5A-EAST BOYS

Moore's double-double powers West Memphis

JONESBORO -- Senior forward Chris Moore scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds to lead the West Memphis boys to a 48-45 victory over Jonesboro on Tuesday night.

West Memphis (20-4, 10-1 5A-East) nearly blew a 12-point, fourth-quarter lead, but the Blue Devils hung on thanks to a key pull-up jumper from junior point guard Jordan Mitchell and a breakaway dunk from Akyrahn Hazley in the final 49 seconds.

West Memphis led 26-24 at halftime, then used a 10-0 run to end the third quarter and took a 39-28 lead into the fourth quarter. West Memphis led 42-30 after a three-pointer from Kyalan Sykes with 6:54 to play in the game.

But Jonesboro (14-9, 7-4) chipped away to cut the West Memphis lead to 44-43 with 2:28 to play on a layup from sophomore Kavon Pointer, who scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.

"This is one of the toughest places to play in the state, so it's always good to come in here and win, no matter the score," West Memphis Coach Marcus Brown said.

The Blue Devils got an additional 10 points apiece from seniors Sykes and Immanuel Hoard.

Jonesboro's Kelyn McBride led all scorers with 16 points, and Jesse Washington added 12.

GIRLS

West Memphis 57, Jonesboro 54

Freshman Janiyah Tucker scored seven of her game-high 20 points in the final 1:36 to lead West Memphis over Jonesboro.

After going 5 for its first 15 from the free-throw line, West Memphis (20-5, 9-2 5A-East) made 5 of its final 6 to cinch the outcome.

"We hit them when we had to," West Memphis Coach Shelia Burns said. "It was looking ugly in the first half, though."

A driving layup from Tucker with 1:02 to play gave the Lady Blue Devils their biggest lead at 50-46, but Jonesboro (13-10, 7-4) got a layup from Ereauna Hardaway to cut the West Memphis lead to two.

From there, Tucker split a pair of free throws and added a basket in the paint. Four consecutive makes from the free-throw line by senior Jamee Gholson, who came off the bench for a career-high 18 points, sealed the deal for the Lady Blue Devils.

For the game, West Memphis converted 15 of 29 free throws.

Jonesboro, which got 19 points from Destiny Salary and 15 from Hardaway, led 19-16 at halftime and 32-31 at the end of three quarters.

Sports on 02/19/2020

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