Blue Devils sweep twin bill with Lions at home

West Memphis girls blow out Searcy

WM School District It’s been an uneven season thus far for the defending state runners-up West Memphis Lady Devils.

They’ve had their moments in a blowout of Pine Bluff and a high-profile win over Little Rock Parkview, but Covid has slowed their progress recently, as witnessed in their 5A-East Conference opening loss at Marion.

The Lady Devils got back to business on Tuesday at Lehr Arena against a weak Searcy team. The West Memphis girls sank nine 3pointers in three quarters and recorded a 73-27 victory.

It didn’t take long for the Lady Devils (8-5 overall, 1-1 in the 5A-East Conference) to establish

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superiority against Searcy.

In fact, they jumped on the visitors immediately after “the home of the Brave” ended the National Anthem.

West Memphis scored the final 14 points of the first quarter to take a 24-5 lead.

Particularly noteworthy was the team’s prowess beyond the 3-point arc, an aspect of its game that has been missing for much of this season.

Star junior guard Janiyah Tucker swished five of the team’s nine treys and sophomore Aniyah Price added three triples, all coming in the first half.

“Our philosophy this year has been if you can’t make the 3-pointer, let’s get to the rack,” said Lady Devil head coach Erica Leak.

“Tonight we were able to gain some confidence and shoot the three-ball. If we square up and take our time we’re a good 3-point shooting

Tucker and Price combined for 43 points with Price leading all scorers with 22 points and Tucker pitching in 21.

But the Lady Devils also got better production from junior center Clemisha Prackett, who scored 14 points.

The West Memphis girls were trending toward 100 points through one half of play against Searcy (2-11, 0-2) by building a 50-13 lead at halftime. But a 6817 bulge after three quarters and the mercy rule kept the hosts from hitting triple digits.

“The difference in tonight’s game was everyone was relaxed,” Leak added. “We let the game come to us.”

Leak has not touched on the subject of her team’s health this season, which has been affected by Covid protocols.

Multiple players are still suffering from the aftereffects of the illness and Leak said she doesn’t expect her team to regain top physical condition for another couple weeks.

“We’re still struggling to get our legs underneath us,” said Leak. “Our team activities were shut down over the Christmas break for eight days. I figure it’ll take us six more games to get back in basketball-playing

Freshman Aliyah Price added 9 points for West Memphis against Searcy.

West Memphis returned to play Friday at Nettleton.

Full results on Wednesday.