LR CENTRAL MAKES MARK, FENDS OFF FAYETTEVILLE

Little Rock Central earned a signature victory Saturday. Junior guard Jeremiah Jones scored 22 of his 24 points in the second half as the Tigers rallied for a 64-62 victory over the Fayetteville Bulldogs in the John Stanton Classic at Buzz Bolding Arena. Central (8-1) trailed 46-38 with 3:51 left in the third quarter, but behind Jones -- and an added 21 points from senior Rajhon McIntosh -- the Tigers claimed their fourth consecutive victory for first-year Coach Brian Ross. "Fayetteville has a great program, and they've got a great team this year, so in that sense it's a signature win for our team," said Ross, who coached Baptist Prep to three consecutive state titles before taking over at Central earlier this year. "We try to take it one day at a time, but yes, some games are bigger than others. And this was one of those for us." Fayetteville (7-2) saw its six-game winning streak come to an end. "It's not like we lost to someone we shouldn't lose to," Fayetteville Coach Kyle Adams said of the Tigers. "That team is really, really good." Fayetteville rode a 33-point, 16-rebound showing from sophomore Tamaury Releford for most of the contest, but the Tigers held the 6-6 post player scoreless for the game's final 4:43. "He's not only big, he's got great hands and great touch around the rim," Ross said of Releford. "He was very tough. I think maybe just a little more focus on the defensive rebounds in the fourth quarter. Our big man [sophomore Ubong Etim] came up with some big [rebounds]. We left him in, and he really closed down those defensive rebounds for us." "He's a load," Adams said of Releford. "He's 6-6, 235. He knows what his body is for. He's not an over-the-rim type of guy. He's not a high flier, but he uses his body well. He uses his left and right hands. He just continues to get better, better and better." There were 14 lead changes, the last one coming with 40 seconds remaining. McIntosh came up with a steal at midcourt, which led to a fast-break layup for Jones that gave Central a 62-61 lead. "Ray's a dominant score, and he's always been a scorer," Jones said. "He does what he does. He gets on the boards, he gets second-chance points. He gets steals." With a chance to tie, Releford was called for a lane violation with 16.5 seconds left. The Tigers hit just enough free throws to fend off the Bulldogs. Central hit only 3 of 11 attempts in the final 4:27, but Fayetteville was not any better. With nine seconds remaining and a chance to tie, Collin Cooper hit only 1 of 2 attempts to cut Central's lead to 63-62. Ky'lyn Arnett brought Central's lead back up to two, 64-62, with 7.4 seconds remaining. Cooper again had a chance to tie the game when he drew a foul while driving through the middle of the Central defense, but he missed two more free-throw attempts, the last of which was intentional with 1.2 seconds remaining. Fayetteville, which lost freshman point guard Isaiah Releford to fouls midway through the fourth quarter, was 22 of 45 from the floor in the first three quarters but only 2 of 9 in the final eight minutes. "Losing Isaiah to fouls put a lot more pressure on Collin to bring the ball up the floor," Adams said. "He got tired, and I couldn't sub him out after Isaiah goes down." Central was 22 of 43 from the floor and 17 of 32 from the line. Fayetteville was 9 of 19 from the line and outrebounded the Tigers 34-26. Central made eight steals, four by McIntosh. Etim led the Tigers in rebounding with eight.

LR CENTRAL MAKES MARK, FENDS OFF FAYETTEVILLE

Photo Credit: Fayetteville High School Athletics

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