Lady Devils cinch conference title

By Billy Woods

Erica Leak's Lady Devils were the heavy favorites to win the 5A-East Conference championship before the season began and on Tuesday night at Lehr Arena, they made the predictions hold up with a 60-45 victory over Greene County Tech.

On Senior Night before a sizable home crowd, the Lady Devils claimed their first conference title since 2020 and with a win Friday night at Batesville, in a game they should be heavily favored, the West Memphis girls (23-3 overall, 13-0 in the conference) will run the table in league play, marking the first time that's happened since 2002-03 when the team won the school's last state championship.

"This is a special night," said Leak. "(Jon) Collins and (Larry) Bray hired me and gave me the opportunity out of 16 applicants. I think this group of players did exactly what they were supposed to do."

Although the celebration included a ceremonious net-cutting following the Blue Devil boys game, players and coaches are in unanimous agreement that the conference championship is just Step 1 in the process.

"We want the state (title)," Leak added. "During one of our timeouts tonight, Aniyah Price swigged some water and then stated she was ready for the state tournament."

West Memphis' opening game will be next Tuesday night at Pine Bluff most likely against an old conference foe, Mountain Home, which is expected to be the fourth-place seed from the West Conference.

Tip-off will be 7 p.m.

The Lady Devils, ranked second in most Class 5A ratings, still have the nucleus from their 2021 run to the state championship game, when they lost to Jonesboro.

On Tuesday night, the two senior leaders paced the effort. Point guard Janiyah Tucker led all scorers with 19 points while center Clemisha Prackett added 18. Both were starters  as sophomores on that 2021 campaign.

"We've had a good year so far, but we want to finish it," Leak added, before pointing to the 2021 state championship runner-up trophy within arms length in her office. "We don't want that one. We want to win the state. The players know it's not over.  It's closing a chapter and starting a new one.:"

Leak started an all senior lineup that besides Prackett and Tucker, included reserves Kayla Hudson, Kaiya Newsom and Aniya Vornes.

Price, a junior, added 8 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, as did sophomore Tyra Taylor. Fellow sophomore Alaiyah Price pumped in 7.

Heart-breaking last-second loss to Greenwood ends Lady Devil march

By Billy Woods

WM School District

SHERIDAN --- The fastest player on the court had exactly 4.8 seconds to cover 94 feet. No problem for the diminutive but electrifying Janiyah Tucker.

Just a couple of seconds earlier, Greenwood's Abby Summitt splashed a high-arcing 3-pointer over the outstretched arms of Clemisha Prackett to give her team a 47-46 lead..

Tucker and the West Memphis Lady Devils had no time to pout, though.

Tucker easily flew by backcourt pressure from Greenwood and got a clear look at the basket from 12 feet inside the lane.

The ball rolled off the rim and the Lady Devils' march to the Class 5A state title was snuffed out.

Greenwood 47, West Memphis 46.

Thursday night's quarterfinal state tournament game was a classic heavyweight competition that was worthy of championship status.

But the ending for West Memphis was heartbreaking.

"Our girls left it all out on the court," said a disheartened West Memphis head coach Erica Leak. "They played their hearts out. We are disappointed in the outcome, though."

It was a back-and-forth affair that saw the largest lead of the game at seven points, which Greenwood held at 36-29 with 5:36 to play in the fourth quarter.

West Memphis (19-7) led at halftime 22-21 and the best part about it was not one single Lady Devil was in foul trouble. This, coming after the West Memphis girls were whistled with 24 fouls the previous afternoon with two starters fouling out in a first-round game.

There was slight controversy following Tucker's last-second attempt.

Referees convened after the final buzzer, leading Leak to think her point guard was fouled on the play. However, the call would have been a charge on Tucker.

Which, as you might imagine, was most upsetting to Leak and the rest of the Lady Devils.

"Yes, we thought Tuck was hacked," said Leak, who protested for several seconds after the call was made. "We thought the call should have gone our way, but it didn't. It's very disappointing"

The loss wiped out any chance for the Lady Devils to face Crittenden County rival Marion in the semifinals. Marion plays Jacksonville at 1 p.m. Friday in a semifinal game.

The winner of that game will face Greenwood at noon on Saturday in a semifinal contest.

Twice with less than a minute to play in the game, it looked like a West Memphis winner.

With 38 seconds to play in the game, sophomore Aniya Price, who scored 11 points, swished a 3-pointer to give her team a 44-42 lead.

But Greenwood's Mady Cartwright, who led all scorers with 27 points, converted two free throws on the other end to tie the game.

But once again, the Lady Devils got a clutch play from a veteran, this time a rebound basket from junior center Clemisha Prackett, who had 13 points and 11 rebounds, gave her club a 46-44 lead with just 14 seconds left.

Prackett came within inches of swatting Summitt's 3-point try. The only thing that kept her from doing so was Summitt's extra high loft she put on the shot.

But it found nothing but net.

"We made a mistake on that inbounds play," Leak admitted. "We were too far up (in the backcourt) on the throw-in. We didn't have enough defenders on the other end. (Summitt) was open."

Leak said her team's defense wasn't selling out to stop Cartwright.

"No, we know all their players can shoot the three," she added. "We wanted all of them covered. But we left one open in the corner."

The Lady Devils showed great resilience, twice coming back from small deficits when it looked like Greenwood was about to seize control of the game and put the West Memphians away.

They trailed 29-24 with 1:43 to play in the third quarter and then the seven-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter felt like it was larger than that.

But back-to-back 3-balls from Tucker, who led West Memphis in scoring with16 points, put them within a point.

Then, Prackett made a layup off a nifty feed from Tucker to give the Lady Devils a 37-36 lead with 4:19 to play.

Just over 24 hours after scoring 22 points and gathering 18 rebounds, West Memphis freshman Tyra Taylor was held to 3 points against Greenwood, although she did grab 9 rebounds.

Tucker added 5 rebounds and 3 assists to her evening.

Anna Trusty pumped in an additional 9 points for Greenwood while Summitt totaled 8.

Taylor provides the spark in Lady Devils' first-round win in state

By Billy Woods

WM School District

SHERIDAN --- Just how deep can a basketball team get into foul trouble and still survive?

The West Memphis Lady Devils answered that question here on Wednesday when they pummeled El Dorado 66-52 despite two starters fouling out  in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament.

The win earned the West Memphis girls a spot in Thursday night;s quarterfinals at 7 against Greenwood, which slaughtered Little Rock Parkview on Tuesday in the first round.

For the third time in the last two weeks, the Lady Devils (19-7) survived massive foul trouble. Junior center Clemisha Prackett fouled out with 1:39 to play in the third quarter and sophomore Aniya Price fouled out with 4:54 left in the fourth quarter.

In all, the Lady Devils were called for 24 fouls.

Prackett had three fouls in the first quarter and four fouls at halftime. Still, West Memphis head coach gambled and kept the 6-footer in the game.

"I take her out and I could get run out of here," Leak said with a straight face. "We just had to hope and pray that we could get through the foul trouble. We got a little handsy today on defense and it cost us."

Picking up the slack big time for West Memphis during the crisis was ninth-grader Tyra Taylor, who had her best game of the season with 22 points and a whopping 18 rebounds, 12 of which came on the offensive end..

With Prackett on the bench for short bursts at a time, the Lady Devils lost nothing on the boards as Taylor cleaned up multiple misses by her team.

"Just had to step up, that's all I was thinking," said Taylor. "A lot of the rebounding was just jumping and timing."

El Dorado took the first punch, knocking the Lady Devils off balance with an early 13-5 advantage.

But after Prackett picked up her second foul with 4:59 to play in the first quarter, the Lady Devils went on a 13-1 run to take an 18-14 lead. Midway through the second quarter, after Prackett picked up her third foul, the Lady Devils once again went on a massive run, this time a 16-3 spurt to take a commanding 36-22 lead at halftime.

"We were tight early in the game," said Leak. "We were not ourselves. I had to become a big motivator today. We got behind early and El Dorado brought a big crowd to the game. I had to become our biggest cheerleader and tell the girls we're gonna be OK. We just need to settle down."

Even though she played with three fouls by the early moments of the third quarter, junior point guard Janiyah Tucker still controlled the ball and the lead for West Memphis.

She ended the game with 15 points.

By the 4:13 mark of the third quarter, the Lady Devils had built a 44-25 lead after a layup by Prackett.

The El Dorado faithful still was not without hope as Prackett fouled out, much to the delight of the large crowd. Then, West Memphis freshman Alaiyah Price, who scored 6 points, picked up her fourth foul and stayed in the game.

In the end, however, it was just way too much Taylor and the rebounding muscle of the Lady Devils.

Aniya Price hit 11 points and Prackett, despite her limited minutes, scored 10 points and had 6 rebounds.

Alaiyah Price was also tough on the boards with 9 caroms and Tucker had 6.

Thursday night's quarterfinal matchup against Greenwood will be a tough one for West Memphis.

"We gotta put our seatbelts on because it doesn't get any easier," said Leak. "We're built for it, though. The 5A-East is the best conference in the state. We've seen (Greenwood's) style of play, so we think we're ready for it."

Ready for state tournament, Lady Devils trample Batesville

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The West Memphis Lady Devils took care of business on Saturday and now they're ready for the state tournament.

Powered by a game-high 23 points from junior center Clemisha Prackett, the Lady Devils pummeled a clearly out-manned Batesville team 65-33.

The Lady Devils (18-7 overall, 11-3 in the conference) clinched second place in the 5A-East Conference with the win and will play El Dorado (17-6, 10-4) in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Sheridan.

Playing without the services of head coach Erica Leak, the Lady Devils were led by assistant coach Kwame Brown. Leak had a previous engagement.

"We feel good going into the state tournament," said Brown. "We wanted to approach today like it was the state tournament in order to get some sort of feel."

Batesville (6-18, 2-12) was not much of a test for the Lady Devils.

West Memphis' girls scored the first 12 points of the game and coasted the rest of the way. The Lady Devil defense was mostly stingy, but the Pioneers' first four field goals of the game were 3-pointers.

Trouble for the Pioneers, however, was it took them two quarters to hit them. The visitors didn't score a two-point goal until the 5:07 mark of the third quarter when the score was already 43-16.

Prackett scored 17 of her game-high total over the course of the second and third quarters. She will be a major key for the Lady Devils if they want to replicate last year's success in state tournament play when they advanced all the way to the final before losing to Jonesboro.

The other key will be leading scorer Janiyah Tucker, who scored just 11 points against Batesville, but who has deferred to her other teammates in the last few games.

The game was moved from Friday to Saturday because of power outages around the West Memphis School District and because Batesville had more ice to deal with after last week's winter storm moved through Arkansas.

"We needed a tune-up," Brown stated. "It was important for the girls because they were all wondering if we were going to play at all. We didn't need to go a whole week or so without playing a game."

The West Memphis bench has been bolstered recently by the emergence of sophomore Daniyah Horne, who didn't score against Batesville, but who scored 9 points in the team's big win last Tuesday at Greene County Tech.

"We're going to need some bench production next week in the state," said Brown. "Daniyah has been playing well and we hope she'll continue that next week."

Sophomore Aniya Price added 16 points, which included three 3-pointers, for West Memphis while her sister, ninth-grader Alaiyah Price scored 10.

The next opponent, El Dorado, finished third in the 5A-South Conference. The Wildcats have won their last three contests over Sheridan, White Hall and Texarkana. They finished behind league leader Lake Hamilton and second place Hot Springs Lakeside.

Lady Devils grind out win at Tech, secure second place in East

By Billy Woods

WM School District

PARAGOULD --- The road to capturing second place in the 5A-East Conference hasn't been easy for the emerging West Memphis Lady Devils, and it left them with a familiar feeling here on Tuesday night.

The Lady Devils found themselves in the same dire condition they were in last Friday night in a double-overtime thriller of a win at home against Paragould as on Tuesday night they had to do without second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Clemisha Prackett for the whole game.

Prackett had to sit out Tuesday's game against Greene County Tech after she committed a flagrant 1 foul in the Paragould game.

Then once again, leading scorer and floor general Janiyah Tucker found herself parked on the bench for a significant portion of the game due to foul trouble.

Through it all, though, the Lady Devils gutted out a 57-51 victory over the Eagles to clinch the No. 2 spot in the conference.

The Lady Devils' postseason picture is in effect as clear as it's going to get. They will play Wednesday, March 2 at 4 p.m. against El Dorado in the first round of the 5A state tournament at Sheridan.

Prackett's absence from Tuesday's game at Tech was immediately felt when a tightly called game lent itself to lots of foul trouble, plus a rebounding deficiency on West Memphis' side.

Thus, Tech (14-10 overall, 6-7 in the conference) ran out to a 19-12 lead after one quarter.

"We just had to have some people step up and get some bodies ready for the state tournament," said West Memphis head coach Erica Leak. "We've worked hard all year for this, now seize the moment."

With the score 26-26 with 1:09 left in the second quarter, Tucker picked up her third foul and exited the game. It led to the Eagles taking a 29-26 lead at halftime.

And it went from bad to worse just 22 seconds into the third quarter when Tucker drew her fourth foul and spent the rest of the stanza on the bench.

All of which led to yet another parallel to last Friday night's dramatic win over Paragould.

Sisters Aniya and Alaiyah Price stepped up in the absences of Prackett and Tucker to catapult West Memphis (17-7, 10-3) into the lead.

Despite Aniya Price picking up her third foul at the 4:59 mark of the third quarter, the sophomore responded with a basket and two free throws to make it a 35-33 West Memphis lead.

Seconds later, Price sank a 12-foot jumper to make it 37-33 and set the stage for a fourth-quarter run that saw the Lady Devils pad their lead.

"We had to attack a triangle and two all night and that was tough," said Leak. "We had some movement on offense."

Tucker checked back in the game at the start of the fourth quarter and she scored 8 of her 17 points in those final eight minutes.

Aniya Price scored four points in a 10-0 West Memphis run in the fourth quarter. She led all scorers with 18 points

The biggest contributor off the Lady Devil bench, however, was sophomore Daniyah Horne, who has seen more minutes the last three games. Her 3-point shooting picked up the slack for Tucker being saddled with foul trouble.

Horne connected on 3 of 5 3-pointers in the first half to finish with 9 points in the game.

"(Horne) hit some big 3-pointers for us," said Leak. "(Tech) was playing the triangle and two on (Price) and Tuck, leaving the three open for Daniyah. I told her to get in there and knock down some shots and get them out of that defense."

Alaiyah Price scored just 5 points, but once again it was her defense that left the biggest impact on the Lady Devil win. She stole two balls in the final two minutes that led to West Memphis baskets.

Sierra Floyd led Greene County Tech in scoring with 15 points while Rylee Brandt hit for 13.

The Lady Devils end the regular season on Friday night at home against Batesville. It will be Senior Night.

'

Lady Devils record miraculous double-overtime win over Rams

By Billy Woods

WM School District

After they gave every ounce of emotion, after they tested their weary legs to the limit, the West Memphis Lady Devils shocked even themselves on Friday night at Lehr Arena.

Buried and left for dead numerous times and playing without their cornerstone players, the Lady Devils scored the win of the year in defeating Paragould 68-65 in double overtime.

Asked how it all happened after the game, head coach Erica Leak was left speechless for a few seconds before finally finding the right words.

"Will, heart...grinding, guts...that's it," said an exasperated Leak.

The West Memphis girls (16-7 overall, 9-3 in the 5A-East Conference) overcame challenge after challenge and still survived. The first blow came at the 3:38 mark of the first quarter when star center Clemisha Prackett was ejected for a flagrant 1 foul. Prackett elbowed Paragould center Kaylyn Lamb in the face after both teams battled for a rebound and were headed down the other end of the court.

The result was Paragould's Keimauri Brown dominating the rest of the first half because she had free space to roam inside. Brown finished with 17 points, 14 of which came in the first two quarters.

