THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
West Memphis High School Athletics

West Memphis made 10 of its first 13 shots and Rogers High never recovered in Thursday's first round of the First National Bank of NWA Great 8 Classic girls basketball tournament. The Lady Blue Devils ran away with their red-hot start and cruised to a 65-50 win over the Lady Mounties at War Eagle Arena. West Memphis (6-0) sank four of its first five shots, including three 3-pointers for the early 12-4 lead. Three different Lady Blue Devils made one 3-pointer each. West Memphis finished the first quarter with a 12-2 spurt and was in command 24-8. The Lady Blue Devils will take on North Little in one semifinal slated for an 8:30 start tonight. Rogers coach Preston Early said his team seemed out of sorts to start the game, and the red-hot start by West Memphis compounded his team's issues. "They were good," Early said. "I think we were already a little anxious for some reason. I could kinda tell in our shoot-around today we were a little uptight. I think when they got off to a start like that I think it intimidated us. "We didn't look like ourselves, but we'll give them all the credit for that." West Memphis led 41-21 at halftime and extended it to 57-32 after three quarters. The Lady Mounties held West Memphis scoreless for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter and got within 59-48 but got no closer. The Lady Blue Devils got balanced scoring led by 6-foot-3 senior Tiera Bradley's game-high 19 points. But senior Aryah Hazley added 13, Jamee Gholson 11 and freshman Janiyah Tucker 10. West Memphis coach Sheila Burns told her team a good start was a necessity and the Lady Blue Devils came through. She also said balance is a strength for her team. "We had to start out on fire," said Burns, who returned to coaching this season after sitting out last season because of a stroke. "I didn't know if they could do it, but they looked so good in the first half. "If you want to key on my guards then the bigs can do it. They were trying to double-team my bigs, but my guards did well." Gracie Carr was the lone double-figure scorer for Rogers (2-1) with 10. Taylor Treadwell added nine.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
West Memphis High School Athletics

WEST MEMPHIS RIDES STRONG START TO GREAT 8 CLASSIC WIN

PAUL BOYD

Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 12/6/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: West Memphis High School Athletics