Lady Devils thump Wynne

Lady Devils thump Wynne

West Memphis girls make easy work of a “ rebuilding” Wynne team

WM School District Head coach Shelia Burns went into West Memphis' girls game last Friday night with a luxury and a curse.

A luxury in that her Lady Devils' opponent is way beyond being labeled weak, thus giving her a chance to work on some things, namely a half-court trap.

Mission accomplished.

A curse in that Wynne was indeed so bad that it's hard to say the Lady Devils were even challenged enough to improve.

The West Memphis girls clubbed Wynne 58-21 at Lehr Arena, and it could have been about 10 times worse than that.

'Well, (Wynne) is rebuilding and the scouting report says they're the worst team in the conference,' said Burns, whose team improves to 11-7 overall and 4-4 in the 6A/5A-3 Conference) 'Our point of emphasis tonight was to work on some things we never get a chance to work on.'

Work on it, they did.

West Memphis' half-court trap led to turnovers on Wynne's first 12 trips down the floor and it led to a quick 13-0 lead by the Lady Devils.

It didn't take long for Burns to remove her starters and allow her second- and third-teamers an opportunity to play.

Senior Keara Williams, in limited time on the court, led all scorers with 12 points for West Memphis, which had a 24-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Senior point guard Paris Perkins added 9 points and the trio of seniors Nikki Higgs and Ty Bullins and sophomore Kenya Freeman scored 6.

After the win, Burns' focus turned to tonight's opponent, Valley View, which will serve as host.

'They're right there with us, they're in the middle of the pack (in the conference),' Burns said. 'Very hostile place to play with a very good fan base. From what I'm told the fans are very active and vocal.

They have good outside shooters and a really good post girl in the middle.'

Burns said she will continue to work on the Lady Devils' half-court trap with the intention of possibly using it tonight against Valley View.

'If I feel like we can trap with that and without fouling I hope to use it,' she stated. 'Right now our foul situation is a weakness of ours. We want to defend with our feet, not our hands.'

By Billy Woods