Blue Devils get more from Moore in victory

WEST MEMPHIS — Sophomore Chris Moore scored a game-high 15 points and added 11 rebounds and 6 blocks to lead No. 2 West Memphis to a 59-42 victory over Blytheville on Friday night.

Moore scored seven points in a 10-0 West Memphis flurry to end the third quarter, boosting the Blue Devils’ lead to 45-25 heading into the final quarter.

“Chris has been drawing a lot of attention from the opposition all season, but especially lately,” West Memphis Coach Marcus Brown said. “We talked about this all the way back in July. He got more touches tonight and when he gets touches, he knows what to do with it.”

Despite 18 turnovers, the Blue Devils (18-2, 11-1 6A/5A3) led for most of the game.

Blytheville (11-9, 7-9) slowed the pace to start the game with the Blue Devils starting in a zone defense. But West Memphis managed to build a 28-21 halftime lead.

Almost immediately after West Memphis senior forward Zachary Byrd picked up his fourth foul, which sent him to the bench, the Blue Devils took off.

Moore started the run with a two-handed dunk, and eight points later he sank a short shot to give his team a 20-point lead.

West Memphis held Blytheville’s leading scorer Tony Newmy to four points. Earlier this season, Newmy scored a game-high 27 points in a loss to the Blue Devils.

“I don’t know that we put more emphasis on [Newmy] than any other player, but as a general rule I like to take away the main ingredients to any team,” Brown said.

The Blue Devils also got 11 points from Byrd and senior Sidney Stinson scored nine.

Blytheville was led in scoring by Treay Jamison with 11 points, while Michael Caruthers added nine.