Challenge number two was even stiffer for the Lady Devils.

With only 22 seconds gone in the second overtime, West Memphis' leading scorer and playmaker, junior Janiyah Tucker, fouled out with the score still tied 58-58.

"When Tuck went out, there went much of our offense," said Leak. "It became a case of next girl up."

And the next girls were Price sisters Aniya and Alaiyah as well as ninth-grader Tyra Taylor.

Aniya Price scored 9 of her career-high 26 points in the second overtime. She scored all but one of West Memphis' points in the final stanza.

"Even though we lost at Jonesboro the other night, we thought that was the best game that we've played this year," said Leak. "But we all agreed in the locker room that tonight was the best game. As well as Tuck had been playing, our No. 2 (Aniya Price) said 'I got this."'

The Lady Devils gathered themselves at halftime to plot a better way to defend Paragould's Brown. They fronted Brown and got the help from the backside they needed, but mostly Brown was unable to get many touches in the second half.

Thus, she managed only 3 points the rest of the way.

Paragould (14-6, 7-5) trailed 48-45 with just 37 seconds left in regulation, but Shakira Brown threw up a 22-foot prayer at the buzzer and swished it, sending the game into the first overtime.

West Memphis fought back from a 58-54 deficit with 52 seconds left in the first OT, but Alaiyah Price converted a basket off a steal in the backcourt and then Tucker, who scored 24 points, stole another ball and converted the layup on the other end with 13 seconds left.

The Lady Devil fortunes got bleak when Tucker was whistled for her fifth foul just seconds into the second OT.

That moved Alaiyah Price into the lead guard spot and slotted her sister Aniya into the 2-guard spot. It allowed Aniya to receive the ball on the wing, where she utilized her strength and quickness to get to the basket.

Seven of Price's 9 points in the second overtime came from the free-throw line.

She split a pair of free throws with 2 seconds left to provide the final margin. All the Rams could do was throw up a prayer that was well short of the goal at the buzzer.

"The Price girls put it all on their shoulders," said Leak. "It seemed like we had so many opportunities to win the game, but Paragould made a lot of turnovers down the stretch to let us get back into the game."

Taylor scored 7 points and provided the board work and defense in the second half on Brown to neutralize the Ram inside game. Alaiyah Price, who is becoming a solid stopper on defense, sacrificed some of her scoring in order to be the enforcer on the defensive end. She scored 5 points.

Shakira Brown added 15 points for Paragould and Hayden Defries hit for 13.

The Lady Devils are still tied for second place in the conference with Marion, but the Patriots have to play league-leading Jonesboro next Friday night. West Memphis finishes at Greene County Tech on Tuesday and at home against Batesville on Friday.

Lady Devils move into second place after victory over Marion

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Erica Leak refused to admit Thursday night was personal for her West Memphis Lady Devils.

The way Leak's troops started the game at Lehr Arena against arch-rival Marion, following up a disappointing loss to their neighbor last month, sure looked like there was some extra motivation there.

West Memphis' girls jumped out to an early lead against Marion and then held off a late rally for a 52-45 victory over the Patriots.

"I guess it's always personal when we play Marion, but I don't think tonight was any different than any other game," said Leak. "More importantly we wanted to get into that (number) two spot in the conference."

The victory improves the Lady Devils to 15-7 overall and 8-3 in the 5A-East Conference, tied with the Lady Patriots who still have to play league-leading Jonesboro. With games against Paragould tonight at home, at Greene County Tech and at home against hapless Batesville, the Lady Devils have a shot at finishing second in the conference.

The West Memphis girls jumped out early on Marion and got sparkling performances from old reliables Janiyah Tucker and Clemisha Prackett, both of whom combined for 37 points.

Tucker, who led all scorers with 20 points, had been in a slight tailspin of late. She scored 12 points at Jonesboro on Tuesday night, but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter and that was following a season-low total of 5 points against Nettleton.

"Tuck was great going downhill on breakaway baskets and (Prackett) was cleaning it up and making moves down low," said Leak.

West Memphis went up 9-1 in the first quarter and led 26-13 at halftime, but turned up the heat even more in the third quarter when Prackett, who scored 17 points, stuck a 15-foot jumper with 3:10 left in the stanza for a 41-21 lead.

But that's when trouble struck.

With the game seemingly tucked away with a 49-28 lead with just 4:21 to play and just seconds away from Leak being able to remove her starters to rest them for tonight's game against Paragould, Marion held the Lady Devils scoreless for nearly four minutes, all the while putting up 12 straight points to make it 49-41 with 59 seconds left.

The Lady Devils didn't get much else the rest of the way, but Prackett split a pair of free throws and then banked in a shot from mid-range to hold Marion at bay.

Marion played without star Daedrianna Cail, which left the visitors vulnerable down low in defending Prackett.

Ninth-grader Alaiyah Price added 8 points to the winning cause while fellow freshman Tyra Taylor led the team in rebounding and provided 5 points.

"She's gaining a lot of confidence right now," Leak said of her daughter, Taylor. "She's peaking at the right time."

Marion got 16 points from Jessica Robins while Taylor Little scored 9 and Kiera Neal hit for 8.

Hot-shooting duo lead Jonesboro past Lady Devils, 70-64

By Billy Woods

WM School District

JONESBORO --- When it was over, all Erica Leak and her West Memphis Lady Devils could do was tip their cap.

The Lady Devils had just given one of their better efforts all season, but watched Jonesboro shooters splash a season-high 12 3-pointers in a 70-64 victory on Tuesday night.

Jonesboro (16-6 overall, 10-1 in the 5A-East Conference) made the Lady Devils pay for their defensive scheme of collapsing inside on center Destiny Thomas, a thorn in West Memphis' side the last two years. Awaiting all those kick-out passes against the Lady Devil zone were Ereaunna Hardaway and Brimyia Johnson, both of whom shot unconsciously all night with few misses and enough makes to turn Leak's stomach.

"In the first half that (defensive) plan worked," Leak claimed. "We weren't going to sit there and watch (Thomas) make layups all night long. And we contained (Hardaway and Johnson) in the first half. But that second half...they were just on fire. That's all."

Thomas was contained, all right.

She scored 11 points.

But Hardaway and Johnson sank six 3-pointers each with Hardaway gunning in a game-high 32 points, which included 11 of 11 shooting from the free-throw line. Johnson added 21 points.

"They made some adjustments in the second half," Leak said, referring to Jonesboro. "They shot the ball extremely well. I mean, they're a good ball club. Hard to defend when they shoot like that."

Almost forgotten in the midst of Jonesboro's hot shooting was West Memphis' own effort, which included six 3-balls of its own.

But, it was only half of Jonesboro's total from the bonus arc. The Hurricane outscored the Lady Devils (14-7, 7-3) 36-18 from 3-point distance.

Head coach Jodi Christenberry and her Hurricane switched their defense from a 1-3-1 zone to a 2-3 in the second half and West Memphis' leading scorer, Janiyah Tucker, felt the effects, going scoreless in the fourth quarter and winding up just 12 points on the night.

But the Lady Devils led throughout the first half, taking a 32-24 lead into the lockers at halftime.

"Feeling really good at halftime," said Leak. "We had just played one of our better halves of the year."

Then Hardaway and Johnson began their bombardment from the perimeter, hitting six 3-pointers alone in the third quarter as the hosts grabbed their first lead of the game at 39-38 after a Johnson trey with 3:19 left in the stanza.

Jonesboro seized the momentum from there, leading 49-46 heading into the fourth quarter.

With Tucker still on the floor, but quiet offensively, the Lady Devils turned to sophomore Aniyah Price, who scored a team-high 17 points. Price swished a three-ball with 3:42 to play in the fourth quarter to trim Jonesboro's lead to 54-53.

But Johnson answered emphatically on the other end with a triple of her own and it signaled the start of a strong finish by the Hurricane, one in which they sank 16 of 20 from the free-throw line for the game, including 10 of 12 in the final 1:56.

"Down the stretch things just didn't go our way," said Leak. "We hit shots, we hit our free throws...we did a lot of great things all night. We got the ball to the basket, but we didn't receive any grace on our end."

Leak's oldest daughter, Tyra Taylor, continues to trend upward in the last two weeks. The ninth-grader established herself on the offensive boards and she scored 14 points against Jonesboro.

Clemisha Prackett added 11 points for West Memphis while Alaiyah Price hit for 9.

The Lady Devils have another high-level match-up at home Thursday night against Marion at Lehr Arena.

Price sisters lead the way in Lady Devil victory over Nettleton

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The West Memphis Lady Devils are playing with heavy hearts these days.

Last Saturday, Ashley Stinson, a former West Memphis player herself and the mother of current players Aniyah and Alaiyah Price, passed away unexpectedly.

Still, the team keeps rolling on and with both of Stinson's daughters playing huge roles.

On Friday night, it was Aniyah providing the offense and Alaiyah providing the defense as the Lady Devils defeated Nettleton 40-30 at Lehr Arena.

Aniyah Price splashed three 3-pointers on her way to a team-high 13 points and Alaiyah was given the tough assignment to guard Nettleton's high-scoring, pure-shooting point guard Briley Pena. She smothered the Raider ace, holding her to just 6 points.

"You know, there are a lot of players who worry about how many points they are going to score," said West Memphis head coach Erica Leak. "Not Alaiyah. She did a job on Pena tonight. She was locked in from the beginning."

Alaiyah played denial to the hilt, keeping Pena from even attempting a shot in the first quarter. Pena's first attempt from the field came at the 7:07 mark of the second quarter, as she whiffed on a 3-point attempt.

Pena, who torched the Lady Devils (14-6 overall, 7-2 in the 5A-East Conference) for 18 first-half points in the first meeting between the two teams this season, finished shooting 2 of 8 from the field.

"Alaiyah is starting to take pride in her defense," Leak added.

Price's effort on defense didn't come without any obstacles, however. She picked up her third and fourth fouls 11 seconds apart in the third quarter when Nettleton (15-9, 4-6) was still within striking distance.

Price fouled out with 7:12 still on the clock in the fourth quarter.

"I didn't start worrying about foul trouble until Alaiyah got her fourth," Leak stated. "That made us have to go deep on our bench. We normally have five (starters) out there playing a lot of minutes. We don't want to lose a beat when we're subbing."

Price actually got brief help during the game from reserve Kayla Hudson, who relieved in defending Pena, and from Aniyah Price.

"Just trying to keep some fresh bodies on (Pena)," Leak commented. "I wanted to save Alaiyah's legs, but she put so much into her assignment that eventually I had to get her some help."

The Lady Devils led 18-14 at halftime, but stretched the margin to 29-18 at the end of the third quarter.

Nettleton responded to Alaiyah Price's fifth foul by trimming its deficit to 30-24 with 4:55 to play in the game. But Lady Devil bigs Clemisha Prackett and ninth-grader Tyra Taylor answered the distress signal.

Prackett hit a turnaround jumper, which preceded three stickbacks by Taylor, the last of which came at the 1:16 mark of the game to give the Lady Devils a 38-25 lead.

Leak said she was especially pleased with the win over Nettleton because "it was probably the best total team effort of the season."

To wit, leading scorer Janiyah Tucker was held to a season-low 5 points and still the Lady Devils had plenty of game to outlast the Raiders.

"We're on a roll now," Leak added. "I feel like we're starting to peak."

Prackett stuck in 12 points for the winners while Taylor added 10.

Nettleton got 10 points each from Dmaria Daniels and Kyla Williams.

The Lady Devils play at Jonesboro on Tuesday night.

Lady Devils gathering steam after easy win at Searcy

By Mark Buffalo

Special to the WM School District

SEARCY — The West Memphis Lady Blue Devils rallied from an early deficit to beat Searcy 65-41 on Tuesday. 

Searcy led 12-9 after one quarter and 15-11 following a putback by Blair Henry with 6:54 left in the first half. 

West Memphis went on a 17-3 run the remainder of the quarter to lead 28-18 at halftime. 

West Memphis led 36-20 following consecutive 3-pointers by Aniya Price. Searcy responded with a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 36-29 with 2:35 left in the third quarter.

The Lady Blue Devils went on a 13-0 run to put the game away, leading 49-29 with 6:43 left.

Aniya Price led West Memphis with 27 points. Janiyah Tucker had 17. Clemisha Prackett had 12. 

Jayden Bowman led Searcy with 9 points. Irena Shala added 8. 

Off to slow start, Lady Devils roll in second half for win at Batesville

By Billy Woods

WM School District

BATESVILLE --- A year ago, the Batesville girls were the team to beat with star guard Isabella Higginbotham wowing 5A-East Conference teams with her wizardry.

Today, the Lady Pioneers are merely trying to stay out of the cellar of league standings.

So, why were the West Memphis Lady Devils having so much trouble with them here on Friday night?

The Lady Devils stopped piddling and started playing in the second half to record a 79-49 victory, and in the process hit a season-high in points scored in a game.

"The girls wanted to get 80," said Lady Devils head coach Erica Leak. "The way the first half went, I thought wow I'm gonna have to get up off this bench and coach. I thought it was going to be more laid back."

Batesville (5-12 overall, 1-6 in the conference) kept up with the Lady Devils' offensive pace for the first half. The Pioneers trailed just 18-16 at the end of the first quarter and only 36-29 at halftime.

But the West Memphis girls (12-6, 5-2) got serious in the third quarter, hitting the hosts with a 15-5 spurt to start the second half.

Sophomore Aniyah Price, who scored 17 points, stuck in a layup with 3:44 to play in the third quarter to give West Memphis a 51-34 lead and from there the margin ballooned to mercy-rule proportions.

"Once we relaxed and calmed down, everything started coming together," Leak added.

The trio of Price, Janiyah Tucker and Clemisha Prackett combined for 64 of the Lady Devils' total.

After being shut out of the scoring column against Jonesboro on Jan. 18, Prackett, out with Covid a few weeks ago, is starting to assert herself. She is averaging 17.6 points in her last three games.

"I think she's starting to get on a roll," Leak said of Prackett. "She's locked in. She knows what is expected of her."

Prackett led all scorers with 25 points while Tucker, the Lady Devils' leading scorer on the season, was quieted with 10 points in the previous game against Greene County Tech, pumped in 22.

"Even when Tuck doesn't score in the 20s, she does so many other things for us," said Leak. "When we need her to score big, she does."

The Lady Devils will take Tuesday off before beginning the second half of the conference schedule on Friday at home against Marion.

Lady Devils make plays down the stretch to tip Tech, 53-47

By Billy Woods

WM School District

In their attempt to get back into contention for the 5A-East Conference title, the West Memphis Lady Devils took a significant step forward Tuesday night at Lehr Arena.

With Greene County Tech nipping at their heels all night as the Lady Devils attempted to put them away, the hosts made all the plays they were supposed to in recording a 53-47 victory.

The victory raises the West Memphis girls' record to 11-6 overall and 4-2 in the 5A-East Conference, which puts them in a virtual tie for third place with Paragould, although the Lady Devils own the tie-breaker over the Lady Rams, who lost to Marion on Tuesday night, 56-43.

"We've still got a lot of basketball to be played," said Lady Devils head coach Erica Leak. "We're still fighting and we want to finish on top."

Jonesboro and Marion lead the 5A-East standings with 5-1 records.

The Lady Devils led nearly wire-to-wire against Tech (11-5, 3-2), a team that gave Marion its only conference loss. They led Tech by double digits multiple times in the first half, including 28-17 at intermission, but the Lady Devils couldn't seem to put the visitors away until the final two minutes.

"Tonight, it was all about defense for us," said Leak. "(Tech) has good 3-point shooters and all the adjustments I made tonight I made for defensive purposes."

The Eagles sliced their 11-point halftime deficit to 28-27 with an 8-0 run to start the third quarter.

