Bryson Warren grabbed the inbounds pass, took a couple of dribbles, drifted just beyond the half-court line and launched a runner just before the first-quarter horn.
He barely reacted when the ball found the bottom of the net.
The rest of Tiger Fieldhouse made up for his chill, and it was an omen for what was to come from the Little Rock Central sophomore.
Warren poured in a game-high 30 points as No. 1 Little Rock Central stayed unbeaten in 6A-Central play, holding off No. 2 North Little Rock 75-67 on Tuesday night. The Tigers swept a pair of games from the Charging Wildcats this season after losing their previous nine against their rivals.
Hudson Likens and Cody Robinson -- who scored 16 and 11 points, respectively -- gave offensive support to Warren, who holds power-conference offers from schools such as Arkansas, Auburn, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Seton Hall.
"When they try to double-team Bryson, everything opens up for our shooters," senior Corey Camper said. "He [just pops off] every game."
North Little Rock closed to 61-54 with just over four minutes to play, but Central (17-3, 9-0 6A-Central) punched back with a 4-0 burst, including Warren's only basket of the fourth coming off a steal and layup to put the Tigers up 65-54.
The Charging Wildcats then pulled within five at the 1:45 mark, but the Tigers answered once more with a 9-2 surge to seal the game.
"They're a tough team, and they know what they're doing, too," Tigers Coach Brian Ross said of North Little Rock. "They weren't ever going to go away, but we did a good job of just controlling the game. Our guard play was really good. We just manipulated the defense with what they gave us.
"Our guys started the game hitting some threes and when they didn't help off the shooter, Bryson did a great job of getting to the rim, and I thought that was really the difference."
Including his buzzer-beater, Warren scored nine consecutive points as Central went from down 22-18 to up 30-24 in the second quarter. The Tigers shot 5 of 9 from deep in the opening half and held a 40-33 halftime lead.
On the night, Central shot nearly 54 percent from the field as a team.
"[The half-court shot] was a really big momentum changer for us," Warren said. "We kept going to the ball screen, and I was just reading that they weren't helping off the shooters, so I kept on driving."
North Little Rock (13-8, 7-2) kept chipping away in the second half. Down seven at the break, the Charging Wildcats were within in two in less than 90 seconds. Then after trailing 51-40, North Little Rock chewed the deficit down to 55-48 early in the fourth quarter. But the final push to lift the Charging Wildcats over the top never came.
Senior Tracy Steele scored 17 points to carry the brunt of the Charging Wildcats' offensive load, and classmate D.J. Smith scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Much of what North Little Rock did to claw back came as a result of their work on the offensive glass. Smith -- at just 5-11 -- pulled in 6 rebounds, and 7-foot junior Kelel Ware -- who scored 12 points, all in the paint -- had a half-dozen boards as well.
At 9-0 in 6A-Central play with just five regular-season games to play, Ross emphasized to the Tigers after the game their in the pole position.
"We've put ourselves in the position to be in the driver's seat," he said. "Now, it's just about getting 1% better every day, every practice, every game, and we want to be peaking at the end of the year."
GIRLS BASKETBALL
North Little Rock 62, Little Rock Central 48
The Lady Charging Wildcats won for the seventh time in nine games behind a big night from junior Amauri Williams.
The North Little Rock forward dominated the post with 26 points and 12 rebounds, and fellow forward Destine Duckworth chipped in with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Central (6-8, 1-2) tied the game 19-19 in the second quarter, but North Little Rock (11-6, 3-2) answered with an 8-0 run and never looked back.
Senior Lauryn Pendleton led the Lady Tigers with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.