Central starts quickly, holds off Marion

LR CENTRAL 74, MARION 59

MARION — Little Rock Central’s girls started fast Thursday night, forcing 10 first-quarter turnovers and scoring the first 12 points of the game in a 74-59 victory over Marion at Fidelity Bank Arena.

Central junior guard Jordan Marshall recorded a team-high 15 points with eight rebounds, while Alivia Montgomery hit for 11 points and Kiaya Davis added nine.

Marion senior post Alyse Holliman recorded a gamehigh 23 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Aaliyah Taylor had 12 points and Kiera Neal added nine.

“This was a good win for us,” Central Coach Marlon Williams said. “We wanted to get a test on the road, and we got that tonight. They got after us the whole way.”

Central proved to be the aggressors from the jump, turning five Marion turnovers in 10 points in the first quarter, taking a 12-0 lead with 4:14 left when Ky Wilson scored on a layup to force a Marion timeout.

Marion worked within 15-7 later in the quarter, but the Lady Tigers led 20-7 at the end of the quarter when Taylor Day-Davis’ three-pointer beat the buzzer.

Central limited Marion to 3-of-17 shooting over the first eight minutes.

The Lady Tigers took their largest lead of the first half (34-15) when Day-Davis connected on three-pointer. But Central had to settle for a 35-19 lead at halftime as Holliman converted a three-point play late in the second quarter to keep the Lady Patriots within striking distance.

Central scored nine of the first 11 points of the third period to claim a 44-21 lead to force a Marion timeout. But Taylor hit the first of her four three-pointers in the third quarter to get the Lady Pats within 44-27 with 5:11 left in the quarter.

Taylor found the range again with 4:05 remaining to get Marion within 46-30, and her third three-pointer made it 53-38.

But Davis and Marshall had the answers for Central as they both connected on three-pointers to close out the quarter with the Lady Tigers ahead 58-45.

“I thought that was a good response for our girls because they pushed us a little bit,” Williams said. “But that’s why we wanted to a good team on the road, to see how we’d handle a situation like that.”

A Day-Davis three-point play gave the Lady Tigers a 63-47 lead early in the fourth, but two free throws by Holliman and a Ny’Asia Jackson three-pointer got Marion within 63-52 before Aven Sasser scored six Central points in a row.

Marion got within 13 twice late in the fourth quarter before Central closed out by forcing turnovers on three of the Lady Patriots final four possessions.