"We came out kind of stagnant in the third quarter," Leak admitted. "(Tech) had Marion down 11 at one point in their game. So, they're not going away easily."

In her best game in the last few weeks, Lady Devils junior center Clemisha Prackett keyed her team's fourth-quarter effort.

Prackett led her team in scoring with 18 points, including a rebound basket in the midst of a 5-0 West Memphis spurt to start the fourth quarter. She then stuck back a missed shot by Aniyah Price, who made a big steal on the other end of the court. Prackett missed her free throw after being fouled on the play, but Price was there for the rebound and the stickback to give the hosts a 53-47 lead with 33 seconds to play.

"I was proud of her getting some big boards for us," Leak said of Prackett. "We went to her on offense a lot tonight and she came through."

Price was also solid all night, posting 13 points while an off-night scoring by Janiyah Tucker, who had 10, was offset. Freshman Tyra Taylor pumped in 7 points and Alayiah Price chipped in 5.

The Lady Devils complete their first tour through the conference round robin on Friday at Batesville.

Price's last-second put back gives Lady Devils dramatic win at Paragould

By Billy Woods

WM School District

PARAGOULD --- The West Memphis Lady Devils are beginning to be a painful spoiler to the former coach of their program.

A last-second rebound basket by Aniyah Price gave the Lady Devils a 45-43 victory over previously unbeaten in conference play Paragould here on Friday night.

That makes it two straight bitter pills delivered to former Lady Devil star player and head coach Sonja Tate by her former team. Last year in the first round of the 5A-East Conference tournament, Tate's second-seeded Lady Rams fell to seventh-seeded West Memphis 44-40 to eliminate the Rams from state tournament contention and set off a magical run to the state title game for the Lady Devils.

On Friday night, the Lady Devils rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit (28-20).

"I feel like I've been in a fight," Lady Devil head coach Erica Leak joked after the game. "We spent all halftime talking about defense. I felt like defense won it for us tonight."

Indeed it did.

West Memphis (10-6 overall, 3-2 in the 5A-East Conference) took control in the opening minutes of the second half, hitting Paragould with an 11-0 run to seize the lead. The Lady Devils held the Rams scoreless until the 2:50 mark of the third quarter.

"All year our mantra has been to keep (the opposition) under 40 points because our record is undefeated when we do that," Leak said. "We didn't make it tonight, but 43's not bad against a team as good as Paragould."

The Rams came into Friday night's game not only unbeaten in league play, but with a win over Jonesboro, a team that drubbed West Memphis last week.

Still, it took some last-second heroics to defeat Paragould.

With the score tied 43-43 after Aniyah Price sank a layup with 2:33 left in the fourth quarter, Paragould had designs of taking the last shot.

However, Price stole the ball and the Lady Devils called timeout with 1:47 to play.

"We were setting up for taking the last shot," Leak admitted. "But we ended up taking a shot way before we wanted."

Price missed a 3-point attempt at the 1:18 mark and it gave Paragould another chance to play keep-away from the Lady Devils.

And it looked like the Lady Devils made another mental error when junior point guard Janiyah Tucker fouled Keimauri Brown with 22 seconds to play.

Brown, however, missed the front end of the bonus and West Memphis' Clemisha Prackett claimed the rebound.

Price's ninth-grade sister Aliyah missed a shot from the left elbow, but Aniya found herself in the right spot and the right time to put back the missed shot at the last second, setting off Lady Devil celebration.

"Great team win on the road," Leak exclaimed. "We needed it."

Tucker led the West Memphis scoring with 13 points while Aniyah Price added 12 and Prackett chipped in 10. Aliyah Price poured in 6 points and Tyra Taylor, another ninth-grader, scored 4.

Brown led Paragould with 18 points while Carson Defries added 14.

The Lady Devils host Greene County Tech on Tuesday night.

Jonesboro girls breeze past Lady Devils, 51-32

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Jonesboro still has the West Memphis Lady Devils' number.

Head coach Jodi Christenberry and her Hurricane players scored three big victories over the West Memphis girls last year, including the Big One, a 47-39 win in the Class 5A state championship game.

On Tuesday night at Lehr Arena, a Jonesboro team that is still potent but one that has sputtered a bit this season, worked on all cylinders against the Lady Devils in recording a 51-32 victory.

Coming in with an 8-6 overall record and already a loss in conference play to Paragould, it appeared the Jonesboro girls were ripe to be picked.

No such deal.

They ran out to a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes, and although the Lady Devils (9-6 overall, 2-2 in the 5A-East Conference) tied the game 9-9 with 1:34 to play in the first quarter, it was all Hurricane for the majority of the game.

"From the jump, it was a stinker for us," said a dismayed Lady Devils head coach Erica Leak. "We were stagnant. We were passing it around the horn, not being the aggressor."

The Hurricane took control after the first quarter, in which it led 16-12. The Jonesboro girls padded their lead to 32-19 at halftime and methodically built even bigger leads from there.

The most glaring omission from the Lady Devil attack was a scoreless night from second-leading scorer Clemisha Prackett, a junior center. Prackett was held scoreless for the game after being pushed around by burly Jonesboro center Destiny Thomas, who scored 13 points and made life miserable around the basket for Prackett.

In last year's state championship game, Prackett came into the contest with double-doubles in all three previous rounds of the tournament. But she managed just 5 points against Thomas in the title game.

"It's rare when you see (Prackett) go without scoring," said Leak. "Size matters. Maybe we weren't penetrating as much because of (Thomas). Our girls would go inside and get blocked."

Christenberry had warned her troops before the game that West Memphis would be out to exact revenge from last year's big game.

"I mentioned at shoot-around today that (West Memphis is) probably looking to get some revenge from last year," said Christenberry. "That was something we had in the back of our minds. We felt we had a target on our backs."

Star senior guard Ereaunna Hardaway was once again the floor general for Jonesboro and she paced the team's offense with a game-high 15 points. Jonesboro also got 11 points from Briyanna Johnson.

West Memphis placed only one player in double figures as junior point guard Janiyah Tucker scored 14 points. Aniyah Price added 8 points and Aliyah Price and Tyra Taylor each pumped in 4 points in a listless Lady Devil attack.

It won't get any easier for the Lady Devils on Friday night when they travel to the one team that's beaten Jonesboro in conference play. West Memphis plays at 4-0 Paragould, coached by former Lady Devil star player and head coach Sonja Tate.

Pena slowed in second half, Lady Devils rally for win at Nettleton

By Billy Woods

WM School District

JONESBORO --- In order to beat the Nettleton girls, the game plan simply calls for not allowing Raider point guard Briley Pena to go crazy.

So the West Memphis Lady Devils had one job here on Friday night and they watched as Pena scored 18 of her team's 25 points on the way to a 25-18 Nettleton lead at intermission.

But Pena was held in check in the second half and the Lady Devils climbed out of an early hole to take a 45-39 victory over Nettleton.

Pena, a three-year starter who doesn't need much space in order to get off her 3-point shot, swished home four treys in the first half, leading West Memphis head coach Erica Leak to make an astute halftime adjustment.

"From looking at that first half, I just said hey let's go box-and-one," Leak explained. "(Pena's) their whole team."

Leak assigned ninth-grader Aliyah Price to guard Pena man-to-man instead of junior Janiyah Tucker, generally regarded as the Lady Devils' best defender.

"I needed to save Tucker's legs for offense," Leak added.

Price was glued to Pena the entire second half. She limited Nettleton's leading scorer to just three shot attempts and three points.

"Aliyah did a great job defending her," Leak commented. "She's tall, so she used her length and let everybody else help."

The Lady Devils (9-5 overall, 2-1 in the 5A-East Conference) trailed the entire first half with Nettleton stretching its lead to seven points twice. But the visitors got the best game of the season from Tyra Taylor, another freshman and the daughter of the head coach, who hit the team's first two baskets in the second half on her way to a season-high 10 points

With Nettleton searching for other ways to score in the second half, the hosts went six-and-a-half minutes with scoring while allowing the Lady Devils back in the game.

West Memphis outscored Nettleton 15-0 during the Raider drought to take a 37-30 lead with 5:19 to play in the game.

As one might expect, however, the Raiders made one last gasp.

A rebound basket by Diamond Kimble, who scored 10 points, with 1:23 to play in the game cut West Memphis' lead to 41-39.

But Taylor hit the key basket of the night on a layup with 51 seconds left for a two-possession lead for the visitors. With 25 seconds left, Tucker, who led the Lady Devil offense with 15 points, drilled two free throws.

"I'm so proud of the job Tyra did," Leak said. "She has taken ownership of her job. Why do we need Windex with Tyra Taylor cleaning the glass?"

Sophomore Aniyah Price chipped in 12 points for West Memphis while junior center Clemisha Prackett added 9.

The Lady Devils entertain Jonesboro Tuesday night at Lehr Arena in a rematch of last season's Class 5A state championship game.

Three-point prowess returns in Lady Devils' blowout over Searcy

By Billy Woods

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 3-pointers 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 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 team."

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 68-17 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 after-effects 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 shape."

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

West Memphis returns to play Friday at Nettleton.

Marion rallies in the second half to defeat Lady Devils, 46-41

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Although it was an uneven start for the West Memphis Lady Devils, they had established their superiority over Marion through the first half on Friday night at Fidelity Bank Arena.

In a sloppily played first half by both teams, West Memphis still led 21-13 at halftime.

But for the second straight year, the Lady Patriots used a strong start to the second half to post a 46-41 victory over the Lady Devils.

"We just didn't put it together in the second half," said West Memphis head coach Erica Leak.

Marion (11-5 overall, 1-0 in the 5A-East Conference) hit the Lady Devils (7-4, 0-1) with a 10-0 run to start the third quarter to take its first lead at 23-21.

To that point, the Lady Devils had neutralized Marion star center Daedrianna Cail, who had her first shot attempt of the night stuffed back in her face by West Memphis junior center Clemisha Prackett. Cail scored just 3 points in the first half.

But Cail scored 6 of her team's 10 points during the turnaround spurt to start the third quarter and she ended up the game's high scorer with 16 points.

"Our plan was to take it to (Cail)," said Leak. "We want her on the bench because she's a game-changer. We made our run in the first half when she was on the bench with foul trouble."

Despite falling behind to start the second half, the Lady Devils battled back to reclaim the lead at 28-23.

But Marion got the break it needed late in the fourth quarter when West Memphis star junior point guard Janiyah Tucker picked up her fourth foul with 4:51 to play in the game.

Leak pulled Tucker only briefly after Marion seized the opportunity to cut what had been a six-point West Memphis lead to 39-37.

But Tucker played cautiously from that point and eventually fouled out with just 20 seconds to play.

With Marion ahead 42-41 after a Cail three-point play, Prackett missed an easy shot in the paint and Cail claimed the board.

Marion milked 1:40 seconds off the clock and Ny'Asia Jackson was eventually fouled by Tucker with 20 seconds left. Jackson split a pair of free throws to make it 43-41.

Marion sank 7 of its 9 free throws down the stretch to dispatch the Lady Devils.

Tucker, who scored 9 points, was shut out in the second half. Conversely, Prackett was shut out in the first half and scored all 9 of her points in the second half.

Ninth-grader Aliyah Price led the Lady Devils with 14 points. Fellow freshman Tyra Taylor also added 9 points.

The Lady Devils will be at home on Tuesday night against Searcy.

Lady Devils roll past Memphis Central, 64-35

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Cruising so far through the non-conference portion of their schedule, the West Memphis Lady Devils got one last opportunity to blow out an opponent on Tuesday night at Lehr Arena.

Janiyah Tucker, Aniyah Price and Clemisha Prackett combined for 42 points to lead the Lady Devils to a 64-35 victory over Memphis Central.

Up next, however, will be some stiff competition in the FSM Taco Bell Tournament of Champions in Fort Smith this weekend.

"I like to be up 30 going into half against a team like (Memphis Central)," a brutally honest Lady Devil head coach Erica Leak said after the game. "We've got some very tough competition coming up in Fort Smith."

The Lady Devils (6-0) will face Howe, Okla., on Thursday at 4 p.m. and then will be either El Reno, Okla., or Fort Smith Northside on Friday. Other teams in the tournament include Tuttle, Okla., Fort Smith Southside, Ada, Okla., and Greenwood.

The Lady Devils will be guaranteed three games in the tournament.

West Memphis piddled with Memphis Central for the first few minutes of quarter number one on Tuesday before running off and leaving the Lady Warriors.

The Lady Devils led 19-8 at the end of the first quarter and closed out the first half with a 12-0 run in the final 2:48 to take a 39-16 lead into the lockers at halftime.

"I liked the way we closed out the first half," said Leak. "We want to be able to use the second half to play some girls that we're going to need in the conference season. Right now we have a lot of girls who are inexperienced and they need to get all the minutes they can get right now."

They got them in the second half.

The Lady Devils kept the momentum flowing in the third quarter, outscoring the visitors 17-3 to take a 58-22 lead into the final stanza.

Tucker, Prackett and Price continued to take on the scoring load. The three returning starters from last season's state runner-up team scored from all angles and seemingly with ease.

Aliyah Price, Aniyah's ninth-grade sibling, added 6 points for West Memphis.

"We have got to get better at doing what we want to do," said Leak. "We're still  holding back some things we like to do such as press full court. I don't want to show everything right now because our games are on Youtube and streaming, so you just want to hold back a little bit. It's almost time to show those things, though."

Relentless Lady Devils blow out Pine Bluff, 57-28

By Billy Woods

WM School District

If there was anything to glean from their 57-28 blowout victory over Pine Bluff on Tuesday at the Devil Dome, it was the West Memphis Lady Devils' willingness to sustain their will on an inferior opponent.

The West Memphis girls scored the first 17 points of the game and then as head coach Erica Leak kept the first rotation in the game, the Lady Devils did not let up.

At the end of the first quarter they were on pace to shatter the 100-point mark, leading 27-6, and they headed into the locker room at halftime with a mercy rule already in play, leading 42-14.

"We always say leave no hope for rope," commented Leak.

The victory improved the Lady Devils' record to a perfect 4-0 on the season with an idle weekend upcoming and their next opponent set to be Memphis Central exactly one week from the Pine Bluff game.

"We wanted to take care of business early," said Leak. "When you're the dominant team you don't want to play around. We're trying to prepare for our conference. We're trying to be in that top four."

In reference to qualifying for the state tournament by being in one of the top four places in the 5A-East Conference, Leak used a heavy understated theme.

Not only should her troops finish in the top four, they should be in the running with Jonesboro for the East championship and then prepped for a deep run in the state tournament.

The Lady Devils' top three, all returnees from last season's state runner-up team, once again provided the bulk of the offense with juniors Janiyah Tucker and Clemisha Prackett each scoring 14 points to lead the way and then sophomore Aniyah Price hitting 6 points.

Prackett also added 10 rebounds in just a little over one half of play.

But it was the emergence of ninth-grader Tyra Taylor, Leak's oldest daughter, that was noteworthy. Taylor hit a season-high 8 points and provided 9 rebounds.

Three of Taylor's field goals came off offensive rebounds. The Lady Devils had 16 offensive rebounds on the night and 36 overall.

"We've got a lot to work on, still," Leak added. "We're still getting our legs underneath us. We want to be able to play fast on offense and trap full court. We're not quite there yet."

It appears the Lady Devils will keep it all in the family this year. Alayiah Price, another ninth-grader and the sister of Aniyah, scored 6 points in a starting role against Pine Bluff.

Harmony Buckingham scored 4 points in a reserve role.

Star trio leads Lady Devils to opening win over Parkview

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The Ghosts of Glory still reside in the old Devil Dome.

