Little Rock Central started fast and furious, then staved off a big effort led by the largest man on the court Friday night at the Tigers' gym.
Central (13-12, 6-6) scored 14 consecutive to take control midway in the first quarter, led by 13 at halftime and by 18 midway in the third quarter before escaping with a 63-57 victory over Conway (17-7, 7-5) in a 6A-Central matchup.
Coach Brian Ross' quick-striking Tigers got 23 points from sophomore guard Corey Camper, 13 from Jeremiah Jones and 12 from Karter Allen, and they needed each and every point when Conway's 6-5, 230-pound Jayden Williams got untracked in the second half.
Williams scored 20 of his game-high 22 points and grabbed 13 of his 14 rebounds to lead a Conway comeback that took the Wampus Cats from a 40-22 deficit to within 50-47 midway in the fourth quarter.
Ross called timeout with 4:06 to play and the lead shrinking.
"We needed to calm down, and we needed to get a rebound on the defensive end," Ross said. "When you're playing a team like Conway, they're not going away. They're really good. They're used to winning every game. You know they're going to do something to win the game. If you hang on you're happy no matter how it looks in the end."
It looked closer at the end than it did for most of the night because Williams grabbed offensive rebounds after nearly every Conway miss during a stretch when Conway outscored Central 25-10 to get within three points.
But Central responded with free throws by Camper and Jones -- 21 of 29 for the night -- and the Tigers gradually defused the Wampus Cats' hopes.
"You can't expect to win games on the road when you dig yourself a hole like that," Conway Coach Brian "Salty" Longing said.
Longing said Central's ability to drive to the basket and kick it out was tough for the Wampus Cats to defend.
"They did such a great job of attacking off the dribble," Longing said. "They break you down, and they spot up their shooters. They're a tough guard.
"They do a really good job with their offense of spreading you out, attacking the lane. If you don't stop them they get to the rim and if you stop them they kick it out."
Both Ross and Longing said that Williams' second-half performance was impressive.
"He's really been playing amazing for them lately," Ross said. "We talked about him a ton going into the game. He's just a huge guy and he plays super hard. He gave us fits. But man, I'm proud of my guys. We were so focused. We played with great effort, great intensity. When you play hard and you play unselfish good things happen."
Longing said Williams has been playing at this level, after making the conversion from football season, for about three weeks.
"He's been incredible," Longing said. "When he plays with that motor. He's been really really good for us."
Both coaches are looking forward to finishing the regular season strong in preparation for the 6A state tournament in Bryant.
"We're really playing good at the right time of the year," Ross said. "We've had our ups and downs in the win-loss column. We've not had our ups and downs on effort and teamwork. I'm really proud of this team. We've got it in us to play with the best I think. We just got oto show up and play like we did tonight."
Longing said this is no time to get down.
"It's this conference," he said. "We've had some big wins the last 3 weeks. If we sit around and mope over this we'll struggle next week. You can't get too high after and win and you can't get too low after a loss."
GIRLS
CONWAY 48, LR CENTRAL 34
Conway (19-7, 8-4) outscored Central 13-2 in the fourth quarter to break open a close game and secure a victory.
T'yauna Rector scored 15 of her 16 points in the second half, all coming on three-pointers, to lead the Wampus Cats.
Lauryn Pendleton scored 15 points for Central (6-15, 2-10).
Sports on 02/22/2020