Warren leads way as Central escapes

Little Rock Central sophomore guard Bryson Warren scored four points in the final 9.7 seconds of the fourth quarter to get the Tigers into overtime Friday night against Fort Smith Northside. And he didn’t stop there. Warren scored four more points in overtime, including two free throws with 6.6 seconds to play, to lift Central (113, 2-0) to a 72-68 6A-Central victory.

Warren finished with 35 points, and Central needed every one of them against a Northside team (4-7, 0-2) that didn’t play like a team with a losing record.

“It was an escape, you know,” Central Coach Brian Ross said. “Northside’s a really good team. To escape with a win in a game that [they] kinda controlled. … That’s just [our] guys … no matter what the situation was, they expected to win, and we made just enough plays to get it done.”

Warren, a transfer from North Little Rock, drew a foul with 9.7 seconds left and his team trailing 60-56.

Warren made both free throws, and senior guard Corey Camper fouled Northside’s Walker Catsavis on the ensuing inbound pass, with no time ticking off the clock.

Catsavis missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity, giving Central a chance to tie.

Warren grabbed the rebound and raced the length of the court, worked his way past 6-8 center Tamaury Releford and hit a reverse layup with 2.6 seconds to tie the game at 60-60.

“There was no way I was calling timeout right there,” Ross said. “I was going to let a great player make a play. That’s what he did, and it gave us second life.”

The Grizzlies did not cave. Northside, led by Releford (17 points, 4 rebounds) and Jacob Joe (17 points, 6 rebounds), opened a 65-60 lead with 2:51 to play in overtime.

Warren tied the game at 6666 on a baseline jumper with 1:46 left in the extra period, and Buddy Likens (10 points) hit a three-pointer to give Central the lead 69-68 with 54.5 seconds to play.

“They jumped us in overtime, then Likens hit a big three,” Ross said. “Then we started getting to the freethrow line and scored some points that way.”

Central (18 of 26) outscored Northside by 12 points at the free-throw line, but the Tigers, playing without center Kiyler Hudson, were outrebounded 31-22.

“We let one slip away,” Northside Coach Eric Burnett said. “We really did. We let one slip away. Got to give them credit. They hit shots when they had to, when they were fouled.

Burnett said Northside’s 24 turnovers, 11 more than Central, and 21 fouls, were too much to overcome.

“You can’t close ballgames like that with that many turnovers, you just can’t,” Burnett said. “That ‘s something we’ve got to clean up, and we can clean up.”