North Little Rock takes care of Beebe

North Little Rock had its best shooting performance of the season but still had to claw its way past Beebe on Thursday.

Kel’el Ware had 27 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 steals as the Charging Wildcats initiated a quick flurry midway through the fourth quarter to finally pull away and beat the Badgers 72-52 in the opening round of the Hurricane Classic at Don Riggs Gymnasium in Jonesboro.

Nick Smith added 18 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals, while Corey Washington ended with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals for North Little Rock (40), which was 28-of-48 (58.3% shooting and committed seven turnovers. Yet, the Charging Wildcats had a hard time shaking Rylie Marshall and the rest of his Beebe teammates.

The sharp-shooting senior scored in a variety of ways against a number of defenders to post 25 points for the Badgers, who had lost their previous three games before putting forth a gutsy effort against the state’s top-ranked team. Marshall had 14 points in the first 16 minutes as Beebe (1-4) was within 28-23 at halftime.

The Charging Wildcats scored the first seven points of the third quarter only to see the Badgers sprint out on a 8-2 run, highlighted by a fadeaway 26-footer from Marshall, to cut their deficit to 37-31. North Little Rock later held a 50-41 lead early in the fourth, but a basket inside by Washington and three-pointer from Ware started a 13-5 spurt that allowed the Charging Wildcats to build a comfortable lead.

Brooks Nail had eight points and five rebounds for the Badgers, who were 19 of 39 (48.7%) from the floor.