In what will be a temporary home, the 1,200-seat gym proved once again on Tuesday night that it is a nightmare for the West Memphis opposition. In Game Two of its brief run as home of the Blue Devils while Lehr Arena gets a new floor, the Devil Dome and its inviting atmosphere (that is, inviting only for the home team) pushed the Lady Devils to a 66-64 overtime victory over Little Rock Parkview.

The Lady Devils' season-opener against a marquee opponent promised to answer the questions of whether the West Memphis girls are as good as their preseason hype and could they follow up on their magical postseason ride of a year ago.

For the first 18 minutes the answer to those questions was a resounding yes.

But as the game got rougher and Parkview got more stubborn, the Lady Devils relinquished a 17-point third-quarter lead only to see the Lady Patriots send the game into overtime, whereupon the hosts got two clutch free throws from junior center Clemisha Prackett with 6 seconds left to give West Memphis the victory before a loud group of Blue Devil fans that nearly packed the tiny gym.

"So, this is the atmosphere of the Devil Dome," an elated West Memphis head coach Erica Leak said. "I love the Devil Dome because your fans are right there on top of you and we really needed their support tonight."

With expectations high for this season after returning three star players from last year's team that made a run in the state title game before losing to Jonesboro in the final, the Lady Devils did not disappoint.

Their three returnees, juniors Janiyah Tucker and Prackett and sophomore Aniyah Price, carried the load, scoring 60 of the team's 66 points.

And all three aces played excessive minutes, their bodies worse from the wear.

Price came away with a bloody nose from a shot to the chops in the fourth quarter and Tucker and Prackett each missed a few minutes down the stretch due to muscle cramps.

"That game was so rough we're going to use (Wednesday) as recovery day," said Leak.

With Tucker darting in and out of the clamps of a swarming Parkview defense, Prackett dominating inside to the tune of double-double numbers (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Price going about her job as quietly as she did last year, the West Memphis girls at times overwhelmed a Parkview squad that has already posted an overtime victory over defending state champion Jonesboro.

The Lady Devils led 29-18 at halftime and opened the third quarter with 3-pointers from Tucker and Price to give the home club its biggest lead of the night at 35-18.

Tucker scored 15 of her game-high 23 points from the free-throw line and Price added 18 points.

"As our trio goes, we go," said Leak. "We've got some other talented young kids who are going to be role players this year and they're still trying to learn their roles."

Trouble loomed, though, when 6-foot-2 Parkview center Tyra Robinson, who paced her team with 21 points, collected some garbage baskets, and junior guard Jordan Gregory got hot from 3-point range.

West Memphis, however, still held a 10-point lead (58-48) with just 1:46 to play in regulation.

But Parkview outscored the Lady Devils 11-1 in that span, getting a buzzer-beating triple out of Gregory to send the game into overtime at 59-59.

The Lady Devils actually had to come from behind in the extra stanza after Jada Page sank a tear drop from the lane to give the visitors a 61-59 lead.

Later, Parkview's Breighah Bailey hit two free throws with 2:25 to play to give her team a 64-61 lead.

That's when Tucker answered the distress signal with a dipsy-do move slashing to the goal that ended up as a three-point play to tie the contest.

With Parkview intent on taking the last shot, Robinson missed a shot in the paint and Prackett was fouled as she snatched her 10th rebound.

She calmly sank both free throws on the other end with six seconds to play.

On Parkview's final attempt, Bailey had a clear lane to the basket, but Tucker reached in from behind to thwart the shot that could have tied the game.

"Our fans helped us win that game," Leak commented. "That was a good test for us early in the season and after we heal up (Wednesday) we'll get ready for our Thanksgiving tournament in Little Rock."

Leak's own daughter, ninth-grader Tyra Taylor, scored 4 points for West Memphis and Price's younger sister, ninth-grader Alayiah, added 2 points.

Five Lady Devils earn postseason individual honors

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Five West Memphis Lady Devils reaped the benefits of a magical state tournament run by earning postseason individual awards.

Despite an 11-15 record, the Lady Devils came within one game of winning West Memphis High School's third state championship, coming up short in the title game against Jonesboro.

But all five starters earned accolades from their postseason run.

Sophomores Janiyah Tucker and Clemisha Prackett earned all-state honors after leading the Lady Devils in scoring and rebounding this season. In addition, both made the all-state tournament team as well as all-conference.

Tucker led the West Memphis girls in scoring with a 16.5 points per game average. She shot 52 percent from the field and pulled in 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 assists per game.

Prackett averaged a double-double for the season with 11.4 points per game and 11.6 rebounds to go along with 3 blocks per game.

Ninth-grader Aniyah Price and seniors Terika Inmon and Ta'Nya Burnett all made the all-conference teams. Price averaged 7.6 points per game along with 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

Inmon pumped in 7.3 points and 3 rebounds while Burnett averaged 4.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

Lady Devils' glorious ride comes to a halt; Jonesboro wins 47-39

By Billy Woods

WM School District

HOT SPRINGS --- One step away from one of the most unlikely state championship runs in Arkansas history, the West Memphis Lady Devils just couldn't get anything going on offense, falling to Jonesboro 47-39 in the 5A state title game Saturday at Bank OZK Arena.

Although they couldn't quite pull it off, what a ride the Lady Devils (11-15) had in the final three weeks of the season.

With obstacles such as two Covid quarantines, three deaths in the family and a 10-game losing streak in 5A-East Conference play that threatened to place them in the cellar of the standings, the Lady Devils still shocked the state with a head-scratching run that earned the praises of Jonesboro's winning coach, Jodi Christenberry in the postgame media conference.

"Some people were saying that West Memphis didn't deserve to be here...well, I'll tell you they definitely deserved to be here," said Christenberry, whose program has won three of the past five state championships. "They stepped up and kept going hard. Erica (Leak's) a great coach. She had them believing in the end."

It was the fourth victory in as many tries this season for Jonesboro (26-6) over West Memphis.

And as you might guess, there were no secrets this time.

West Memphis wanted to neutralize Jonesboro aces Ereaunna Hardaway, the tournament Most Valuable Player, and junior center Destiny Thomas, and for the most part it did. The Lady Devils held both players under their per-game scoring averages as Hardaway hit 13 points and Thomas scored 7.

But Thomas was a defensive force under the backboards, blocking 3 shots and making life miserable for the Lady Devils in the paint.

Which leads to Jonesboro's main objective coming into the game.

Christenberry was most concerned about West Memphis' 6-foot sophomore center Clemisha Prackett, who had three double-doubles in the first three rounds of the state tournament.

But Prackett couldn't get anything going all day, scoring but 5 points on 2 of 10 shooting from the field.

"I don't know if there was a lid on the goal, but some nights it's like that," explained Leak.

Christenberry used an outside-the-box scheme to shut down Prackett. Not with size and the girth of Thomas, but with a much smaller player.

"What we did in the second half of the game we played West Memphis in the conference tournament was we face-guarded her with Shene'sha Hunter," said Christenberry. "She's only 5-foot-5, but she is smart, she knows how to play defense and she knows how to get in somebody's head. We went back to that today."

The Lady Devils took an enormous amount of shots on Saturday.

They took 63 attempts from the field to just 43 for Jonesboro, mostly due to West Memphis turning over the Hurricane 20 times.

Sophomore Janiyah Tucker, who had 10 points at halftime as the Lady Devils trailed 19-17, scored a team-high 16 points, but it came on 6 of 23 shooting from the floor.

"Everything we ran on offense gave us the shots we wanted," Leak stated. "We were getting the looks that we practiced. The things that were supposed to be open, were open."

West Memphis was 14 of 63 from the field for 22.2 percent while Jonesboro managed 41.9 percent.

Tucker gave the Lady Devils some momentum heading into the second quarter when she banked in a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer to give her team an 11-9 lead.

Prackett had just 2 points at halftime, but she was a workhorse on the boards, claiming a game-high 15 rebounds.

Jonesboro opened up a 28-19 lead with 4:48 to play in the third quarter, but a 10-foot jumper by senior Terika Inmon sliced the Lady Devil deficit to 29-28 with 47 seconds to play in the stanza.

The game turned in the final two minutes of play when Hardaway stole two balls and converted layups off both to give the Hurricane a 43-36 lead with 1:06 to play.

The Lady Devils also got 10 points from freshman Aniyah Price and 4 each from Ta'Nya Burnett and Inmon.

There was much talk after the game about what the future holds for the Lady Devils, who started two sophomores and a freshman this season.

"I told the girls after the game that they've smelled it, they know what it's about, now let's go make another run next season," said Leak, who in her own high school playing days lost in the state final to Greenland her sophomore and junior seasons before claiming the state championship for her Palestine-Wheatley team her senior year against the same Greenland team.

"We've got two ninth-graders that we probably will move up next year and we'll have nine juniors. Plus, our sophomore in Price."

Jonesboro coach Christenberry lauds Lady Devil odyssey

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Jonesboro head coach Jodi Christenberry was on an early-season scouting mission that found her in Lehr Arena to watch West Memphis sometime in November.

As wild shots clanged off the rim and some even nearly threatened to shatter the glass backboard, she thought, "Oh wow!"

Although the Hurricane boss didn't watch all 25 of the Lady Devil games this season, she said she has seen enough to understand the team's odyssey that has taken it from ugly early-season proportions to what is now putting genuine concern in her mind as Jonesboro prepares to take on West Memphis in the 5A state championship game at Hot Springs' Bank Ozark Arena on Saturday at 4 p.m.

"I haven't looked at every game they've played, but the majority of their conference games...they've been right there," said Christenberry, whose 25-6 club finished second in the 5A-East Conference. "I saw one of their games early in the season and, yeah, it was ugly. I think what's happened along the way is they've calmed it down quite a bit and the silly turnovers have all but disappeared."

After beating the Lady Devils (11-14) three times already this season, Christenberry said she's convinced the fourth time will be much more difficult for her Golden Hurricane.

"West Memphis has figured out how to win the close games now," Christenberry added. "They played guard-heavy teams in the first three rounds (of the state tournament) and those teams found out they couldn't just drive into the lane against West Memphis because they'll run right into No. 14 (Clemisha Prackett). West Memphis is putting it all on the line right now."

The Lady Devils, losers of 10 straight at one point this season, have indeed turned it around, winning five of their last six games. In the three games against Jonesboro this season, West Memphis has started strong only to see its lead vanish in the final minutes of the second half.

On Jan. 12 at Jonesboro, the Hurricane won a 53-47 overtime decision and then on Feb. 9 in West Memphis JHS took a 48-31 win. The two teams then hooked up in the 5A-East Conference Tournament's semifinals at Jonesboro and the Lady Devils led all the way until the 1:05 mark of the third quarter before falling 52-44.

In that game, the Lady Devils held two 10-point leads in the first half and their fortunes looked bright when Jonesboro's inside ace, Destiny Thomas, picked up two quick fouls, sending her to the bench in the first quarter through the remainder of the first half.

West Memphis led 23-19 at halftime, but with Thomas back on the court to start the second half, the burly junior scored 10 of her 13 points on the night as the Hurricane eventually pulled it out in the end.

The match-up to watch on Saturday will be Thomas against Prackett, West Memphis' sophomore center.

"We need Destiny to be a difference-maker Saturday because she has to offset about three other (West Memphis) kids in there," said Christenberry.

While Thomas presented a huge problem for West Memphis in that third meeting, the game swung in the fourth quarter on a ticky-tack call when Prackett scored inside to tie the game at 35-35 and then flexed her muscle on the way back down the floor. She was whistled for a technical foul, which turned out to be a four-point swing for Jonesboro, besides putting a fourth foul on Prackett.

"Thomas has been tough on us," said West Memphis head coach Erica Leak. "She knows how to use her body and she has a great relationship with that backboard. I think stopping her is the key for us. We're going to attack her."

Without Thomas' presence inside, the Hurricane are more of a perimeter team, and it certainly has the shooters to compensate for such a loss. Point guard Ereauna Hardaway and Lakiya Scott provide 3-point prowess, but it's easier to attack Jonesboro offensively without Thomas in there.

"Destiny is looking for her shot now, whereas in the past she was more apt to toss the ball back out front when she got it in the post," said Christenberry.

As for Prackett, she has caught Christenberry's eye for her play of late. The 6-foot-1 soph scores at an 11-point-per-game clip for the season, but in the last five games, Prackett has averaged 14.8 points.

"She is the person who has stepped it up," said Christenberry. "That kid has really come around. She can put it on the floor a little bit and she can snake through traps."

Breakdown: How the Lady Devils stunned the state to make title game

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Possibly unlike their own supporters, the rest of Arkansas is wondering how in the you-know-what put the West Memphis Lady Devils in the Class 5A state championship game.

A search early this week has come up with a near definitive answer to a question state sports writers have been asking.

And here it is: According to Walter Woodie, the unofficial sports historian for the Arkansas Activities Association, the Lady Devils (11-14) would become the first state champion with a losing record in Arkansas history, should they defeat Jonesboro at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Hot Springs' Ozark Arena.

According to Woodie, the worst record of a state champion in the state record books is from 1997. Hot Springs won the girls title that year with a 17-10 record.

Thus, no team has ever won a title with a losing record.

So, Erica Leak, how in the you-know-what has your team been able to pull this off?

Her explanation would take several minutes, that is if you've got that long.

It all starts with herself.

Leak, a former McDonald's All-American high school player at Palestine-Wheatley and a collegiate All-American at Louisiana Tech, marks the third head coach in three years for the Lady Devils.

She was hired in the spring of 2020 to succeed Shelia Burns, who retired after last season. Burns did not coach at all in 2018-19 after she suffered a brain aneurysm just before the season began. The coaching reins were handed over that season to assistant Sonja Tate, now the head coach at Paragould.

"Three different coaches in three years," exclaims Leak. "That's really tough on the players. One of our seniors (Terika Inmon) has played for three coaches the last three years. It's tough to adjust to each personality and each different system."

In the summer, due to the Covid pandemic, the Lady Devils were limited with their offseason workouts.

"It's an all new system and we just didn't have the time to work on it," Leak added.

Storm No. 2: Leak's first season at the helm got off to a great start, record-wise, as they posted signature road victories at North Little Rock, Cabot and Bartlett. But trouble loomed ahead.

"On the way back home from the Bartlett game, one of our players got sick and she ended up testing positive for Covid," said Leak. "So we were faced with an immediate 14-day quarantine. We lost all our conditioning during that time."

If that wasn't enough, the team was hit with a second two-week quarantine during the Christmas holiday.

Storm No. 3: In the early stages of her pregnancy, Leak took ill.

She missed the team's December 10 game at home against Conway because she was admitted to the hospital. Leak spent the next pair of games still suffering the effects of "morning sickness" on the sidelines.

Storm No. 4: Death hit the Lady Devil camp. One player lost two grandparents in a short period of time.

"That player went to a funeral and then played a game that same day," Leak said.

Another player's brother passed away after an auto accident.

"This...is...a...movie! Leak exclaimed. "We could not have foreseen all of this chaos. I was so sick that my players were holding my hair behind my head while I threw up in a bucket on the bus on the way home from a game at Mountain Home."

Then the losses began to pile up.

Ten straight defeats to start the conference season. The Lady Devils defeated Searcy 49-22 at home in February, which gave them the tie-breaker over Searcy in points.

It wound up keeping the Lady Devils, with just one conference victory in the regular season, from eighth place and facing top-seeded Batesville on the road in the first round of the conference tournament.

"All the while we were losing these games, and most of them were close, I kept telling the girls we have a district tournament this year," Leak said. "We're gonna get this right before then."

Oh yeah, the conference tournament factor.

The 5A-East Conference coaches voted before the season began to have a conference tournament to determine state tournament qualifications and seedings. The decision was based on possible cancellations due to Covid.

The final three games of the conference's regular season were cancelled due to the 11.8 inches of snow that blanketed Northeast Arkansas in mid-to-late February.

So on to the conference tournament the Lady Devils went, as the No. 7 seed playing at No. 2 seed Paragould.

