Transfer endears himself to Tigers
LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 67, JACKSONVILLE 62
Little Rock Central Coach Brian Ross couldn’t have asked for a better debut from standout guard Bryson Warren.
The North Little Rock transfer turned in a gamehigh 32 points, including a go-ahead 18-footer with 45 seconds remaining, to power Central to a 67-62 victory over Jacksonville in a battle of reigning state champions at Tiger Fieldhouse.
Warren, a sophomore, scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter for Central (1-0), which trailed for the majority of the game before staging a rally over the final eight minutes.
Senior guard Corey Camper added 15 points, 11 of which came after halftime, while freshman forward Annor Boateng finished with 9 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks for the Tigers.
“Sometimes you just don’t know what to expect in the first game,” said Ross, who led his team to a share of the Class 6A state title last season. “That first half, we just didn’t move the ball, and it looked like everybody was kind of out there for themselves. We haven’t seen that at all in practice. So I chalk that up to first-game jitters.
“It’s different when there’s a crowd out here when you’re facing a great opponent. We talked at halftime about moving the ball move and getting everybody involved, and I think we did a good job of doing that in the second half. And then Bryson really started to get things going.”
Central led for just 45 seconds over the first two quarters against Jacksonville (0-1).
The Titans, who were co-champions of Class 5A last season, were down 5-3 in the opening moments, but senior guard Braxton Brown scored five points during a 9-2 run to help Jacksonville grab control. Central tied the game briefly at 24-24 midway through the second after Warren drained back-to-back three-pointers in an 8-0 spurt, but the Titans settled back in and held a 3429 lead at halftime.
Jacksonville amassed a 49-35 advantage by the 4:04 mark of the third, but Central begin chipping away behind Warren.
“He started attacking the rim more and not settling as much,” Ross said. “Once he got a few free throws under his belt, his outside shot started falling, too. He was awesome, especially when we needed him to be.”
His free throw with 2:03 left in the period started a quarter-ending 14-5 rally for the Tigers that helped whittle their 14-point deficit down to five. Warren later had a three-point play that gave Central a 59-58 lead, then hit two more free throws that tied the game at 62-62 after Jacksonville had jumped back in front.
But it was Warren’s baseline jumper just inside the three-point line late that highlighted the Tigers’ final push.
“It was the first game, but it was one that we really gave away,” Jacksonville Coach Victor Joyner said. “We’re still trying to get our pieces together, but everything the guys were trying to do, they did. We just had some turnovers when we shouldn’t have had them and bad shots when we shouldn’t have had bad shots.
“But everything is fixable. We’ve got the pieces. We’ve just got to put it all together.”
Senior guard Jaden Cope had 14 points while Ryan Maxwell had 11 for Jacksonville, which dominated the glass 37-18 but hit only 3 of 13 shots in the final quarter. Jordan Maxwell and T.J. Stewart, senior forwards, added 9 points and 11 rebounds each.
GIRLS
LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 69,
JACKSONVILLE 58
Freshman forward Jordan Marshall had 24 points and 11 rebounds as Central (1-0) overcame a 31-26 halftime deficit to win.
Junior forward Lillian Jackson ended with 15 points and senior guard Lauryn Pendleton finished with 13 points, 7 steals and 6 rebounds for the Lady Tigers.
Senior forward Ariel Morant scored 23 points and junior guard Alexis Rowe had 18 for Jacksonville (0-1).