All’s well that ends well

All’s well that ends well

Blue Devils edge Central for key 7A- East win

WM School District Jarquez McClendon admitted he wasn't flowing with confidence standing at the foul line with the game tied and six seconds to play.

What's more, his own coach, Larry Bray, wasn't either.

You couldn't tell, though, because McClendon drained two free throws to give his West Memphis Blue Devils a crucial 5048 win over Little Rock Central on Tuesday night at Lehr Arena.

McClendon missed a key one-and-one less than a minute earlier and the Blue Devils as a team were only 2 or 9 from the charity stripe before McClendon's two winners.

'I thought I was going to miss,' McClendon said matter of factly. 'They were either going in or they weren't, so I decided I wasn't going to waste any time up there.'

Working with an eightpoint lead still with three minutes to play, Bray ordered his 'Fist' offense, designed to spread out the defense for layups or free throws. After Central erased that eight-point deficit when Cameron Johnson stole the ball and made a layup to tie the game with 5 seconds to play, Bray called his troops to take he last shot.

McClendon got the ball on the high post and made his move to the basket with two defenders draped all over him.

'I got on (McClendon) before that and after the game I went over to tell him I was glad he proved me wrong,' Bray said with a laugh. 'I told him before that I didn't need him driving to the goal if he can't make free throws.'

The Blue Devils (11-9 overall, 4-3 in the 7A/6AEast Conference) still had six seconds left and they had just witnessed Central's Jacobi Platt drain two very deep threes to put the Tigers back in the game.

But the biggest weapon the Blue Devils had going for them was they still had a foul to give before putting Central in the bonus.

Brandon Atwood timed his foul on Platt very well, hacking him with 1.8 seconds to play and well before the Tigers reached halfcourt.

Still, Platt got off a running three from mid-court after he appeared to travel before launching the ball.

The shot barely missed.

It hit the front of the rim and bounced off at the buzzer.

'That was a very big win,' Bray said, emphasizing the word very. 'That was one of our 7A games that we need to win to go to the state tournament.'

The Blue Devils are now 2-1 in the 7A-East while Central falls to 1-2. Cabot is also 2-1.

The game was tight through three quarters until the WM started the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run on only three shots, but one of

By Billy Woods