In a game that would determine state tournament qualification, the Lady Devils stunned the folks from Paragould 44-40 to eliminate the Lady Rams and set the wheels in motion for the West Memphis girls.

On the bench that night for the Lady Devils was a familiar face.

Kwame Brown, who has coached more than 25 years at various levels, for both boys and girls teams in Turrell, Marion and for West Memphis Wonder Junior High and is now a phys ed teacher at Jackson-Wonder Elementary, had coached most of Leak's current players, either at Wonder or in AAU ball.

Brown has a special knack for coaching and connecting with his players.

"Kwame kept calling me during the season and asked me if I wanted him to talk to the girls and maybe work with them," Leak explained. "I said no...not yet. Then came the end of the regular season, and I called him to tell him yes, I would like to have his help.

"Look, this is a team thing. It's all about the players. I also respect my elders and I listen to them. In 25 years of coaching, Kwame has won so many championships he's lost count. He has played a huge role in this, working with the girls in practice and then lending his strategy on the sidelines during the games."

The momentum began to formulate for the Lady Devils, even though they lost a 52-44 decision to Jonesboro in the conference tournament semifinals. They rallied in the second half for a 50-43 win over Marion in the conference consolation game.

In the state tournament, the trio of underclassmen Janiyah Tucker, Clemisha Prackett and Aniyah Price have wowed some more celebrated teams such as Vilonia, which came into Monday's semifinal game with a sparkling 25-3 record.

"I knew as soon as I got to West Memphis I had the roster I wanted," said Leak.

All three of the aforementioned compiled a double-double in the Lady Devils' 70-58 victory.

"We always had the talent. We have the quickness, athleticism, the shooting...everything. We just had to get the mental part down. And most of that was just overcoming all of these obstacles we've had to face this year."

So, the Lady Devils find themselves staring history right in the face. After all they've been through this season, it wouldn't surprise anyone in their camp if they just laughed it off as though it isn't strong enough to make them fold.

Lady Devils claim title game berth with victory over Vilonia

By Billy Woods

WM School District

HOT SPRINGS --- Nothing these days, it seems, can stop the West Memphis Lady Devils.

Not a one-win conference record in the regular season.

Not a seventh seed in the conference tournament.

Not even their first three opponents in the Class 5A state tournament.

Lady Devil Power flexed its muscles in the form of four players in double figures and two with double-doubles in Monday's 70-58 victory over Vilonia in the semifinals.

The Lady Devils (11-14) now have just one more hurdle to clear, and it's a familiar foe. Jonesboro, which already has three wins over the Lady Devils this season, awaits in Saturday's championship game.

The title game will be played at 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

When the clock hit zeroes, the Lady Devil celebration began and it was led by none other than possibly by the most energetic in the West Memphis camp, head coach Erica Leak.

"I knew we could do it," said Leak. "We've got the size, the players, the length and the quickness. But the one aspect we didn't have was the mental game. We have that going for us now."

Vilonia, which beat pre-tournament favorite Batesville in the quarterfinals, promised to be a tough out for West Memphis. And with the way the game started it looked like a game that the Lady Devils would have folded in earlier this season.

The Lady Eagles went up by nine at 22-13 with 2:53 to play in the first half. But as they have done at various times through the first three rounds of this tournament, the Lady Devils kept their composure.

They scored the final six points of the half to trail just 26-20 at halftime.

That's when the foursome which hit double figures went to work.

Sophomore point guard Janiyah Tucker, who led all scorers with 21 points, tallied four straight points early in the third quarter to tie the game.

Tucker had plenty of help, however, on the day. Sophomore Clemisha Prackett put up another monster game as she totaled 18 points and 15 rebounds while freshman Aniyah Price, playing in her first-ever state tournament, pumped in 17 points to go along with 12 rebounds.

Senior Ta'Nya Burnett tacked on another 10 points for West Memphis.

Tucker's deft ball-handling left Vilonia defenders dizzy as she darted through two and sometimes even three defenders on her way to the basket.

The Lady Devils scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to break open the tight game. Tucker rebounded a missed free throw by Price and stuck it back in with 6:20 to play in the fourth quarter to give West Memphis a 50-38 lead.

Still leading 53-43 just more than a minute later, the Lady Devils saw Vilonia score six straight points in just seven seconds to cut the lead to 53-50.

"That was the point that I felt we won the game," said Leak. "We could have folded our tents, but we came on strong."

And how.

A Price layup at the 4:37 mark ignited a 12-0 West Memphis spurt that gave the team a 65-50 lead and effectively end all the doubting.

"You are watching a team rewrite their story," said Leak.

The Lady Devils ended the game hitting enough free throws to keep Vilonia at bay. In fact, the Lady Devils' shooting elbows surely had to be sore from all the free throws they shot during the game.

They made 30 of 44 attempts from the foul line.

"Coach tells us free throws are the most important part of the game," said Price. "We work on free throws a lot in practice."

When asked if she was ever a part of a team with such a dramatic turnaround, the first-year Lady Devil head coach said, "I've seen some college teams that turned it around sometime like this, but I've never been a part of this big a turn-around. If my teams were good, we were good from the start. I've never seen a team with this much resiliency."

Tucker hits 20, leads Lady Devils to quarterfinal win over Wolves

By Billy Woods

WM School District

HOT SPRINGS --- The transformation continues.

The once-floundering West Memphis Lady Devils are no more. A 20-point performance from the steady-handed Janiyah Tucker kept the West Memphis girls rolling in the postseason here on Saturday with a 51-43 victory over Lake Hamilton in the quarterfinals of the 5A state tournament.

After barely escaping the cellar of the 5A-East Conference, the Lady Devils now find themselves one step away from playing for the state championship. Next up for the surging ballers is Vilonia at 4 p.m. on Monday.

After evicting Sylvan Hills in the first round on Thursday by nearly the same score, the Lady Devils, who are assured of a losing record this season even if they run the rest of the table for a state title, handled Lake Hamilton with relative ease.

"I'm just overjoyed with the girls' effort," said Lady Devils head coach Erica Leak. "Lake Hamilton made a run at us in the fourth quarter, but I think we made some strides with the mental aspect of the game. We got the physical. We just need to get the mental part down."

After watching 6-foot-1 sophomore center Clemisha Prackett dominate round one with a 19-point, 17-rebound effort against Sylvan Hills, the Lady Wolves made a concerted effort to deny Prackett the ball on Saturday, defending with a 1-3-1 zone defense.

And with good results.

Prackett had very few touches from offensive sets and wound up with 11 points and most of those came from rebound baskets.

"We're not use to seeing a 1-3-1 and eventually we figured it out," said Leak. "We got lobs in there a couple of times to Prackett, but she worked her tail off to get all 11 of her points."

To the rescue, however, came Tucker, also a sophomore, who shredded the Lake Hamilton defense for 10 points in the first half as the Lady Devils ran up a 31-18 lead at halftime.

"The middle was open in that zone and I couldn't do nothing but attack it," Tucker explained.

West Memphis scored the final 10 points of the first half to close out the scoring before intermission.

Two Tucker baskets and one from Prackett to start the third quarter gave the Lady Devils their biggest lead of the game at 37-21.

But that's when they started getting passive on offense and it allowed Lake Hamilton to put a mild scare into the Lady Devils.

Aspen Thornton and Hayleigh Wyrick led the Wolves' comeback as they pieced together a 10-0 run of their own to cut the Lady Devil lead to 37-31 after three quarters. And when Thornton drained a 10-footer to open the fourth quarter, it was clear the Lady Devils needed to perk up on offense.

That they did.

With her feet set and hands ready to shoot in the corner, Tucker received a pass on the ensuing possession and buried the first of two straight 3-pointers to stem the tide.

"Hey, it was Tucker's day," Leak said with a smile. "And she didn't disappoint."

Lady Devil senior Ta'Nya Burnett fouled out with 4:14 to play in the game, but it wasn't enough to rattle the West Memphis girls.

Lake Hamilton still had a gasp of air left, trailing 45-39 with 2:24 to play, but West Memphis freshman Aniyah Price, who scored 13 points, slipped in to rebound a missed free throw by teammate Terika Inmon and stuck it back in for an eight-point lead.

Then Prackett scored from deep in the post to clinch the outcome with a 49-39 West Memphis lead with 1:09 left.

"We just need to keep it rolling," Tucker added. "We want this thing so bad."

Burnett added 5 points for the Lady Devils.

Lake Hamilton got 16 points from Wyrick and 13 from Thornton.

Prackett's double-double leads Lady Devils to win in state tourney

By Billy Woods

WM School District

HOT SPRINGS --- With 1:47 to play in the game, West Memphis' Clemisha Prackett crashed to the floor and the Blue Devil faithful went dead silent.

And for good reason.

A Prackett injury would spell doom for the West Memphis girls.

Turns out it was just a muscle cramp.

Which did nothing to damper what the 6-foot-1 sophomore center did on the court on Thursday in the first round of the Class 5A State Tournament. Prackett dominated the paint area with game-high totals of 19 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Lady Devils to a 53-42 victory over Sylvan Hills.

The victory puts the Lady Devils (9-14) in Saturday's quarterfinals at 4 p.m. against Lake Hamilton.

Prackett controlled the lanes and discouraged any activity by the Lady Bears in the trenches.

"Clemisha Prackett wanted it today," said Lady Devils head coach Erica Leak. "She's been a leader on the court and off the court. She stepped up big today."

Leak called for a zone defense from her team in the first quarter and the result was Sylvan Hills missing its first six 3-point attempts.

"But (Sylvan Hills) was getting all the rebounds," Leak added.

Sylvan Hills led 12-9 at the end of the quarter.

That's when Leak switched to a man-to-man the rest of the game.

"That's what gave us the momentum," Leak stated.

From there it looked like the only thing that could wreck the game for West Memphis was foul trouble. The Lady Devils put the Bears in the bonus before the end of the first quarter and three West Memphians already had two fouls.

In fact, freshman Aniyah Price picked up her third foul with 4:44 to play in the second quarter.

"I was a little bit worried about the fouls, but I talked to the refs and they said 'hey we're doing the best we can,"' said Leak. "I can live with that. I told my girls we are fouling, but we need to clean it up a bit."

West Memphis led 28-22 at halftime, but went on a 12-6 run to begin the third quarter.

While Prackett owned the inside, the outside in the second half belonged to West Memphis sophomore point guard Janiyah Tucker, who scored 14 points, 8 of which came in the decisive fourth quarter.

She scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, including a beautiful step back 3-pointer to give her team a 45-31 cushion.

Meanwhile, Prackett continued to pound the boards, and not even the muscle cramp late in the game could stop her. She was carried to the bench, but after a timeout, Prackett returned to the floor.

"I had to make sure every rebound was mine," Prackett said. "The first thing I was thinking about today was get the rebound."

Prackett said the foul situation got in her head.

"We had some players come out of the game and that makes the rest of us have to step up even harder," she commented.

Also playing a big key for West Memphis was senior T'Nya Burnett, who buried a pair of well-timed 3-pointers on her way to 11 points.

Senior Terika Inmon pumped in 4 for West Memphis.

Sylvan Hills was led in scoring by Jianna Morris with 18 points while Jayla Stirgus added 13.

It's not often a team falls behind by a point before the ball is even put in play, but that's just what happened to the Lady Devils on Thursday.

The team was late in handing in its scorebook to the scorer's table, thus a technical foul was assessed and no jump to start. Sylvan Hills began the game hitting one of two free throws, but that's all that came of it.

And on a day in which very little went wrong for the Lady Devils, this one was just a blip on the radar screen.

Lady Devils defeat Marion 50-43 for third seed in conference

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Not too long ago, they'd lost 10 consecutive games and were wondering if there would be another win this season.

Today, the West Memphis Lady Devils have emerged from near the cellar of the 5A-East Conference to representing the league as the third seed in next week's state tournament in Hot Springs.

Using a swarming defense that created 21 turnovers, the Lady Devils defeated the Marion Patriots Thursday night at Patriot Arena, 50-43.

The victory puts the Lady Devils (8-14) in next Thursday's first round of the state against the second-place team from the Central at 4 p.m.

"I told the girls they could rewrite their story," said an elated West Memphis head coach Erica Leak. "Even though we went 1-11 in the conference, we have a district tournament and we can rewrite it.

"We've always been this team. But, look, three years, three different coaches, a whole different system, Covid...it's hard to trust somebody with a mask on."

Marion swept the regular-season series against the Lady Devils, but on Thursday night, the West Memphis girls looked like a different team.

The squad earned the right to play on Thursday night with a 44-40 conference tournament first-round win at Paragould last Thursday.

After a close loss at Jonesboro on Monday in the semifinals, the Lady Devils shook it off and played solid defense against Marion.

The Lady Devils turned a taut affair in their favor in the fourth quarter, mainly due to their pressure defense at the top of the Marion offense.

The result was 21 Marion turnovers, including 5 in the fourth quarter.

Marion led 21-18 at halftime, but the Lady Devils scored the first 9 points of the third quarter with three baskets in transition and from turnovers.

"Our plan was to pressure out of our zone, but not trap," Leak explained. "Normally, we like to trap off our zone defense, but we didn't want to trap until some of Marion's (reserves) were in the game because they are not as good handling the ball."

Despite flipping the game with that 9-0 spurt, the Lady Devils still trailed 34-32 heading into the fourth quarter.

But a 12-0 run to start the final stanza stabilized the game for West Memphis. It scored 6 points off turnovers and two points in transition.

"We got a lot of points in transition tonight because of our defense," said Leak.

With a 48-41 West Memphis lead, the Pats still had a slither of hope with 1:48 to play. But a violation on an inbounds play and the fifth foul on senior Santiya Robinson sealed Marion's fate.

The Lady Devils got a layup from senior T'Nya Burnett with 47 seconds to play, giving them a 50-41 lead.

"The buy-in came at the right time for us," said Leak. "I wouldn't be surprised if we made some noise next week in Hot Springs."

West Memphis put three in double-figure scoring with sophomore Janiyah Tucker leading the way with 16 points while sophomore center Clemisha Prackett and freshman Aniyah Price each hit for 12. Senior Terika Inmon pumped in 7 points.

Marion point guard Ny'asia Jackson drained four 3-pointers to lead her team with 16 points while Daedrianna Cail scored 8 and Robinson hit 7.

Second-half rally fuels Jonesboro victory over Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

JONESBORO --- With a state tournament berth already secured, the West Memphis Lady Devils had the luxury playing with house money here on Tuesday night with the opportunity to play the role of spoiler.

And they did just that, leading for almost three full quarters against No. 3-seed Jonesboro in the 5A-East Conference semifinals before falling 52-44.

After a 1-11 finish in the conference regular season, the Lady Devils have tweaked their offensive approach in the last two games and the results have meant a more efficient product. The pace has slowed just a bit and it has sliced off a lot of careless turnovers.

West Memphis (7-14) committed only 9 turnovers against Jonesboro, but it still wasn't enough.

"Just slow it down, catch your breath and let's run our stuff," Lady Devil head coach Erica Leak explained. "We only had two turnovers at the half. We took care of the basketball."

The loss places the Lady Devils in Wednesday night's consolation game for third place at Marion. Tip-off is at 7.

Playing like they had nothing to lose, the West Memphis girls stunned Jonesboro early in the game with a pair of 10-point leads (12-2 and 14-4). They led 23-19 at halftime and kept the lead until Jonesboro finally grabbed its first lead of the game at the 1:05 mark of the third quarter.

Sophomore center Clemisha Prackett was the bell-cow of the West Memphis offense as she controlled the paint area, most notably in sticking back four Lady Devil missed shots.

She finished with 13 points, but she played in foul trouble in the second half, which proved to be telling in the end.

