West Memphis rolls over Nettleton

West Memphis rolls over Nettleton

Blue Devils open conference play with convincing win

WM School District JONESBORO — Who in West Memphis would have ever thought the Blue Devils would be in the same basketball conference as Nettleton?

Well, the Demons dressed in blue made a lasting imprint in their first visit to Nettleton Tuesday night with a 61-47 victory.

West Memphis' fifth straight win without a setback this season was earmarked by a strong fourthquarter defensive effort that put the clamps on the Raider guards, particularly super soph point man Kevin Fulton, who led his team in scoring with 16 points, but who had just one field goal in the final eight minutes.

'We played defense in spurts tonight, but in the fourth quarter I thought we did an excellent job,' said West Memphis head coach Larry Bray. 'We had some key stops when we needed it and had (Nettleton) doing some things that we wanted them to do.'

West Memphis ninthgrader Chris Moore posted his third straight doubledouble this season, scoring 14 points and snatching 11 rebounds.

Junior swingman Sidney Stinson, however, led the Blue Devils with 15 points. Bray and his club got a good look at their newest conference mates last weekend in the Blue Devil Classic, and what jumped off the page was Fulton, a lightning-quick slasher whose every intent is to beat his man off the dribble and get to the rim.

He did it on several occasions Tuesday night, but either ran out of gas (he didn't come off the floor all night) or the Blue Devils just denied him down the stretch.

'I think (Fulton) averaged like 17 points a game in our Classic,' said Bray.

'We wanted to keep him from driving to the basket.

He's a great ball player and I think we just stepped up there in the final minutes.'

The two teams jousted through three quarters, ending the first 24 minutes tied 37-37.

It was all Blue Devils in the fourth quarter.

The visitors hit the Raiders with a 9-2 spurt to open the frame and after Nettleton's Cortez Hamilton hit a layup with 4:15 to play to make it 4845 West Memphis, the Blue Devils drove the final dagger with a vicious 13-1 run to finish the game.

Stinson scored 8 of his total in the final quarter while Moore pumped in 6.

The knockout blow came in the form of a smoothlyrun spread offense in the final three minutes that provided a dunk by Moore, a layup by Stinson that started on the defensive end on a steal by Zachary Byrd against Fulton and an assist from Moore.

'We were able to kill a little time and score as well,' said Bray. 'It's always good when you can move the ball around and score at the end.'

The Blue Devils drained 18 of 24 free throws, including 5 of 7 in the final 3:37 of the game.

Junior Kelsey Hubbard played a solid floor game and pumped in 12 points while Byrd chipped in 10.

Damian Phillips added 12 points for Nettleton.

The Blue Devils will go for a sixth straight win on Friday night at home against another new conference foe, Paragould.

From 4:30-6 p.m., the Athletic Booster Club will hold a chili supper in the Academies of West Memphis cafeteria. Tickets are $5.

By Billy Woods