WEST MEMPHIS -- West Memphis got a game-high 17 points from freshman Janiyah Tucker and some dominant defense in the fourth quarter on the way to a 44-30 victory over Mountain Home.
West Memphis (22-6, 11-3 5A-East) led for most of the game. A rebound basket by freshman Clemisha Prackett, who scored six points, ignited a 9-0 run to close out the third quarter and give the host a 30-22 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Blue Devils held Mountain Home (21-6, 10-4) to 3-of-11 shooting. The West Memphis perimeter defense was solid all night, holding the Lady Bombers to a 2-of-17 showing from the three-point arc.
"I'm especially pleased with our defense on [Mountain Home's] shooters," West Memphis Coach Shelia Burns said. "They are a very good three-point shooting team, but we got out on them all night."
The Lady Blue Devils, who also got nine points from senior guard Aryah Hazley, pushed their lead to 41-26 on a three-pointer from senior Cortasia Hollins with 4:17 left in the game.
West Memphis shot 56% from the floor on 15-of-27 shooting, while the Lady Bombers finished 13 of 29 from the floor.
Mountain Home was led by Kate Gilbert with 14 points.
BOYS
WEST MEMPHIS 46, MOUNTAIN HOME 39
West Memphis senior Chris Moore closed out his four-year career at home by leading his team to victory over Mountain Home.
Moore scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Blue Devils (23-4, 13-1 5A-East) outrebounded Mountain Home (15-12, 6-8) 28-15.
West Memphis trailed 13-10 midway through the second quarter, but Moore jump-started a 14-0 run to close out the first half as the Blue Devils led 24-15 at halftime.
Behind Mat Jones' game-high 20 points, the Bombers were a tough out. They trailed 37-34 with 7:08 to play in the fourth quarter after a baseline jumper by Jones.
But West Memphis carved out some breathing room at the 2:57 mark on its only three-pointer of the game, by Kyalan Sykes, one of four Blue Devils to score five points on the night.
Jones teamed with Wyatt Gilbert to score 35 of the Bombers' 39 points. Gilbert had 15.
Sports on 02/29/2020