Jonesboro's own underclassman center, Destiny Thomas, a junior, faced the same predicament. She picked up her second foul early in the game and sat the entire second quarter, allowing the Lady Devils to nurse a narrow lead.

But when the burly Thomas reentered the game to start the second half, she was unstoppable in the low post, scoring 10 of her 12 points.

"(West Memphis) had a really good game plan for (Thomas) tonight," said Jonesboro head coach Jodi Christenberry. "I think her sitting down and going back in the second half kind of threw West Memphis off a little bit. It was almost like it stopped their game plan."

Leak concurred.

"When Jonesboro went with that double low post in the second half it really hurt us," said Leak. "With that height and that size, it's hard to stop her when she gets the ball deep."

Senior guard Arianna Hardaway stuck a mid-range jumper to give Jonesboro (18-3) its first lead of the game at 33-31 with 1:05 left in the third quarter. The hosts led 35-33 heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter started ominously enough for the Lady Devils when Prackett hit a fall-away jumper in the paint and then was immediately T'd-up on her way down the floor.

It ended up costing the Lady Devils four points.

Hardaway drained the two free throws and then Thomas sank a layup to give Jonesboro a 39-35 lead.

Plus, it was Prackett's fourth personal foul.

"That was a momentum changer there," said Leak.

The Jonesboro lead was stabilized by some hot free-throw shooting as the Hurricane sank 9 of 10, including 8 of 9 by Hardaway, who scored 13 of her team-high 16 points in the second half.

Lady Devil sophomore Janiyah Tucker tied Hardaway for game-high scoring honors with 16 points while senior Terika Inmon added 12 and freshman Aniyah Price scored 3.

Jonesboro also got 12 points from Lakiyah Scott.

Leak said she feels confident about her team heading into the Marion game Wednesday.

"I think it's hard to beat a team three times," Leak said, in reference to a pair of regular-season losses to the Patriots. "We've got to prepare, but we feel like after losing two close games to them in the regular season it could turn around Wednesday night.

Lady Devils claim state tourney berth with win at Paragould

By Billy Woods

WM School District

PARAGOULD --- One step away from the cellar in a truncated 5A-East Conference regular season, the West Memphis Lady Devils finally met their projections here on Thursday night.

With a smothering defense answering every call the seventh-seeded Lady Devils stunned No. 2 seed Paragould 44-40 in a conference tournament first-round game.

So, now it's on to the state tournament for the Lady Devils (7-13 overall after a 1-11 run through the conference regular season), and none could be happier than their first-year head coach Erica Leak.

"Oh my gosh, I could cry right now," Leak exclaimed. "With the year we've had...the awesome (4-0) start, then the quarantine and hospitalizations. For us to win the game that matters most is just awesome. I told them before the game tonight, we're all 0-0 and it's not how you start, but how you finish."

With the state tournament berth secured, now the Lady Devils can focus on their conference semifinal game on Monday at Jonesboro.

After watching Paragould's senior guard, Carson Defries, drain four 3-pointers 12 days earlier in a 57-47 Lady Ram victory, Leak and her troops were determined not to let Defries hurt them from the outside.

And that happened through most of three quarters.

With a heightened awareness on where the Paragould sharpshooter was on the floor at all times, the Lady Devils allowed only two shot attempts by Defries in the first half.

"She's a killer," Leak said of Defries. "We worked so hard on preparing for her and No. 13 (Blythe Benefield) all week. We wanted to start in a man-to-man and get out there on them. And we were determined to stop them even if we had to go zone, which we did."

Defries got hot in the fourth quarter, leading a heavy Paragould charge, and wound up with 16 points again.

But it was all Lady Devils for two-and-a-half quarters.

Leak matched Paragould's slow-down pace and her team held a slim 7-5 lead after one quarter despite seven turnovers. The turnover rate hit 10 by halftime, but the West Memphis girls still had a 14-9 advantage at intermission.

Dominant inside, sophomore center Clemisha Prackett, who scored a team-high 16 points and 5 blocked shots, picked up her third foul at the 6:04 mark of the third quarter.

Leak wisely left her in the game.

"What would I be saving her for?," Leak asked. "This is do or die."

The Lady Devils' largest lead was nine at 23-14 in the third quarter after a 3-pointer by senior forward T'Nya Burnett, who finished with 11 points.

But the Rams (16-7) closed out the third quarter on a 7-0 run to trim the gap to 23-21 heading into the frantic fourth quarter.

Not only did Paragould catch the Lady Devils, but they built a 35-28 lead with 3:50 to play in the game, and it looked like so many West Memphis games this season when it would squander a late lead and lose.

Not this time.

Prackett scored 8 points in the final 3:37 of the game, including a pair of crucial three-point plays, the second of which gave the Lady Devils the lead for good at 42-40 with 44 seconds to play.

"I had to calm down after I picked up my third foul, and start playing smarter," said Prackett. "I slowed it down and played team ball."

The Lady Devils forced four Paragould turnovers in the final three minutes, and nearly a fifth when a ball squirted out of bounds with 15 seconds left that was immediately called West Memphis ball.

But after further discussion from the officiating crew the call was reversed.

No matter.

Not five seconds after inbounding the ball down 42-40, Paragould mugged it again and the Lady Devils were given possession under the Lady Ram basket.

Paragould lined up for its full-court pressure on the inbounds, but made a grave mistake after West Memphis senior Terika Inmon caught the inbounds pass.

Burnett was left all alone at midcourt and Inmon found her. Burnett's layup provided the clinching dagger with 9 seconds left.

"When we got down in the fourth quarter I told the girls this game is not over," said Leak. "We have plenty of time. Stick to the game plan and just keep doing what we'd been doing all game long."

Paragould went to a man-to-man defense, which drew an opinionated response from Leak.

"I thought that was insane," she stated. "We're so big, we can play bully-ball inside. That was what helped Prackett have the game she had."

Lady Devil leading scorer Janiyah Tucker had a tough time offensively as Paragould head coach Sonja Tate put the bigger Benefield on her man-to-man all night.

Tucker got limited shot attempts and only scored 8 points while ninth-grader Aniyah Price added 7.

Paragould also got 11 points from Benefield and 6 from Keimauri Brown.

Paragould outside shooting too much for Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

PARAGOULD --- The West Memphis Lady Devils played Paragould close on Saturday and they may have just faced the team they will play in the first round of the 5A-East Conference tournament.

In a game that was supposed to have been played on Friday night but was postponed due to icy conditions, Paragould's outside shooting was just too much as the Rams posted a 57-47 victory.

The loss drops the Lady Devils to 6-13 overall and 1-11 in the conference, giving them a current seventh-place standing. With the weather forecast calling for snow most of this week it is questionable whether the final week of the regular season will be played.

Thus, it is possible that officials will simply take the current conference standings and seed for the league's tournament which will begin Feb. 22.

That scenario would pit the Lady Devils against Paragould (16-6, 8-4) in the first round, meaning the West Memphis girls would trek back to Paragould on the next Monday.

The Lady Devils stayed close to Paragould for the better part of four quarters before an offensive drought doomed the visitors.

West Memphis trailed 41-34 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Lady Devils went without a field goal for the final 5:07 for the game.

"We just gotta knock down shots," said West Memphis head coach Erica Leak. "They played us zone and we had trouble hitting from the outside."

The Lady Devils trailed 49-42 with 4:43 still to play and although Paragould had trouble scoring from the field, the Rams hit eight free throws in the final five minutes to increase its lead.

Sophomore point guard Janiyah Tucker paced the Lady Devil offense with 14 points while ninth-grader Aniyah Price added 10. Sophomore Clemisha Prackett chipped in 8 points for the Lady Devils and Aliyah Taylor, another soph, came off the bench and hit a pair of 3-pointers for 6 points.

The Lady Devils are scheduled to play Tuesday night at home against Greene County Tech and then close the regular season with a game at Batesville.

Jonesboro treys signal doom for Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The momentum and the lead belonged to the Lady Devils, and with one flick of the wrist it wasn't.

After going back and forth with Jonesboro for most of the first half on Tuesday at Lehr Arena, the Lady Devils took the lead on a tip-in by senior Terika Inmon with 1:41 left in the second quarter, giving the home team a 21-19 lead.

It looked certain West Memphis would take the momentum into the locker room at halftime, but with just one second left, Jonesboro's Diamond Reynolds took a rushed 3-point attempt that found nothing but net and with that the Lady Hurricane dashed into the lockers with a big boost of confidence.

Reynolds' triple provided the spark needed for a 48-31 victory over the Lady Devils.

The surge continued into the opening minutes of the third quarter as the Hurricane inbounded the ball to open the second half, ran about a minute-and-a-half off the clock, got a wide-open 3-point shot from Ereaunna Hardaway, who made the net dance.

And from then on it was all Jonesboro.

"Diamond's shot was huge for us," said Jonesboro head coach Jodi Christenberry. "We went into the locker room and I told them they'd been a little too impatient on offense. That's why you saw us hunt for that open shot by Ereaunna to open the second half. Hopefully tonight we figured out we can get a good shot if we just work for it."

Jonesboro (16-5 overall, 8-3 in the 5A-East Conference) solidified its second-place standing in the East while the Lady Devils (6-12, 1-10) continue to try and figure out how to make the winning plays.

Lady Devils head coach Erica Leak said the shot by Reynolds wasn't the killer, but she admitted Hardaway's was an early dagger.

"The shot at the half put us down 1, so I didn't feel that bad at halftime," said Leak. "The turning point was the next 3-pointer. We were in a 2-3 (zone) and they were just content on passing it around. I was OK with being in the 2-3, but then Jonesboro got two open threes."

Jonesboro bolted to a 9-1 early lead, but the Lady Devils soon caught them on a long two-pointer by sophomore point guard Janiyah Tucker to make it 11-11.

West Memphis took its first lead at 19-17 on a rebound basket by Inmon, who followed it up with another second-chance basket for a 21-19 Lady Devil lead.

The second half totally belonged to Jonesboro.

The closest the Lady Devils could get was five points at 29-24 after sophomore center Clemisha Prackett split a pair of free throws.

"We didn't get after the shooter from that point," said Leak. "Offensively, the penetration is just not there for us. We're having trouble getting in the gaps."

Tucker paced the West Memphis offense with 11 points while Inmon pumped in 9 and Prackett scored 8.

Lakiya Scott topped the Jonesboro charts with 14 points while Hardaway added 13 and junior center Destiny Thomas, who controlled the paint area on defense, had 8.

The Lady Devils travel to Paragould on Friday.

Nettleton free-throw shooting holds off Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

JONESBORO --- The West Memphis Lady Devils found yet another way to fall in defeat here on Friday night.

After draining 15 of their 18 free throws on the night and winning the turnover battle 16-13, the Lady Devils watched Nettleton do them one better at the charity stripe.

Actually it was more than one better.

The Raiders made 27 of 30 free throws for an astounding 90 percent in Nettleton's 59-47 victory.

It was another exasperating defeat for the West Memphis girls, especially after they had battled back from an early 17-point deficit.

"Fifteen out of 18 is outstanding for us at the free-throw line," said West Memphis head coach Erica Leak. "But oh my gosh, what (Nettleton) shot... We've been working hard on our free throws lately and it really has paid off."

Leak also pointed to the other factor in the game which saw the Lady Devils fall behind early.

"We were flat early in the game," said Leak. "I don't know if it was because it was homecoming here or what. It took us a half to get going."

Nettleton (14-6 overall, 5-4 in the 5A-East Conference) ran out to a 24-7 lead by the midway point of the second quarter. The Raiders hit 3 of their 7 3-pointers in the first quarter and matters were further complicated for the Lady Devils as they turned it over on 6 of their first 7 possessions and shooting a paltry 20 percent in the first half, hitting on only 3 of 15 attempts.

But from there, the Lady Devils played Nettleton to a standstill, outscoring the hosts 40-35.

The difference was in free throw attempts.

Two Lady Devils, Janiyah Tucker and Harmony Buckingham, fouled out and many of the team's fouls were committed 30 feet or so from the basket.

Still, the visitors found a way to slice into that deficit with some sweet shooting from Tucker, the team's leading scorer. On her way to 11 team-leading points, Tucker hit three smooth pull-up jumpers in transition and helped the West Memphians cut the Nettleton lead to 48-42 with 3:33 still to play.

But the Lady Devils (6-10, 1-8) missed on three hastily-taken 3-point attempts on the next possessions.

"Those shots weren't what we were looking for in that situation," said Leak. "We had plenty of time to get the ball inside or just work for a better shot."

Nettleton made just one field goal in the fourth quarter, by McKenzie Williams, with 5:18 to play in the game.

It didn't matter.

Senior point guard Briley Pena swished 17 of her 19 free throws on her way to a game-high 33 points.

"I don't want to jinx us, but I've never had a girls team I coached hit over 70 percent from the free-throw line," said Nettleton head coach Jason Smith. "Before tonight we were at 73 percent. Being as small as we are, we have to figure out other ways to get it done."

Sophomore center Clemisha Prackett and senior Terika Inmon chipped in 10 points for West Memphis while ninth-grader Aniyah Price scored 6.

The Lady Devils return home to Lehr Arena on Tuesday night to face Jonesboro.

Lady Devils break through for first conference victory

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Erica Leak was one relieved coach Tuesday night after watching her West Memphis Lady Devils snap a losing streak at seven games.

Playing defense at a level they haven't all season, the Lady Devils drummed an overmatched Searcy team at Lehr Arena 49-22.

"I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders," said Leak, the first-year Lady Devil mentor. "I can finally get some rest tonight."

Winning for the first time since a 62-45 decision at Mountain Home on Dec. 29, the Lady Devils (6-9 overall, 1-7 in the 5A-East Conference) held Searcy (3-12, 1-8) to just 21 percent shooting for the game and they forced 17 Lady Lion turnovers.

It was all about defense the entire night as the Lady Devils made sure they would not be beaten by Searcy's leading scorer, Ashley Brown, who torched the West Memphis girls for 20 points last month in a quirky 56-54 Lady Lion victory.

On Tuesday night, the Lady Devils held Brown to just 3 points.

"Our girls bought into the game plan of doubling (Brown) and keeping it out of her hands," Leak stated. "We also did a good job of getting out on the shooters, but staying poised on offense."

Usually a fast-breaking, if not sometimes reckless offensive team, the Lady Devils moved a little more deliberately against Searcy, especially early in the game.

"I want the fastbreak if it's there," said Leak. "But if it's not there, pull it out and run our sets. They did a really good job of that tonight."

Too many Lady Devil games this season have been marked by their quick starts out of the gate, but then fading by game's end. They would have none of that against Searcy.

West Memphis led 13-5 at the end of the first quarter, but it built on that lead and by halftime the Lady Devils found themselves up comfortably, 27-7.

In fact, they made it a mercy rule as Kayla Hudson stuck back a missed shot to give West Memphis the requisite 30-point margin by the end of the third quarter by a score of 43-13.

Oddly enough, Searcy more than doubled West Memphis on the boards, outrebounding the Lady Devils 34-16. But the hosts were deadly from the free-throw line all night, sinking 17 of 23 for 74 percent.

Ninth-grader Aniyah Price, normally a starter, came off the bench against Searcy and ignited the offense with her array of outside moves.

"Maybe tonight, Aniyah just looking and assessing the situation before she came in helped her," said Leak. "She came in under control. Even her three-point shots were taken with poise. They weren't rushed."

Price paced the West Memphis offense with 13 points. And for the first time in 13 games, sophomore point guard Janiyah Tucker was held under double figures as she scored 9 points.

Sophomore Harmony Buckingham added 8 points while Hudson and sophomore center Clemisha Prackett each had 5.

Searcy got a team-high 11 points from Asharia Brown.

The Lady Devils will travel to Nettleton on Friday night.

Lady Devils falter late, Marion gains 46-41 victory

By Billy Woods

WM School District

It's becoming eerily familiar for the West Memphis Lady Devils.

