Central falls
FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 70, LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 66
Jacob Joe made a three-pointer with 26 seconds left to give Fort Smith Northside the lead for good in a 70-66 victory over No. 1 Little Rock Central.
FORT SMITH — For whatever reason, Fort Smith Northside has given No. 1 Little Rock Central fits in the 6A-Central this season.
The Grizzlies built a double-digit lead in the second half but needed Jacob Joe to score the final five points of the game to down the Tigers 70-66 on Friday night at Kaundart Fieldhouse.
Joe made a three-pointer with 26 seconds left to give Northside the lead for good. After Central’s Bryson Warren lost the ball out of bounds, Joe was fouled with 4.5 seconds left and made both free throws to clinch the victory.
“I thought our team showed a lot of pride tonight,” said Northside Coach Eric Burnett, who returned to the bench for the first time in four games after testing positive for covid-19. “On Tuesday, Bryant came in here and beat us at our place. We talked to them about not letting good teams come in here and beat us.”
Joe led three Grizzlies (9-10, 5-5) in double figures with 22 points. Demarion Whitmore poured in 17 points while Sam Roper added 12.
Warren scored a gamehigh 29 points to lead Central (17-4, 9-1), and Hudson Likens added 11.
The Tigers, which needed overtime to beat the Grizzlies in the first meeting in Little Rock, made just 14 of 25 from the free-throw line.
Central Coach Brian Ross said Northside’s defense is tough, but the Tigers also were coming off a win over No. 2 North Little Rock earlier in the week.
“We’ve had our two worst shooting nights against them — we missed 11 free throws and 16 three-pointers,” Ross said. “There is a reason — they are long and athletic, and they play hard on the defensive end. We try to be consistent in our approach for every game, but it’s human nature after you beat your big rival to have a bit of a letdown.”
Central trailed by as much as 52-37 late in the third quarter before rallying, getting to within 54-48 before Walker Catsavis drained a short jumper at the buzzer to give Northside a 56-48 lead after three quarters.
The Tigers used a 10-1 fourth-quarter run to take their first lead since early in the second quarter. Warren scored four in the run, including a drive with 1:36 left for a 64-63 Tigers’ lead.
After Joe drained two free throws with 1:03 left, Warren scored on another drive to give Central its last lead with 51 seconds left.
Northside made six three-pointers in the first half to take a 37-29 halftime edge. Joe scored 11 in the first half to lead Northside while Warren had 14 points for Central.
GIRLS FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 70, LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 62
Jersey Wolfenbarger scored a gamehigh 33 points to lead the Lady Bears (20-1, 10-0 6A-Central) to the victory over the Lady Tigers (8-10, 3-5).
Wolfenbarger scored 22 points in the first half as the Lady Bears built a 3729 lead. A three-pointer late in the third quarter by Tracey Bershers increased the Northside lead to 50-39. The lead got as big as 58-41 before a late Central rally set the final score.
Bershers contributed 22 for the Lady Bears while Jaylin Ford added 10. Lauryn Pendleton scored 21 to lead Central, and Jordan Marshall added 20.