Blue Devils down Lions, Raiders in back-to-back games

By BILLY WOODS

WM School District

After a sluggish start to the 2020-2021 campaign, the defending 2020 5A State Boys Basketball Co-Champions might have found a winning formula after rattling off backto- back wins to start 2021 off right.

Devils tame Lions

SEARCY — The West Memphis Blue Devils got the medicine they so desperately needed on the road last Tuesday night.

Senior point guard Jordan Mitchell posted his first triple- double of the season to lead the Blue Devils to an easy 88-59 victory over Searcy.

After a 2-7 start to the season, the Blue Devils have now won two in succession and own a 1-1 mark in 5A-East Conference play.

“This was the most under control we’ve played all season,” said West Memphis head coach Marcus Brown. “We were able to get some stops tonight. Before tonight, we’d get stops, but go down and turn it over.”

According to Brown, his team had been averaging 26 turnovers per game before Tuesday night. At Searcy, the Blue Devils suffered only 10 miscues.

Much of that was due to the floor leadership of Mitchell, the team’s only returning starter from last year’s state championship team. Mitchell scored 12 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished for 11 assists, for his career triple- double.

“Our team likes to get out on the break,” said Mitchell. “We were able to grab the ball off the boards and get out in transition. We handled that well tonight. We were just trying to get that first conference win after losing to Marion.”

The Blue Devils led from the get-go, getting a 3-pointer from Selah Robins on their second possession and then jetting out to a 22-12 lead with 40 seconds to play in the first quarter.

West Memphis dominated the stat sheet, outrebounding Searcy 37-17 and hitting 56 percent from the field while holding Searcy to a 41.2 percentage. Normally a poor free-throw shooting team, the Blue Devils burned it up from the charity stripe, connecting on 12 of their 14 attempts.

“I’m proud of the kids overall,” said Brown. “We were cheering for one another on the bench. We just gotta keep building.”

Senior Kameron Barnes hit 8 of his team-high 16 points in the first quarter as the Blue Devils built a solid early cushion.

“Kam was able to get into spots and Jordan found him with some good passes,” Brown added.

West Memphis led 42-27 at halftime and poured it on in the third quarter, hitting the hosts with a 12-2 run out of the gate to give the Blue Devils a 54-29 lead.

The Blue Devils put it out of reach after ending the third quarter with a 63-41 lead and then scoring the first seven points of the fourth quarter.

Robins played his finest game of the season, finishing with 15 points while Calvin Butler hit for 8 and junior Luke Martin came off the bench and scored 7 points.

Devils vanquish Raiders

Brown and the Blue Devils hit the court again Friday night at home against Nettleton.

After watching his team overcome a 13-point deficit after three quarters, Coach Brown was asked if comeback wins are sweeter than normal.

”For the players yes, for the coaches no,” he said. “Right now my blood pressure is out the roof.”

The Blue Devils pieced together some late heroics for a 57-55 Senior Night victory over Nettleton on Friday night at Lehr Arena.

In winning their third straight, the Blue Devils (6-7 overall, 2-1 in the 5A-East Conference) fell behind early and stayed there until late in the fourth quarter. Nettleton (6-9, 0-3) led for 30 minutes and 11 seconds of the 32-minute contest. The Raiders led 47-34 heading into the fourth quarter and looked like they were on their way to their first conference win of the season.

But the Blue Devils got five quick points in the first minute of the fourth quarter and ended up outscoring Nettleton 23-12 in the final eight minutes.

”I’m very, very proud of the kids for sticking together and fighting back,” said Brown. “Senior Night is always hard because there’s so much emotion. But we found a way in the fourth quarter.”

The Blue Devils fell behind early and stayed there.

Nettleton led 16-11 at the end of the first quarter and held a 28-26 lead at halftime.

The Raiders then outscored the Blue Devils 9-1 in the final 3:20 of the third quarter to take that 13-point lead into the fourth quarter.

The turnaround happened quickly in the first few moments of the fourth quarter. First, it was a 3-pointer from senior Selah Robins, who was escorted by his Dad Des McCoy during Senior Night festivities. McCoy was the 2004 state tournament MVP for the state champion Blue Devils.

Another Robins rainbow from beyond the arc with 4:28 to play brought the Blue Devils to within a point at 49-48.

Finally, the hosts took their first lead of the night at 54-53 with 1:49 to play on a soft mid-range jumper from senior Kameron Barnes, who led all scorers with 14 points and who scored five of that total in the final two minutes.

Brown called for a fullcourt press to start the fourth quarter and it created three turnovers. But it also made the Raiders visibly more uncomfortable on offense.

”We were able to get some stops on defense, that was big,” said Brown. “Offensively, we were able to get to the basket. We had looks inside all night. They finally

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Junior Kameron Barnes banks one home against Nettleton over two Raiders defenders.

Photo by Billy Woods