Blue Devils outlast Chickasaws

Blue Devils outlast Chickasaws

Huge 4th quarter catapults West Memphis Blue Devils past Blytheville

WM School District The've gone through the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule, and now it's time for the West Memphis Blue Devils to be further tested.

Moments after his team's 62-52 victory over Blytheville on Tuesday night at Lehr Arena, West Memphis boys head coach Larry Gray set his sights on his team's visit to the Neosho (Mo.) Classic, where the Blue Devils (8-0 overall, 4-0 in the 5A/6AEast Conference) draw the host team on Dec. 27.

'We'll be seeing some tough teams in Neosho,' said Bray. 'I wouldn't doubt if we'll see a team or two with five Division 1 players in the starting lineup. (Neosho) is supposed to be pretty good. We just have to rise to the occasion and be ready to play.'

West Memphis hooked up with one of its oldest rivals on Tuesday, going back to some epic battles in the 1970s, '80s, '90s and from earlier this century.

And the intensity didn't suffer in the several years since the two teams last played.

It took a strong fourthquarter effort by the hosts to shake loose from the well-coached, scrappy Chickasaws. With the score tied 37-37 on the final possession of the third quarter, Blue Devil junior Zachary Byrd streaked down the baseline for a driving basket with three seconds left to give the hosts a two-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Bray said Byrd's route to the basket was especially nice to see since it appeared to him that his club 'settled' for shots all night.

'Sometimes tonight we settled for the first shot we got on our offensive sets,' said Bray. 'We're telling them to go a little further, not just settle for that jump shot all the time.'

The Blue Devils used Byrd's basket as a springboard in the fourth quarter. AWM hit Blytheville with an 8-0 run to start to final stanza, sparked by a defensive play by senior point guard Chauncey Bedford.

After Byrd hit the second of two free throws, it allowed the Blue Devils to set up in a full-court press.

Bedford stole the inbounds pass and fed a wide open Sidney Stinson for a layup. Senior Demarious Hudson, who led the Blue Devils with 16 points, also hit his fourth three-pointer of the night during that span as the home team opened up a 10-point lead.

'That was a big play,' said Bray. 'I thought defensively, at times, we did well. We denied the pass in bounds and made (Blytheville) work to get it in.'

The Chicks (4-6) were able to cut the Blue Devil lead to 53-46 with 1:33 to play on a fade-away jumper by Demareon Garvin, who led all scorers with 19 points.

But Byrd, who finished with 12 points, converted a three-point play to up the lead back to 10 with 1:29 to play.

For the second straight game the Blue Devils shot 60 percent from the field this time on 24 of 40 shots, including a 4 of 13 effort from three-point range.

After turning it over 19 times at Forrest City last Friday night, the Blue Devils were able to pare it down to 13 against Blytheville. The Blue Devils outrebounded the Chicks 22-21 with Byrd (10 boards) and ninthgrader Chris Moore (9 boards) getting 19 of the team's 22 caroms.

Stinson enjoyed a strong game with 14 points while Moore pumped in 10 in limited minutes. Curtis Washington also scored 6.

Josh Richardson added 16 points for Blytheville.

By Billy Woods