Time and again this season they begin games with a burst of energy and scoring, only to see it vanish little by little as the game progresses and then altogether by the end of games.

So it was here on Friday as the Marion girls knocked off the Lady Devils, still looking for their first win in conference play, The homestanding Lady Patriots held West Memphis scoreless from the field in the final 5:04 of the game to post a 46-41 win.

Despite the vanishing act in the final minutes, head coach Erica Leak said she was proud of her girls' effort.

"My girls played very hard tonight," said Leak, whose team falls to 5-9 overall and 0-7 in the 5A-East Conference. "We had a great week this week. Everything was going according to plan. We made some mistakes, but we were going 100 percent."

The Lady Devils jumped on top of Marion (8-10, 4-3) 5-0 , and although the Lady Pats scored the final seven points of the first quarter to take a 15-7 lead heading into the second stanza, the West Memphis girls stayed close for most of the rest of the way.

Despite trailing 23-19 at halftime, the Lady Devils stayed close after shooting 28 percent from the field. Stabilizing the effort, however, was West Memphis' dominance on the boards. The visitors outrebounded Marion 41-22 with sophomore center Clemisha Prackett leading all rebounders with 15 on the night.

The Lady Devils caught and passed Marion in the third quarter, taking a 32-30 lead into the final period. But the Lady Devils had trouble getting back on defense to open the fourth quarter and Marion scored the first seven points to take a 37-32 lead.

Still, the Lady Devils fought back and tied the game 37-37 on a steal that led to a basket by Janiyah Tucker, who paced the West Memphis offense with 15 points.

But that was the team's final field goal of the night.

Plus, Prackett picked up her fourth foul about 30 seconds after that, sending her to the bench momentarily.

"Prackett was dominating down low," said Leak. "I think Marion got some questionable calls down the stretch."

The turning point of the game came with 1:23 to play when Leak, still fuming about the officiating, was assessed a technical foul with the two teams tied 41-41.

"It wasn't the perfect time to get a technical," Leak admitted.

Marion's Daedrianna Cail, who led all scorers with 16 points, split the two technical free throws.

But the hosts fouled out West Memphis senior Terika Inmon when Jala Henderson squirmed inside on the ensuing in-bounds play and scored to give Marion a 44-41 lead with 56 seconds left.

West Memphis' inability to score in the final minutes was due to Marion head coach Shunda Johnson pressuring the visitors from half-court to three-quarters court.

"We were just trying to get the ball out of Tucker's hands," said Johnson. "We wanted to see if we could trap her, putting a bigger guard on her. We ended up impairing her vision."

Marion sealed the win by hitting 2 of 4 from the free-throw line in the final 43 seconds.

For the game, the Lady Devils could only shoot 26 percent on 15 for 58 from the field. However, their defense was sufficient, limiting Marion to 33 percent on 14 of 43 from the floor.

Inmon scored 9 points before fouling out while Prackett had 7 and T'Nya Burnett hit for 6.

Marion also got 10 points from Henderson and 7 each from Dionna Woodson and Ny'asia Jackson.

Batesville girls roll, but Leak proud of Lady Devil effort

By Billy Woods

WM School District

It's been a rough slog for the West Memphis Lady Devils through the first run of the 5A-East Conference schedule, and it's gotten to the point where head coach Erica Leak simply wants to see some life in her club.

On Friday night at Lehr Arena, facing the No. 1 team in Class 5A, she got an effort that satisfied her.

Batesville (16-0 overall, 7-0 in the conference) has breezed through the first rotation of the league slate, posting winning margins of over 30 points against Marion, Jonesboro and Greene County Tech.

On Friday the Lady Pioneers once again dominated, winning 71-47 over the Lady Devils (5-8, 0-6), but at least on the West Memphis ledger there were positive moments.

"I like the way we competed tonight," said Leak. "I told the girls after the game it's time to reset and recharge. We start this thing over next week and we have to make the commitment to doing the hard work when nobody's (in the gym). I think they feel it and they see that athleticism can only get you so far. That's half of it, but you have to do the game plan and play hard."

True to form, the Lady Devils began the game with a burst.

They scored the first six points of the game in a little under a minute. They then held an 8-5 lead with 5:15 left in the first quarter.

Then Batesville's overall talent went to work.

Led by all-state selection and University of Missouri signee Isabella Higginbotham, the game's high scorer with 22 points, the Pioneers overtook the West Memphis girls for a 20-10 lead through the opening minutes of the second quarter.

The way in which the 5-foot-7 Higginbotham scored was most impressive. Her first two baskets came on fade-away shots as she drove to the basket.

"At least we held her under 30," Leak said with a small dose of sarcasm.

It was a 16-point game with just 1:36 to play in the first half, but the Lady Devils scored the final four points of the second quarter to trail 35-23 at halftime.

"At halftime we were still in it," said Leak.

The Lady Devils held it under a 20-point deficit until 47 seconds were left in the third quarter.

Batesville's not just a one-player show.

Its tallest player, 5-11 London Cuzzort, loves to play facing the basket and her outside shot proves why. She sank a pair of 3-pointers on her way to 17 points while Taylor Rush hit for 13 and Kaylee Clark scored 12.

"I think they have the talent to go all the way, I really do," Leak said of Batesville. "Not only do they have (Higginbotham), but they have players that understand their roles. They knock down shots, play hard. They get it done."

The Lady Devils got a solid second half from sophomore center Clemisha Prackett, who hit 13 of her team-high 15 points in the final two quarters. Sophomore point guard Janiyah Tucker added 14.

This Tuesday is an open date for the West Memphis girls. They will return to action next Friday night at Marion.

Leak praises Lady Devil effort, but Tech earns the victory

By Billy Woods

WM School District

PARAGOULD --- Head coach Erica Leak loved the effort, but once again the West Memphis Lady Devils couldn't get it done down the stretch.

With the game still in the balance in the final 30 seconds, Greene County Tech made the plays and the Lady Devils didn't.

The result was a 37-35 Greene County Tech victory here on Tuesday night.

As has been the case so often this season, the Lady Devils (5-7 overall, 0-5 in the 5A-East Conference) start most quarters with a burst of energy, but they fade late.

Same thing happened on Tuesday night.

They bolted to a quick 6-2 lead in the slow-paced affair before Tech (12-4, 4-2) caught the visitors for a 9-9 tie after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Lady Devils held two early leads of 11-9 on a bank shot by senior Terika Inmon and a 3-pointer by sophomore Janiyah Tucker for a 16-15 lead.

In the opening minute-and-a-half of the third quarter, Tucker and Inmon again made the first two baskets and gave the Lady Devils a 23-20 lead.

And in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, West Memphis began with a 7-3 spurt to gain a 32-28 lead with 4:58 to play in the game.

But the Lady Devils made just one field goal in the final 3:02 of the game.

"I think this is the hardest this team has played," said Leak. "The other losses don't hurt as bad because they weren't giving effort. But we had a great four days of practice and they were getting after it and listening. They wanted to win this game."

Defending at a frenetic pace, the Lady Devils held the Lady Eagles to 35 percent shooting on 13 of 37 from the field. But the hosts held slight advantages on the boards (21-19) and in turnovers as West Memphis committed 16 miscues to 13 for Tech.

Leak's team had its game against Paragould last Friday night canceled due to Covid issues within the Rams roster. Thus, there was extra time to prepare for Tech.

The difference simply came in the final minute of the game.

After Tech's Carleigh Hollis, who was held to just two points through the first 25 minutes, swished two free throws with 27 seconds left to give the Eagles a 36-33 lead, West Memphis got a key offensive stickback from sophomore center Clemisha Prackett with 16 seconds to play to make it a one-point game again.

Tech's Brooke Barnes, the game's high scorer with 14 points, split a pair of foul shots to make it 37-35 with 6.2 seconds to play, and still enough time for the Lady Devils to either tie it or win the game.

But Tucker, who paced the Lady Devil offense with 13 points, lost control of the ball as she made a bee-line for the basket and then was called for a foul with 1.2 seconds.

Hollis' missed free throw on the other end didn't matter.

The Lady Devils didn't have time enough to get the ball across halfcourt.

"Greene County Tech is hard to defend because they play so slow and the ball is always moving," said Leak. "We're defending. We know we have to get up on them and get the count. But they spread us out and they know how to keep the ball moving with passing."

Prackett added 11 points for West Memphis while Inmon chipped in 7 and sophomore Aniyah Price scored 4.

Kylie Stokes provided support for Barnes with 10 points while Hollis scored 6 of her 8 points in the final quarter.

The Lady Devils will return home on Friday night to face Batesville, the state's No. 3-ranked team.

Jonesboro pulls out overtime victory over Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

JONESBORO --- The West Memphis Lady Devils had three legit cracks at winning it, but Jonesboro squirmed out of trouble each of those times.

In a taut affair that saw the Lady Devils battle hard to the end, Jonesboro ended up taking a 53-47 victory here Tuesday night over the West Memphis girls.

Holding for the final shot in regulation with the score tied 42-42, the Lady Devils got a pretty good look at the basket, but sophomore Harmony Buckingham's runner inside the paint rolled off the rim, sending the game into overtime.

Once again, the West Memphis girls (5-6 overall, 0-4 in the 5A-East Conference) had two chances to tie the game in the final 30 seconds. Both opportunities were open 3-point attempts by the team's best shooter, sophomore Janiyah Tucker, whose shots looked on target off the finger-tips, but they both went awry and Jonesboro escaped with the victory.

Jonesboro (11-3, 3-1) got a 6-for-6 performance from the free-throw line by Arianna Hardaway, the game's leading scorer with 16 points, in the final 52 seconds of overtime to give her team the win.

Jonesboro held a 24-22 lead at halftime, and while the Lady Devils never led in the second half they kept it close with some never-say-die mettle.

A Tucker mid-range jumper with 1:26 to play in the fourth quarter tied it 42-42. And when Jonesboro turned it over on the ensuing possession, Lady Devil head coach Erica Leak instructed her club to take the last shot, which it did.

Jonesboro got a quick lead in overtime when it won the tip and then got a three-point play from T'Kera Anderson, who scored 9 points.

Twice in overtime, the Lady Devils came within a point of the hosts, once off a layup by T'Nya Burnett at the 1:42 mark and on a basket off a spin move by Tucker, who led her team with 14 points, with 43 seconds to play which made it 48-47.

After two successful free throws by Hardaway with 43 seconds to play, Tucker got two open attempts from 3-point range.

West Memphis shot 30 percent from the field to Jonesboro's 39 percent, but the Lady Devils outrebounded the Lady Hurricane 29-28. West Memphis also turned Jonesboro over 17 times while the Lady Devils suffered 14 miscues.

Terika Inmon added 14 points to the West Memphis cause while ninth-grader Aniyah Price and sophomore Clemisha Prackett pumped in 5 apiece.

Jonesboro also got 13 points from Destiny Thomas.

The Lady Devils return home on Friday night to face Paragould, and former Lady Devil Hall of Famer Sonja Tate, who coaches the Lady Rams.

Fourth quarter unkind once again to Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The end of games is becoming a trend for the West Memphis Lady Devils.

And not in a winning way.

Last Tuesday in Searcy, the Lady Devils bilked away a double-digit lead and lost 56-54. On Friday night at Lehr Arena, the Lady Devil offense went silent in the fourth quarter and Nettleton took advantage for a 52-46 victory.

"We've talked about that," said Lady Devil head coach Erica Leak. "We've just got to put four quarters together. We come out rotating (on defense) and looking just how we practice, but somewhere along the way we get complacent. We've got to learn how to fight and leave no room for other teams to overtake us."

The Lady Devils (5-5 overall, 0-3 in the 5A-East Conference) jetted out to an 8-2 lead before Nettleton, last season's state champions, battled back to take a 22-16 lead at halftime.

Leak said her team has seen a lot of zone defenses recently and that has put a crimp in the way the Lady Devils attack on offense.

"Teams zone us because they can't play with us (man-to-man)," said Leak. "When we see zone we've got to slow down, be more patient and make them get out of their zone."

Once again, the Lady Devils got most of their offense from sophomore point guard Janiyah Turner, who led all scorers with 23 points. Also for the second straight game, the Lady Devils were either too reliant on Tucker for offense or just too one-dimensional.

Tucker scored eight of her total in a five-minute span in the third quarter, including six points in a row from the three-minute mark to the 1:34 mark. Tucker stole a ball in the backcourt and converted the layup on the other end to give the Lady Devils their biggest lead since the first quarter, a 34-30 bulge with 1:34 to play in the third quarter.

But Nettleton (10-4, 1-2) seized control for good when Tucker fouled out with 1:36 to play.

"(Tucker) does everything we ask her to do and then some," said Leak. "Rebounding, defending, scoring...and I'm trying to find her some rest during the game. But we are going to have to find some other players to step up."

Nettleton outscored the Lady Devils 9-4 in the final 5:30 of the game. The only two field goals the West Memphis girls got in that span came from sophomore Aniyah Price, who scored 6 points along with fellow soph Harmony Buckingham.

The Lady Raiders got 17 points from senior point guard Briley Pena and 16 from Wakiryahl Daniels.

The Lady Devils will hit the road on Tuesday night with a league game against Jonesboro.

Late rebound basket by Searcy sinks Lady Devil hopes

By Billy Woods

WM School District

SEARCY --- When the proposed winning shot erred, it looked like an easy rebound for the Lady Devils. But after a couple of swats to gain possession, it landed into the hands of Searcy's Keke Turner, who then had an all-too easy stickback.

Turner's rebound basket with 2 seconds to play here on Tuesday night gave the Searcy Lady Lions a 56-54 victory over West Memphis.

How it happened was almost too hard to explain for Lady Devils head coach Erica Leak, whose team (4-4 overall) is off to an 0-2 start in 5A-East Conference play.

The Lady Devils used a powerful 12-0 run in the second quarter to take full control of the game, but a lazy start to the third quarter let Searcy (3-3, 1-0) back in it.

That's where it all gets hazy for Leak, who watched helplessly on the sideline.

"The tempo sped up on us a little," Leak explained. "I told the girls look, we're ahead we don't need to get in a big hurry. We made a lot of mental mistakes on defense."

The Lady Devils led for the entire first half.

The team sank 10 of its 19 shots in the first half and its free-throw shooting was on target, with a 12 of 16 effort.

After Searcy's Turner hit a layup with 6:13 to play in the second quarter, the Lady Devils scored the game's next 12 points to take a 34-22 lead. Things were going so well for the visitors that senior Terika Inmon, who scored 15 points, sank a shot as she was falling to the floor.

"We had a lot of momentum and it bled over into halftime," said Leak.

But West Memphis hit just 1 of its first 9 shots from the floor to start the second half and Searcy was quick to take advantage.

The Lady Lions started the third quarter on a 14-2 run to take their first lead of the game.

With the score knotted at 42-42 at the end of three quarters, the Lady Devils became too reliant on sophomore point guard Janiyah Tucker, who scored 10 of her game-high 28 points in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter.

Tucker single-handedly kept West Memphis in it with a take-charge approach that saw her snatch a rebound on the defensive end and cruise the length of the floor for a layup which gave the Lady Devils a 48-44 lead with 5:40 to play in the game.

Aniyah Price sank two clutch free throws with 1:04 to play to tie the game at 54-54, and after Searcy committed a turnover on the other end with 37 seconds left it appeared the Lady Devils would take the final shot of regulation.

But Tucker lost her balance driving to the goal with 16 seconds to play and turned it over.

On Searcy's miss from 3-point range, just one Lady Lion (Turner) was under the basket for the rebound. But the Lady Devils failed to box her out.

"That's a tough way to lose when all you have to do is rebound and go into overtime," said Leak. "We had two Lady Devils in position, but (Turner) wanted it more."

