Turnovers assist West Memphis

WEST MEMPHIS 55, NETTLETON 48

JONESBORO — West Memphis forced 10 first-half turnovers to help build an early lead and the Blue Devils made it stand up in a 55-48 victory over Nettleton.

The Blue Devils (19-5, 7-3 5A-East) shrugged off mediocre free-throw shooting (10 of 19), but made up for it with a solid defensive effort the entire game.

After Nettleton (12-7, 6-4) sank 5 of 11 three-pointers in the first half, the Blue Devils tightened up their perimeter defense and blanked the Raiders from the three-point arc in the second half (0 for 10).

“The defense was great all night for us,” said West Memphis head Coach Marcus Brown. “Our goal tonight was to stay in front of whoever had the ball, but especially [point guard Kevin Fulton].”

Fulton beat West Memphis last month with a short floater with 2.3 seconds remaining in a 39-37 Nettleton victory.

On Friday night, the Blue Devils held Fulton to 11 points and no field goals in the second half.

West Memphis broke out to a 32-24 lead at halftime and maintained the cushion despite starters Terry Burgess and Mark Robinson on the floor with four fouls each.

Down the stretch, Nettleton managed just one field goal in the final 1:08 of the game.

Junior Chris Moore paced West Memphis with 15 points and 13 rebounds while Burgess added 9 points and 8 rebounds. Cavin Paige, the Blue Devils’ senior point guard, had 8 points and 8 assists.

Jarquavious Cain led Nettleton with 12 points while Marion McFadden scored 10.