North Little Rock 63, Bryant 52
6A-CENTRAL GIRLS
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 63, BRYANT 52
North Little Rock continued its late-season surge by taking a game it had to have Tuesday night.
Junior guard Kalina Foster scored a team-high 16 points as North Little Rock used a hot-shooting fourth quarter to slip away from Bryant 6352 at Lady Charging Wildcats Arena.
Sophomore forward Amauri Williams had 14 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocked shots while junior guard Arin Freeman pitched in with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals for the Lady Charging Wildcats (15-12, 8-5 6A-Central), who won for the fifth time in their past six games to move into a fourth-place tie in the 6A-Central Conference with the Lady Hornets. Sophomore forward Destine Duckworth added 11 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals.
“We played well in a big game, and that’s big for us,” North Little Rock Coach Daryl Fimple said. “We made some plays down the stretch that we hadn’t been making lately, and got some defensive stops in the second half. Bryant played well, but this was a good win for us, especially with the way we played at [Fort Smith] Northside last Friday.”
Senior guard Tierra Trotter had 23 points and five steals for Bryant (16-9, 8-5), which beat North Little Rock 54-53 on Jan. 28. Sophomore guard Parris Atkins tossed in 10 points.
North Little Rock started fast and finished strong in the first quarter after ripping off a 14-3 run that was punctuated by a jumper from freshman guard Sakiya Hicks just before the buzzer for a 16-6 lead.
Bryant chipped away in the second quarter when seniors Lexie Taylor, McKenzie Muse and Trotter knocked down three-pointers on consecutive possessions to pull the Lady Hornets within 16-15 by the 6:34 mark.
Williams blocked a shot by Trotter, then sprinted down the floor for a putback to trigger a 12-0 rally for North Little Rock. Both Freeman and Duckworth had four points apiece during the spurt.
“We got beat off the dribble quite a bit, more than what we have been,” said Bryant Coach Brad Matthews, whose team trailed 31-22 at halftime. “I thought once we got set in our defense and didn’t give up transition points, we were OK. But when you’re playing such a good team and it’s a close battle — when you give up 8-10 points in transition, 8-10 points on offensive rebounds — those things are hard to overcome on the road.”
Bryant made several pushes in the second half to close the gap. The Lady Hornets shaved North Little Rock’s lead to 46-43 after a pair of free throws from Atkins with 22 seconds left in the third quarter. But Bryant went cold in the fourth, and that allowed North Little Rock to pull away.
The Lady Charging Wildcats nailed six of their first seven baskets and scored 13 of the first 17 points in the quarter. The Lady Hornets missed five of their first six attempts.
“We’re getting better,” Fimple said. “With a young team, you just never know. There are highs and lows, but [Tuesday] we played well. We’re getting there.”
BOYS NORTH LITTLE ROCK 71, BRYANT 67
An 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter allowed the Charging Wildcats to storm back and escape the Hornets.
Senior guard Otis Jordan scored eight of his 18 points over the final six minutes for North Little Rock (22-4, 13-1 6A-Central). Sophomore forward Kelel Ware had 18 points, 14 rebounds and 9 blocks, and freshman guard Bryson Warren scored 11.
Junior guard Camren Hunter finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks for Bryant (15-11, 7-6), which was down 32-28 at halftime but led 57-49 at the end of the third quarter.
The Hornets were down 66-61 with 2:16 left in the game, but senior guard Treylon Payne canned consecutive three-pointers to cut their deficit to one. Trailing 70-67, Payne nearly tied the game with 7.5 seconds remaining with a 23-footer, but his shot rimmed out. North Little Rock grabbed the rebound and added a free throw to set the final score.
Senior guard A.J. Jenkins scored 12 points while sophomore guard Khasen Robinson finished with 12 for Bryant. Payne chimed in with 11.