North Little Rock and Little Rock Central stayed in the fast lane Friday night at North Little Rock's gymnasium, until Central couldn't keep up anymore.
The Charging Wildcats, the state's top-ranked team, scored 28 fourth-quarter points to pull away for a 79-64 victory in a game that was nip-and-tuck for more than three quarters.
The Charging Wildcats (17-3, 8-0 6A-Central) won for the 10th consecutive time.
Central (11-10, 4-4) came into the game with a four-game winning streak, and for more than three quarters the Tigers acted like they planned on playing it close to the wire, which is exactly what North Little Rock Coach Johnny Rice expected.
"They're good. They play hard," Rice said. "And they were making shots early. I think the deal was we made shots in the fourth and they didn't. That was the difference."
It was 58-56 North Little Rock after a three-point shot by Central's CJ Price with 5:39 to play, but the Charging Wildcats flipped on the scoring switch.
DJ Smith (17 points) hit a three-pointer to make it 61-56 with 5:07 to play, Bryson Warren (20 points) hit a basket at 4:35 to make it 63-56 and 6-11 sophomore center Kelel Ware scored two of his 21 points on a putback to give the Charging Wildcats a 65-56 lead with 3:57 to play.
Cody Robinson's fourth three-pointer cut the lead to 65-59, but North Little Rock -- with Ware hitting 7 of 7 from the line -- outscored the Tigers 10-1 over a 2:29 stretch to put the game out of reach.
Rice said the game was played "with a state championship atmosphere."
"In the end, they just hit a few more shots than we did," Central Coach Brian Ross said. "But I thought we played really hard. Executed well on the offensive end. Couldn't quite get enough stops."
Ross said getting stops against North Little Rock is no easy feat.
"There's a reason nobody's beat them in a long time," he said. "They can score inside and out. They've got great shooting, driving, post play. Very well-balanced team. Very well-coached."
Ware had 7 rebounds and 5 blocked shots to go along with his 21 points.
"Anytime you've got length like that, it's really hard to score in the paint," Ross said of Ware, who scored 15 of his points in the second half. "He's really smart about not fouling a lot."
Central was led by Jeremiah Jones (20 points) and Robinson (18 points). Junior Corey Camper scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half.
The Charging Wildcats were buoyed by 11 points off the bench from senior point guard Otis Jordan. Spencer Simes added nine points.
"There's going to be nights somebody does and somebody don't," Rice said. "There's going to be sacrifices there."
Rice said he liked the way the Charging Wildcats started looking to get the ball to Ware.
"He rebounded well, finished in there, blocked shots," Rice said. "He's really come on and played well. His teammates are looking for him. When it gets crunch time, they're looking to get him the basketball."
GIRLS
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 66,
Little Rock CENTRAL 42
Junior guard Kaline Foster scored 25 points and sophomore center Amauri Williams had 15 to lead the Lady Charging Wildcats (11-11, 4-4) to a 6A-Central victory over Central (6-11, 2-6).
North Little Rock led 15-6 after one quarter, 29-12 at halftime and 44-24 after three quarters.
Jordan Head led Central with 13 points, and Lillian Jackson scored 11.
Sports on 02/08/2020