Blue Devils remain unbeaten

Blue Devils remain unbeaten

Sharp shooting night leads West Memphis to 7th straight victory

WM School District FORREST CITY — Larry Bray was mostly disappointed in his team's play here last Friday night due to 19 turnovers. Perhaps he would have changed his tune if shooting stats were readily available.

The Blue Devils had lapses in execution, which led to the turnovers, but when you shoot nearly 60 percent (29 of 49) from the field and a blistering .625 percentage from three-point range it covers a multitude of miscues.

All that led to a 72-59 victory for West Memphis, extending its unbeaten streak to start the season to 7-0.

Bray is a big believer in the upside of this team, thus he's been critical at times even as his club has dispatched every opponent thus far. The 19 turnovers were a problem, but perhaps only a hiccup as the Blue Devils haven't had as many as 16 in any other game.

The Blue Devils (3-0 in the 5A/6A-East Conference) had an entire week off between games, and Bray attributed some of the rust to disruption of rhythm the scheduled caused.

'The days off got us out of our routine,' Bray said. 'I wasn't pleased with the 19 turnovers. We've got to get back on track to what we've been doing.'

The shooting strokes, however, were a thing a beauty.

And the best of the night belonged to junior guard Curtis Washington, who hit for a career-high 21 points, including 3 of the team's 5 three-balls.

Washington's play helped stem the tide from ninthgrader Chris Moore's time on the bench after he collected his third foul with 3:24 still to play in the first half.

Moore was still rock solid, hitting 9 points, including a pair of vicious dunks.

AWM had to overcome a slow start to the game.

The Mustangs (2-9) ran out to a 19-15 lead at the end of one quarter and they led by as much as 29-23 with 4:24 to play in the second quarter. But the Blue Devils finished the half on a 15-34 run, ignited by a threepointer from junior Sidney Stinson, to take a 38-34 lead into the lockers at halftime.

Washington then began the third quarter by swishing his second triple of the night and three minutes later his trey gave his teammates a 50-39 lead with 4:02 left in the third quarter. 'We wouldn't have left here with a W if it hadn't been for Curtis,' Bray said. 'This is what we've got to have from him every night, not just tonight.'

The closest Forrest City came the rest of the way was 57-50 with 7:14 left in the fourth quarter. But two free throws from Stinson, who had 12 points on the night, a twisting layup from point guard Chauncey Bedford, another layup from Washington and a free throw from Moore upped to margin back to 64-53 with only 3:40 to play.

West Memphis won the battle of the boards, 38-26 and it limited the Mustangs to a paltry 3 of 18 showing from three-point range.

Demarious Hudson also had 9 points for the Blue Devils while Bedford pumped in a season-best 6 points.

Trajon Norment paced Forrest City, winner of two of the last three Class 5A state titles, with a gamehigh 22 points. Blayton Williams chipped in 14 and sophomore Randle Moore hit for 11.

The Blue Devils close out the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule Tuesday night at Lehr Arena against Blytheville.

By Billy Woods