Charging Wildcats past Conway 73-61

Balance was key for North Little Rock on Tuesday night. Senior guard Spencer Simes was one of four North Little Rock players with at least 10 points, scoring 18 points to lead the Charging Wildcats past Conway 73-61 at Buzz Bolding Arena. Also for North Little Rock (18-3, 9-0 6A-Central Conference), freshman guard Bryson Warren had 15 points, senior guard Craig Collier added 14 points and sophomore center Kelel Ware chipped in with 12. "That's what makes us really good," North Little Rock Coach Johnny Rice said. "It can be somebody different every night. Tonight, it was a little bit of everybody. They're buying into that. "They're buying into the most important thing, the numbers on the scoreboard and not in the scorebook." Conway Coach Brian "Salty" Longing heaped high praise on the Charging Wildcats, who have defeated the Wampus Cats twice this season. "Of the years Johnny has been there, this is his most difficult team to guard," Longing said. "I'm not saying this is his best team. You could argue that. But he's inside and out. You can't take away the paint and give up threes. You can't take away the threes and give up the paint, because they can score either way. "For anybody, they're a very difficult matchup because of that." Simes, Warren and Ware all had eight points apiece in the first half to help the Charging Wildcats lead 41-33 at halftime. North Little Rock led 47-41 with 5:00 left in the third quarter. Conway used a 9-2 run to take a 50-49 lead with 1:59 left in the quarter, but the Charging Wildcats entered the fourth with a 51-50 lead. Simes had back-to-back baskets, then Warren's three-point play made it 60-52 with 5:58 remaining. Conway pulled within 60-56 with 4:55 left to play. From that point, North Little Rock pulled away. The Charging Wildcats went on an 11-0 run, capped by Ware's slam dunk that made it 71-56. Rice was pleased with how his team played away from home. "We kept fighting," Rice said. "To come in here and win by double digits on the road, we haven't done that in a while here." Senior guard Caleb London led Conway (16-6, 5-4) with 16 points. Senior guard Lucas Foster and junior guard Bryce Bohanon each had 14 points for the Wampus Cats. 6A-CENTRAL GIRLS NORTH LITTLE ROCK 94, CONWAY 89, 3 OT Arin Freeman scored 27 points as North Little Rock (12-11, 5-4 6A-Central) upset Conway (18-5, 7-2) in three overtimes. The Lady Charging Wildcats won despite Conway's Chloe Clardy scoring a game-high 42 points. Amauri Williams finished with 25 points for the Lady Charging Wildcats. Destine Duckworth scored 19 points, while April Edwards added 10 more. Also for Conway, Jadah Pickens had 16 points. Haylee Marcum chipped in with 12 points for the Lady Wampus Cats. The Lady Charging Wildcats, who led 34-31 at halftime and 54-49 at the end of the third quarter, forced overtime with Williams' jumper with 26 seconds remaining in regulation to make it 69-69. Before the first-overtime buzzer, Williams made a layup to tie the game at 77-77. With the game tied at 80-80 in the second overtime, Clardy had an opportunity to win the game for Conway, but her layup did not fall, sending the contest to a third overtime. In the third overtime, Freeman gave North Little Rock an 86-85 advantage with her two free throws, then Duckworth converted a three-point play to make it 89-85 with 1:08 remaining.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Conway High School Athletics

CHARGING WILDCATS PAST CONWAY 73-61

JEREMY MUCK

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 2/12/2020

PHOTO CREDIT: Conway High School Athletics