FORT SMITH -- The Tulsa Memorial Chargers started fast and stayed fast Tuesday night.
Memorial outscored Fort Smith Northside each of the first three quarters on the way to a 70-47 win at Gayle Kaundart Grizzly Fieldhouse.
"They gave us some looks and athleticism that we haven't seen," Memorial Coach Robert Allison said. "It was an honor to get here and play against a great program and a great coach."
Memorial (2-0) led 19-11 after a quarter and 34-19 at the half behind Seth Pratt, who scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the first half.
"We want to play good teams early because when teams like that get after you, you go to practice the next day and get better," Northside Coach Eric Burnett said. "Their eyes are opened. Memorial was really good and very aggressive. The beginning of the game set the tone. They got after us pretty good. It was kind of like deer in the headlights with some of our guys because they haven't experienced anything like that."
Memorial went on a 14-3 run to open the third quarter and then opened up a 53-29 lead heading to the final quarter.
"We started rebounding, and we really ran out," Allison said. "We're in great shape. We had a great scrimmage season. We practice hard every day, and we just like to compete. We knew this would be great competition."
Dae'Marion Savoy and Denarion Whitmore, who led the Grizzlies with 21 points, scored for Northside to open the fourth quarter, and after a three-pointer by Memorial, Whitmore and Walker Catsavis whittled the deficit to 55-37 with 5:39 left on consecutive buckets.
Memorial answered with a 6-0 run and went on to the win.
"This is exactly what we signed up for. Coach Burnett has a lot of pride and tradition here," Allison said. "We wanted to get another good look against some quality athletes before we get into conference play and tournament play."
Northside (2-1) now has its full squad for a week of practice before traveling to crosstown Southside on Nov. 30 for the only game against its rival.
"Not making excuses, but we just added our football guys," Burnett said. "This was their first game. We just have to go get some practice time in and get better."