Hornets put the sting on Warriors

After taking its first conference loss Tuesday night, Maumelle knew it would be in for a long practice Wednesday afternoon.

Little did the Hornets know they’d be in the gym for three hours — partly due to incoming weather which had already shelved their Thursday session.

That was enough time for Coach Michael Shook to get through to his squad, and Maumelle responded with a vital win Friday at Little Rock Christian, holding off the latecharging Warriors for a 72-69 win inside Warrior Arena.

The Hornets led by 10 points after three quarters and stretched their advantage to as many as 13 in the final stanza, but an aggressive full-court press enabled Christian to get as close as three points in the final minute before the Hornets escaped with a needed road victory.

“We came out focused from the beginning and knocked shots down,” Shook said. “[I needed the guys to] play harder. We were really flat Tuesday. … That was the thing tonight: We wanted to be the aggressor.”

That role was filled specifically by Carl Daugherty, who took it to the Warriors all night. The Maumelle junior scored 29 points, shooting 6 of 9 from three-point land, and it was Daugherty’s three with 5:25 to play that had the chance to put the game away.

“Carl’s been big for us all year,” Shook said. “He’s turned into a really good leader for us, and we’re definitely a better team with him on the floor.”

Trailing 59-46 with 5:25 to play, the Warriors turned to their two standouts — junior Creed Williamson and sophomore Layden Blocker — to claw back into things. Williamson, who scored 10 of his 12 points after halftime, earned a couple of tough layups inside, and Blocker converted a transition andone layup off a Williamson rejection to cut the deficit to 61-55 at the 2:47 mark.

Blocker would score nine more the rest of the way, part of a team-best 22-point outing, but his missed free throw with 42.9 seconds remaining, followed by a missed dunk from Williamson all but dashed the Warriors’ comeback hopes.

“Every time we would cut it down, they would make a big shot or get penetration,” Christian Coach Clarence Finley said.

But those big shots came early as the Hornets got things going early from deep. Maumelle started the game 6 of 11 from beyond the arc and grabbed a 26-16 advantage early in the second quarter. Doing long-range damage along with Daugherty was senior Josh Denton, who finished with 17 points including 3 three-pointers.

Equally vital was the work done down low by Darvis Raspberry. The 6-4 senior forward constantly crashed the glass and picked up several second-chance buckets, nearly logging a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.

“We were disappointed in how we defensive rebounded — we thought they got a lot of offensive rebounds,” Shook said. “But we countered and did the same.”

GIRLS

LR CHRISTIAN 62, MAUMELLE 32

With the last of her six free throws Friday night, Wynter Rogers surpassed Reagan Bradley as the Lady Warriors’ all-time leading scorer in a rout of the Lady Hornets.

Rogers’ 11 points gave her 1,831 for her career, as the senior was one of four players to score in double figures for Little Rock Christian (18-1, 10-0 5A-Central).

Mia Smith led Lady Warriors with 13 points, and Ashley Hopper and Katelyn Harris each added 10.

Maumelle (3-8, 0-7) got nine points from Ronniah Akins.