigers 34-22 and had seven players combine for 17 steals, including a game-high 5 for Neal.
Little Rock Central's chances of staying close ended at the free-throw line as the Lady Tigers hit only 10 of 24 attempts.
Hall finished with a team-high 17 points, but no other Lady Tiger managed more than six.
Sports on 01/05/2019