Blue Devils tame Lions

Blue Devils tame Lions

West Memphis rebounds from loss to Marion with 20-point rout of Searcy

By Billy Woods

WM School District SEARCY — Chris Moore said he felt he let the city of West Memphis down.

Strong words coming from a 16-year-old high school junior, but Moore has shoulders broad enough to carry the burden.

The Blue Devils’ 6-foot-6 star forward scored a season- low 6 points last Friday night as West Memphis lost to Marion 64-52.

On Tuesday night Moore was a man on a mission and his final numbers bore it out. He scored a gamehigh 32 points and he added 11 rebounds and 5 blocks in the Blue Devils’ 79-59 dismantling of Searcy.

Moore said after the game that he had extra motivation after last Friday night’s loss.

“I felt like I let my city down losing that intense game,” said Moore. “I had to bounce back really hard and play to my strength. I think I slacked off a little and I think I had to get my head right.”

Moore was a man among boys at Searcy.

Of his 21 first-half points, eight came on four consecutive trips down the floor as the Blue Devils had to fight back from a first-quarter deficit. Searcy, led by junior Freddy Hicks and senior Peyton Caldwell, came out strong and led West Memphis 19-16 at the end of the first quarter.

After a Hicks basket to open the second quarter stretched Searcy’s lead to 21-16, it merely signaled Moore’s dominance.

West Memphis went off on a 15-0 run that began with a Cavin Paige three-pointer and then another layup from the senior point guard who had a career-high 12 assists.

But in between was one of Moore’s best stretches in a Blue Devil uniform that began when he was a merely a ninth-grader. He scored 13 of his points in the second quarter alone.

Although the Blue Devils (13-3 overall, 1-1 in the 5A-East Conference) still only led by 40-32 at halftime, it was clear even at that point that collectively, the team was out to clear the bad taste out of its mouths from the loss to Marion.

“I hope we had some extra motivation…I know I did,” said West Memphis head coach Marcus Brown. “We came out with a little more energy and just trying to get back on the right track.

I thought our execution was good tonight and our defense was a lot better.”

Not even Moore picking up his third foul with 4:31 left in the third quarter could stop the Blue Devils from gaining even more steam in the second half. Paige, who scored 11 points, hit a step-back 15-footer to give the visitors a 50-35 lead, but Moore was levied his third foul right after.

He stayed in the game, however, and provided a thundering dunk just 21 seconds later. Then when senior Terry Burgess, who 11 points and had 5 rebounds, drained a three-pointer. Brown felt the lead was safe enough at 55-35 to let Moore finally take a seat on the bench.

Moore later returned to punctuate the final points of the third quarter with a basket inside to make it 6446 heading into the fourth quarter.

Paige baffled the Lions (8-7, 1-1) with left-handed wrap-around bounce passes for assists and once again the opposition had no answer for keeping the 5-7 guard from penetrating the lane.

“Big Daddy had a good floor game,” Brown said succinctly. “When he plays like that and Terry is hitting from the outside it just opens up everything for Chris inside.”

Moore could have added to his big night, but the Blue Devil lead was so safe after Moore split a pair of free throws to make it 7551 that Brown summoned his star to the bench for the rest of the night with 3:55 while Jamal Macklin and attack with 23 points while still to play in the game. Immanuel Hoard added 7 Caldwell hit 15.

Corliss Brewer added 10 and 6 points respectively, points for the Blue Devils Hicks paced the Searcy

Senior Terry Burgess (0) had 11 points and 5 rebounds against Searcy.

Photo by Billy Woods