LR Christian puts Jacksonville away at the free throw line

LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN 70, JACKSONVILLE 52

Justice Hill led Little Rock Christian with 22 points, half of those coming in the fourth quarter, as the Warriors put away the pesky Jacksonville Titans 70-52 Friday night in Little Rock.

“I thought we played all right, but the game was called totally different in the second half, and we made the adjustments,’’ said Little Rock Christian Coach Clarence Finley. “It was called real tight in the second half, so we started taking the ball to the basket. I don’t know what our free-throw percentage was, but we knocked down some free throws, and we got some key basketball from Hill around the basket.”

The Warriors made 13 of 20 free throws in the final quarter, including 5 of 6 by Hill, a 2019 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville commit, and 4 of 4 by senior guard Will Strickland, who finished with 16 points, including 7 of 7 at the free throw line.

The Warriors (18-5, 9-3 6A/5A-4) trailed just once, 3-2 after each team’s first baskets, but they would steadily build a comfortable lead. They led 16-9 after the first quarter and 32-21 at halftime. The Warriors were ahead 48-35 going into the final quarter.

“This was a trap game because they are never in it or out of it the way they play,’’ said Finley. “You know they shoot it so deep they are never in or out [of it] so you have to constantly talk about transition defense, and they hurt us in transition in the first half. We got back little better in the second, and they are going to make some deep shots and you can’t give them second and third shots. They got some offensive rebounds and came back a little in the second half.”

The Warriors also got 11 points from Mykal Moore and 8 from 6-foot-9 University of Arkansas-Little Rock signee Kalin Bennett.

The Titans (10-14, 3-9), who started two freshmen and a sophomore and played without Coach Victor Joyner, were led by 6-3 sophomore guard Gerald Dokes’ 16 points.