Lady Devils cruise against Central

Hazley, Tucker lead West Memphis girls to victory

WM School District Guard play continues to carry the West Memphis Lady Devils.

On Tuesday night at Memphis Central, it was the veteran and the rookie once again who ignited the energy unleashed on the opponent.

Senior point guard Aryah Hazley poured through a game-high 18 points and freshman Janiyah Tucker pumped in 9 of her 14 points in the first quarter as the Lady Devils posted a 50-39 victory over Memphis Central.

The West Memphis girls (7-2) rushed out to an 18-5 lead in the first six-and-a-half minutes and then withstood a torrid final push by Central in the fourth quarter.

At the lead, once again, were the duo Hazley and Tucker.

“It’s very important for this team to get out of the gate quickly,” said Lady Devil head coach Shelia Burns. “We settled down once we got out to that big lead, but we’ve got to learn to maintain that same intensity.”

Hazley and Tucker scored the team’s first 14 points, and when reserve Jamee Gholson drained a free throw, the Lady Devils found themselves up 18-5 with 1:34 left in the first quarter.

After an 18-9 lead at the end of the stanza, the visitors increased their lead to 23-9 after Rianna Bedford, who scored 5 points, split a pair of free throws.

Central managed to slice the West Memphis lead to 30-21 at halftime and trimmed the deficit to 36-30 with 2:12 left in the third quarter, but the Lady Devils never let it get any closer from there.

“We’ve been letting other teams get back in the game,” said Burns.

“We need to put them away.”

The tide was stemmed for good in the fourth quarter with enough free-throw shooting.

The Lady Devils also got 4 points from senior center Tiera Bradley.

The West Memphis girls will play in the Capital City Classic on Saturday at Little Rock Mills.