Lady Rams clip West Memphis girls in rematch

Lady Rams clip West Memphis girls in rematch

Lady Devils fall to Paragould, 41- 30

WM School District After winning handily over Paragould a week earlier in non-conference play, the West Memphis Lady Devils had the tables turned on them last Friday night at Lehr Arena.

In a 5A/6A-East Conference tilt, Paragould defeated the West Memphis girls 41-28. A week earlier the Lady Devils turned back the Lady Rams by nearly the same score, 41-30.

'Disappointing,' said Lady Devils head coach Shelia Burns. 'We jumped out early, but then the bottom falls out.'

The hosts jumped out to an early 12-5 lead, but as Burns explained, the Lady Devils (4-4 overall, 0-2 in the conference) saw Paragould take control of the game.

The visitors scored the final seven points of the first quarter to pull even and then seized the momentum in the second quarter, taking an 18-5 lead into the lockers at halftime.

'Right now we are having an extremely difficult time scoring,' Burns stated. 'The shots are there, but they're just a little bit off the mark.' In the earlier meeting in the Greene County Tech Invitational Tournament, West Memphis senior Taylor Johnson exploded for 16 points, on the strength of four three-pointers. In last Friday night's game, Johnson was held to two points and only three shot attempts from the field. The Lady Rams hit West Memphis with a 10-0 run to start the third quarter. West Memphis was held to only two points in the third stanza, that coming off a bank shot from Tatyana Burks.

Paragould led 33-19 after three quarters.

The Lady Rams were content to stick with a 2-3 zone defense that kept the West Memphis girls from attacking the lane. 'It's strange because last Saturday we beat (Paragould) with them playing the same zone,' Burns said.

West Memphis got a solid game from senior point guard Paris Perkins, who scored 10 points while Burks hit 5 and Keara Williams contributed 4.

Paragould got a game-high 13 points from Abby Rogers and 10 from Hannah Beasley.

The Lady Devils will hit the court again this Friday night with a conference game at Forrest City.

By Billy Woods