Top 5 showdown
Late surge powers No. 4 North Little Rock past No. 3 Bryant.
North Little Rock point guard D.J. Smith (left) takes a shot as Bryant’s Will Diggins attempts to block it during North Little Rock’s victory Tuesday night at Bryant.
BRYANT — It took a half for North Little Rock’s D.J. Smith to get going Tuesday night, but the senior guard didn’t stop once he did.
Smith scored a team-high 34 points, including 18 in a dazzling display in the fourth quarter, to power North Little Rock, ranked No. 4 by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, past No. 3 Bryant 72-64 at Hornet Arena.
“He’s been doing that for us all year,” North Little Rock Coach Johnny Rice said of Smith. “He’s a point guard first, but obviously for us, he’s got to score. He’s got to get us set up and organized while trusting his teammates. And D.J. wasn’t doing that in the first half.
“But in the second half, he started doing all of that, and then he got in rhythm. When you get rid of [the ball] and it comes back to you, that’s when you’re going to be able to attack.”
Smith attacked the Hornets over and over in a variety of ways for North Little Rock (10-1, 4-1 6A-Central), which took over sole possession of second place in the conference and beat their league rival for the fifth time in their last seven meetings. He also added 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
Junior forward Kel’el Ware added 11 of his 15 points after halftime.
Camren Hunter delivered 36 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals, 4 blocks and 3 assists for Bryant (11-2, 3-2), which made 10 of 27 shots in the second half compared to 17 of 24 for North Little Rock. Sophomore guard Cory Nichols had 13 points and 4 steals, and junior forward Kade Ruffner ended with 8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals for the Hornets.
Bryant kept North Little Rock at arm’s length throughout the first half behind Hunter, who scored 21 points over the first two quarters to help the Hornets grab a 31-28 lead at halftime. The senior guard either assisted or scored on eight of the Hornets’ first 10 points of the third quarter, with his dish to Nichols with 3:41 to go, giving Bryant a 4136 lead.
That’s when Smith began to heat up for North Little Rock.
He scored seven points during the final three minutes of the period to help the Charging Wildcats take a 4947 advantage into the final quarter.
Smith finished inside with driving layups and mid-range jumpers for the duration of the fourth, but Hunter kept Bryant close. His 16-footer pulled the Hornets within 6564 with just over a minute to play before Smith answered with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession. Smith also had a blocked shot late.
“He was amazing,” Bryant Coach Mike Abrahamson said of Smith. “Everything that he did [Tuesday] I’ve seen him do it, but with that being said, that’s also the best game I’ve seen him play. I thought our kids played hard, but those kids over there at North Little Rock just made more winning plays to get the victory.
“But Smith was just amazing. No matter how you try to guard him, he can do something to counter that.”
Smith sealed it by going 4 of 4 from the foul line in the final 37 seconds.
“Like D.J., Kel’el was a difference-maker in the second half, too,” Rice said. “Like I told them, we’re not going to beat a good team like Bryant playing like we did in the first half. If we do what we did in the second half, which was have Kel’el being a presence, D.J. getting us organized and others doing their jobs, we’re a pretty good team.”
GIRLS
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 77, BRYANT 53
Four players scored at least 10 points for the Lady Charging Wildcats, who used a 17-1 run in the second quarter to break open a close game.
Junior forward Destine Duckworth had 19 points and eight rebounds for North Little Rock (11-4, 4-1 6A-Central), which led 25-18 before its crushing run. Senior guard Kalina Foster had 14 points and 5 rebounds, and junior forward Amauri Williams and senior guard Arin Freeman had 12 points each. Williams also had 10 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Natalie Edmonson hit six three-pointers and had 20 points for Bryant (7-4, 0-2), which missed its first eight shots in the second quarter and trailed 47-25 at halftime. Junior guard Parris Atkins had 14 points, and sophomore forward Emileigh Muse added 9 points and 12 rebounds.