Hot-shooting Conway turns back NLR
BY PHILIP SEATON ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
CONWAY — Behind 64.8 percent shooting from the field, Conway downed North Little Rock 79-71 in a 7A-Central Conference game Tuesday night at Wampus Cat Gymnasium. The Wampus Cats made 24 of 37 shots from the floor and were 25 of 33 from the free-throw line (75.8 percent), including 18 of 22 in the second half. “That was big-time when we made the free throws down the stretch,” Conway Coach James Bates said. “We got good balanced scoring from everyone.” Sophomore Kenyon McNeill led Conway (10-5, 2-0) with 15 points, despite getting in early foul trouble and missing most of the first half. Ammon Martin and Corey Morrow had 14 each, while Terry Tidwell finished with 10. North Little Rock (10-5, 1-1) outrebounded Conway 29-25 and was 9 of 16 on three-point attempts. The Wampus Cats made 6 of 9 three-pointers and were able to work the ball inside. “We really didn’t settle for the three as much, even though we were making them,” Bates said. “We didn’t get inside early, and then we were able to go inside some and the kids were able to spread it out more.” North Little Rock Coach Richard Alexander said he was concerned with the size of the Wampus Cats. “We didn’t have an answer for their inside guys,” he said. Conway led 20-11 in the second quarter, but the Charging Wildcats closed to within 31-30 at halftime. “We dug ourselves a big hole early,” Alexander said. “We did a good job coming back, but it takes a lot of effort to come back.” Chris Davis, who had a gamehigh 13 rebounds, started the second half with a putback to give North Little Rock its last lead. A three-pointer and layup by Martin gave the Wampus Cats the lead for good. Cedric Bunn led North Little Rock with 26 points, including five three-pointers. NORTH LITTLE ROCK (71) Lipscomb 2 2-3 7, Allison 4 4-7 15, Bunn 9 3-3 26, Davis 3 2-2 8, Fisher 2 0-1 4, Byles 1 0-0 2, Noid 2 0-0 4, Nichols 1 0-1 2, Alexander 1 0-2 2. Totals 25 11-19 71. CONWAY (79) Purifoy 2 4-4 8, Martin 4 3-4 13, Mitchell 3 0-1 8, McNeaill 4 7-9 15, Tidwell 4 2-5 14, Morrow 4 5-5 14, Garner 2 3-4 8, McKnight 1 1-1 3. Totals 24 25-33 79. North Little Rock (10-5) .............11 19 15 26 — 71 Conway (10-5) ........................17 14 19 29 — 79 Three-point goals — North Little Rock 8 (Bunn 5, Allison 2, Lipscomb), Conway 6 (Martin 2, Mitchell 2, Morrow, Garner). Total fouls — North Little Rock 24, Conway 19. Fouled out — Fisher. GIRLS CONWAY 47, NORTH LITTLE ROCK 45 The Lady Wampus Cats (12-2, 1-1 7ACentral) used an 8-0 run to start the second half to fuel a victory over the Lady Charging Wildcats (10-5, 1-1). Conway trailed 22-18 at the half, but Constance Alcon tied the game with a basket with 5:58 left in the third and Na’Dra Robertson followed with a free throw to give the Lady Wampus Cats the lead. Conway stretched its lead to eight points in the second half after an Alcon three-pointer with 5:20 left in the contest. Alcon and Chelsea Sublett led Conway with 13 points each. Ashley Gardner had 14 for North Little Rock.