NLR thrives with sophomores

“We are very young, especially with the injuries we have. We’ve been that way and the sophomores have led us. We were solid tonight. We really didn’t try to gamble, and we tried to make them earn every shot they had. I thought we did a very good job of that tonight.” North Little Rock Coach Johnny Rice

NORTH LITTLE ROCK 67, EL DORADO 31

CONWAY — Sophomores played a huge role in North Little Rock’s 67-31 rout of El Dorado on Friday night.

Spencer Simes and Moses Moody combined for 35 points and 14 rebounds as the Charging Wildcats defeated the Wildcats in the John Stanton Classic at Buzz Bolding Arena.

“We are very young, especially with the injuries we have,” North Little Rock Coach Johnny Rice said. “We’ve been that way and the sophomores have led us. We were solid tonight. We really didn’t try to gamble, and we tried to make them earn every shot they had. I thought we did a very good job of that tonight.”

Simes, a 6-3 sophomore, led North Little Rock with 19 points while grabbing six rebounds. Moody, a 6-5 sophomore, put in 16 points and collected eight rebounds.

North Little Rock played without juniors Collin Moore and Shawn Fudge, who are saddled with injuries.

North Little Rock outrebounded El Dorado 38-21, including a 14-3 advantage on the offensive end. The Charging Wildcats were 25 of 55 from the floor while El Dorado was 10 of 34. North Little Rock also enjoyed an 11-2 advantage in steals.

“We’ve got guys who are 6-1 but they play bigger than they are,” Rice said. “We don’t have a dominate post guy. We’ve got to do it by committee. It’s got to be all of us.”

Brenden Johnson, a 6-4 junior, led El Dorado with 16 points. Senior Keshun Green added nine points and grabbed six rebounds.

Johnson hit a three-pointer two minutes into the game to give El Dorado a 3-2 lead, but North Little Rock scored the next nine points and never trailed again.

North Little Rock led 4021 at the half and started the third quarter by scoring the first 11 points.

Sophomores scored 42 of North Little Rock’s 67 points.

“There have been times I’ve wanted to pull my hair out,” Rice said.

“But as a staff we’re saying, ‘This is really going to pay off in January and when we get some guys back.’ It’s hectic sometimes but they are getting some great experience.” EL DORADO (31) Johnson 5 4-4 16, Foster 0 0-2 0, Jordan 0 0-0 0, Simmons 1 2-3 4, Green 3 2-2 9, Curry 1 0-0 2, S. Levingston 0 0-0 0, G. Levingston 0 0-0 0, Boone 0 0-0 0, Lockhart 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 8-11 31. NORTH LITTLE ROCK (67) Jordan 2 1-1 5, Fresh 2 1-2 5, Thrower 2 2-2 8, Moody 6 3-3 16, Simes 7 3-4 19, Washington 1 0-0 2, Williams 0 0-0 0, Shaw 0 0-0 0, McCollugh 2 1-2 5, Holcomb 0 0-1 0, Agee 3 0- 7. Totals 25 11-15 67. El Dorado (4-7) ............ 15 6 4 6 — 31 North Little Rock (6-3) .... 25 15 20 7 — 67 Three-point goals — El Dorado 3 (Johnson 2, Green); NLR 6 (Thrower 2, Simes 2, Moody, Agee). Team fouls — El Dorado 14, NLR 13. Technical fouls — NLR bench.

BENTONVILLE WEST 57, LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 50

Collier Blackburn hit all seven of the Wolverines’ three-pointers in a victory over the Tigers.

Blackburn, a 6-4 senior, finished with 24 points as West (7-0) remained unbeaten. Central (2-4) picked up 17 points from sophomore David Jones.

West led 32-23 at the half. The Tigers clawed back to within 42-39 at the start of the third quarter.

Seniors Gabe Hornsby and Ben Larsen each added nine for West. Jakaylyn Jackson and Jaylin Sasser each scored 10 for Central.

CONWAY 52, VAN BUREN 48

Lerome Thompson hit a three-pointer from the left corner with 7.9 seconds left to give the Wampus Cats a victory over the Pointers.

After Thompson’s shot that gave the Cats a 50-48 lead and a Van Buren timeout, the Pointers were called for a traveling on the out of bounds play. Two free throws by Stuart Lowe capped the scoring.

Senior Blake Bradshaw led Conway (63) with 14 points. Thompson and Caleb London each added 12.

Junior Presley Kindrix topped Van Buren with 18 points and senior Jordan West put in 12 points.