The Lady Devils won the rebound battle 23-20 and they sank 21 of their 26 foul shots for a sizzling 81 percent. But they committed 17 turnovers and it led to several Searcy points on the other end.

Ta'Nya Burnett added 6 points for West Memphis while Price scored 4.

Ashley Brown paced the Searcy attack with 20 points while Turner pitched in 12 and Naliyah Hadley hit for 9.

The Lady Devils return home on Friday night to face Nettleton.

Marion rallies for 44-42 win over Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

As Janiyah Tucker streaked past two defenders the full length of the floor and sank an easy layup, it looked like a possible West Memphis route.

Tucker's goal with 2:39 left in the third quarter gave the Lady Devils a 34-22 lead.

But chip by chip, Marion erased that lead and took a 46-44 victory over the Lady Devils on Friday night at Lehr Arena.

Marion (5-4 overall, 1-0 in the 5A-East Conference) utilized a full-court press in the final 10 minutes to create costly West Memphis turnovers and Patriot junior Daedrianna Cail scored 7 of her game-high 19 points in the final quarter-and-a-half.

"We were running a 1-3-1 (zone defense) and we were hurting them, but that No. 25 (Cail) just got hot," said West Memphis head coach Erica Leak.

After winning their first four games of the season the Lady Devils have now lost their last three.

Marion answered the Lady Devil spurt by scoring the final 10 points of the third quarter to trail only 34-32 heading into the fourth quarter.

West Memphis sophomore center Clemisha Prackett, who led her team with 15 points and a bushelfull of rebounds, stuck back a missed shot with 5:34 to play in the game to give the Lady Devils a 40-34 lead.

And the West Memphis fortunes looked fair with 1:34 to play when Tucker, who scored 13 points, had a three-point play opportunity after hitting a layup. But she missed the free throw for a 44-41 Lady Devil cushion.

Marion, however, got a layup from Taylor Little, who pumped in 9 points, and a free throw from Santia Robinson to tie the game.

After a missed opportunity to take the lead on the other end, Tucker fouled Marion ninth-grader Ny'Asia Jackson swished two free throws with 4.6 seconds to play to provide the winning points for the visitors.

"I saw us rushing our plays tonight," Leak added. "Not running through our plays and being in a hurry. We just need to slow down and take our time.

"As far as Marion's press, they were putting two people on Tucker, our primary ball-handler. We really don't have that other guard to bring the ball up against a press."

Sophomore Aniya Price added 8 points for West Memphis while senior Ta'Nya Burnett scored 6.

Late rally falls short; North Little Rock edges out Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The future looks so promising for the West Memphis Lady Devils that even a loss at home doesn't rankle their new head coach Erica Leak.

Often with a ninth-grader and three sophomores on the floor at the same time, the burgeoning Lady Devils fought a top-10 ranked team all the way to the final buzzer Tuesday night at Lehr Arena, falling to a much-more seasoned North Little Rock team 64-58.

After the Lady Devils (4-2) stole a 78-75 win at North Little Rock just a few weeks ago, the Charging Wildcats looked determine to not only return the favor, but make it hurt while doing so, building a few double-digit leads in the second half before a furious West Memphis rally cut it to a couple of one-possession leads.

"I'm very proud of this group," said Leak. "I told them they can't get down. They fought. If we'd had that energy to begin the game, we probably would have been a little bit better."

Head coach Daryl Fimple's Charging 'Cats rode the girth of junior center Amauri Williams, who has scholarship offers already from national powers Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech. Williams cleaned up the missed shots in the fourth quarter and scored 18 of her team-high 20 points in the second half, each time it seemed, staving off the Blue Devil charge.

"She's a load under there," Leak said of Williams. "You know, it's a funny story. I used to run a basketball camp in Little Rock and when Amauri was in the seventh grade she was there. We worked with her on her post moves and to see her now and how she's blossomed...it's impressive. It's kind of like a full circle."

Playing shorthanded without senior leader Terika Inmon, the Lady Devils nearly duplicated their feat at North Little Rock.

"We have TI we win this game," Leak stated.

The Lady Devils got a combined 49 points from sophomore point guard Janiyah Tucker and ninth-grader Aniya Price. Tucker scored 20 of her game-high 25 points in the second half, including a long 3-pointer with 4:45 left in the fourth quarter to cut North Little Rock's lead to 50-47 after the visitors had built a 13-point lead early in the third quarter.

Price added 24 points, 10 of which came during the team's late-third quarter explosion.

"I wouldn't let our youngsters fold," said Leak. "I told them 'you're going to see me coaching til the clock hits zero, zero, zero. And (dang-it) you better play till it's zero, zero, zero.'"

After the Lady Devils ran out 6-2 on North Little Rock, the visitors returned the volleys with a salvo that gave them a 30-20 lead with 53 seconds left in the first half. Then Williams stuck back a missed shot  and Arin Freeman (daughter of former Arkansas Razorback guard Allie Freeman) turned a steal into a basket to give the 'Cats a 34-21 cushion with 6:42 to play in the third quarter.

West Memphis ended the third quarter on an 8-3 run that was a precursor to its fourth-quarter heroics.

After Tucker's long triple, she followed it up with a layup coming on a steal near midcourt. With plenty of time left (4:22 in the fourth quarter) the Lady Devils found themselves down only 50-49.

North Little Rock's answer was a 3-ball and four straight free throws by April Edwards, who scored 15 points.

Still, the Lady Devils were not done.

Down by nine (62-53) with just 25 seconds left, Tucker knocked down a jumper just inside the arc and then just 10 seconds later she swished another triple to make it a four-point game.

"The future's very bright for us," Leak added. "Watching Price out there, we've got her another three years after this. I'm so excited about her. She's listening and she's working hard off the court."

Sophomore center Clemisha Prackett, who recently turned in a triple-double, added 7 points for the Lady Devils.

Destine Duckworth pumped in an additional 14 points for North Little Rock.

The Lady Devils host Marion on Friday night in an early start to the 5A-East Conference season.

Tucker's 26 points lead Lady Devil comeback at NLR; boys fall 74-54

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The West Memphis Blue Devil basketball teams split a pair of games Tuesday night at North Little Rock.

The Lady Devils improved to 2-0 on the season with a 78-75 victory while the boys fell to a powerful North Little Rock team 74-54.

In the opener, sophomore guard Janiyah Tucker poured through a game-high 26 points and the Lady Devils overcame a seven-point deficit to start the third quarter.

Down 63-56 after three quarters, the Lady Devils took their first lead since early in the first quarter when senior Terika Inmon swished a pair of free throws with 5:40 to play in the fourth quarter to make it 67-65.

Down two inside a minute to play, Aniya Price hit a layup to tie the game at 75-75.

The play of the game came from sophomore Harmony Buckingham, who stole the ball in the backcourt and then hit an off-balance shot while being fouled.

Buckingham converted the free throw to make it 78-75 with 43.8 seconds left.

North Little Rock missed a chance to tie the game with 16 seconds left on three missed free throws.

Inmon added 16 points for West Memphis while Clemisha Prackett, another sophomore, scored 12 points and grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds.

Jernesha Clark pumped in 8 points for the Lady Devils while Price hit for 6.

In the boys game, the Charging Wildcats ran out to an early 14-4 lead and extended it to 18-7 by the end of the first quarter.

But the Blue Devils (0-2) trimmed a 20-point deficit to 32-21 at halftime.

A 15-foot jumper by senior point guard Jordan Mitchell cut the North Little Rock lead to 40-37 with 3:16 to play in the third quarter, but it was all Charging 'Cats in the fourth quarter.

Kameron Barnes led the West Memphis scoring with 12 points while Kaleb Barnes and Mitchell added 10 apiece.

The Blue Devil squads will return to the road on Thursday night at Cabot.

Leake ready for Lady Devil debut tonight at LR Parkview

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Erica Leake woke up this morning with a surge of energy.

The West Memphis girls basketball coach makes her debut tonight as her team travels to take on Little Rock Parkview in a game that was originally scheduled for Friday night, but was moved to tonight.

"I woke up this morning and I said, 'Wow, it's game day!'', said Leake. "I posted our group text. It was a basketball with fire. The girls were super excited."

Leake, the former Palestine-Wheatley and Louisiana Tech super star player, has brought a lot of enthusiasm to the program this year as she replaces 28-year head coach Shelia Burns, who led the Lady Devils to a 22-7 record a year ago.

Leake said her team will be young, but very athletic this season.

"We can run and jump," she said. "As a coach, you have a style that you prefer to play, but sometimes you just don't have the personnel to do that. Well, for the first time in my coaching career I have the personnel to play the style I love to play, and that's fast, trapping, denying the ball...that's the way I like to play."

Leading the way for the Lady Devils this season will be sophomore Janiyah Tucker, who started every game for the team a year ago and led the squad in scoring.

"She's special," Leake said of Tucker. "Now, that's not something you hear me say about a player. But sometimes in practice she does things that make you go 'Whew!"'

Tucker will once again play the lead guard position. She is a proven scorer, both from long-range and mid-range. Tucker is also a high-level ball-handler and defender.

Also returning with starter minutes from a year ago is Terika Inmon, who will play inside along with sophomore Clemisha Prackett, who was moved up to the varsity last year after her junior high season at Wonder was completed.

Prackett, at 6-foot-1, is long and has good hands in the post area.

Back on the team this season is senior Ta'Nya Burnett, who is a four-sport letterman at West Memphis. Burnett took time off the basketball court last year to focus more on her other sports, including her best sport, volleyball, where she helped the Lady Devils to a quarterfinal appearance in the state tournament recently.

Burnett will add stability to the Lady Devil frontcourt this season.

Other players vying for starting positions include junior Jermesha Clark, ninth-grader Aniya Price, who has impressed Leake in preseason drills with her ability to slash through the defense.

Twin sisters Jayla and Kayla Hudson will also provide high-leverage roles within the team as will back-up point guard Harmony Buckingham.

"We're young this year, but we expect to be competitive right away," said Leake. "Our best years are ahead of us, though. We're going to get to the point where we don't rebuild here, we just reload. That's the legacy here anyway. I've been talking to our kids about us being the new '03. That's the last year the program won a state championship. That's the track we want to be on."

Tonight's game at Parkview will get underway at 5 p.m. with the junior varsity, followed shortly thereafter by the varsity.

New coach Taylor gets it started with Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

It was clearly a day of firsts for the West Memphis Lady Devils.

As head coach Erica Taylor made her first appearance with team activities, almost every Lady Devil was going through the first basketball drills since the Corona-virus pandemic hit in early March.

Taylor, who succeeded long-time Lady Devil boss Shelia Burns, who retired after last season, was donned in a face mask for the two-and-a-half hour workout at Lehr Arena on Monday. She put the girls through ball-handling, footwork and agility drills, with just about every drill involving sprinting.

"I would rate it about an 8," said Taylor, when asked to rate her first practice on a scale of 1 to 10. "As far as the players listening and getting acclimated to the way I do things...it was a strong 8."

The Lady Devils, 22-7 a year ago with a share of the 5A-East Conference championship, return two starters off last year's team in rising senior Terika Inmon and rising sophomore Janiyah Tucker, an all-state selection in 2019-20.

Both of the players were winded when practice ended, but both indicated that it was nothing short of pure joy being back out on the court after a three-month sabbatical due to the pandemic.

"I see now our coach is tough, but she's going to have us ready," said Tucker. "Coach Taylor is a hard-working coach and I think she'll push us."

Inmon said the effects of the inactivity due to the shutdown showed during practice.

"Most of us are in really bad shape, but we'll get back in shape quick," said Inmon. "We're excited to have a new coach and we're all just happy to be back on the court doing drills. Coach Taylor showed us some new drills that we're going to have to learn."

Taylor said she will have a summer filled with team activities outside of the Arkansas Activities Association-mandated two-week dead period from June 22-July 3.

"We'll (practice) this week, but I've got to honor the dead period," she commented. "In July I'm looking to having an open tryout for players who want to be a part of our program. At the end of July I'm looking to get us into a couple of camps."

Taylor comes to West Memphis after a five-year stint as head coach at Forrest City. Taylor is a former star player in high school at Palestine-Wheatley and in college at power Louisiana Tech.

Her energy was on full display on Monday as she used her own skills and athleticism to demonstrate to her own players how to execute.

"I could stay in the gym all day," she said with a smile. "But it's even better being in the gym with some girls who want to get better, and who want to be pushed. All of us had to make adjustments from the pandemic. Those were circumstances beyond our control. I knew the girls would finish tired today and some rust had to be knocked off, but we'll work to get all of that out."

Lady Devils' Bradley will play at Arkansas Baptist

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Tiera Bradley, the West Memphis Lady Devils' leading rebounder and shot blocker for the last two seasons, will continue her basketball career when she signs with Arkansas Baptist College.

The 6-foot center was also the third-leading scorer on the Lady Devil team this season that finished 22-7 and captured a tie for the 5A-East Conference championship.

Bradley said she took a virtual tour of the campus because of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

"I liked the look of the campus and the basketball program is very impressive," said Bradley, a three-year starter for the West Memphis girls. "It looks like the best fit for me."

Bradley came on the Lady Devil scene in the ninth grade when she and Wonder Junior High teammate Aryah Hazley were promoted to the high school team after they led the Lady Lions to a district conference tournament championship. 

Lady Devils head coach, Shelia Burns, who announced her retirement after this past season, said Bradley will be an effective college player.

"She made such a difference on our team both on offense and defense, but more so on defense because she can rebound and protect the rim. She will make Arkansas Baptist so much better. With her I think they will contend for a conference championship. She's still young and I just think she'll get better as she gets older."

Bradley said she has tried to polish her basketball skills as best she can during the pandemic shutdown.

"I've found some goals at  city parks, so I've been shooting around a little," she said.

Bradley said she will always hold her three-plus years as a Lady Devil in high regard.

"It's been great playing here and being a Lady Blue Devil," Bradley stated. "We had some ups and downs, but it's been a great experience. The final outcome, though, was a great outcome."

Former great player Taylor picked to be Lady Devils' head coach

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Looking over Erica Taylor's resume, it would suggest there's very little she hasn't experienced in basketball. The pride of Wheatley has, after all, her No. 50 jersey hanging in the "Ring of Honor" at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn.

Her latest assignment draws her to West Memphis, where she will succeed Shelia Burns as the Lady Devils' head coach.

On Tuesday night, Taylor was selected from a pool of 16 applicants to be the West Memphis girls basketball head coach and she was unanimously approved at the monthly school board meeting.

Taylor becomes only the fifth coach in the program's history, following the program's founding coach Bill Hook, along with Ron Gean, Bobby Ashley and Burns, who announced she would retire after 24 years on the job, moments following her team's first-round loss in the Class 5A state tournament in Russellville last month.

Taylor said she is ready to "hit the ground running" in her new job.

"I'm so excited," she said. "I know it's a challenge. This job will be a lot different than going to a school where the only way to go is up. The West Memphis program has been at the top for the last several years. I'm just looking forward to this ride. It's like that old Phil Collins song 'I can feel it in the air tonight.' In fact, that might be a good theme song for us."

Taylor comes to West Memphis after being the head girls coach in Forrest City the last five seasons.

Taylor already has strong Lady Devil basketball ties.

Her sister-in-law, Tywanna Inmon-Smith, is a former Lady Devil basketball star who was inducted into the West Memphis Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. Tywanna's husband, Jason, is a former Ole Miss basketball standout and the brother of Erica Taylor.

To scan Taylor's accomplishments in basketball would take quite some doing.

It starts with her being a three-time all-state player at Palestine-Wheatley, where in 2001 she was the Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 30 points and 12 rebounds her senior season, which was capped off with the Patriots winning the Class AA state championship with a 72-48 win over Riverside.

She also landed a spot on the Parade All-America team.

Taylor's college recruitment was certain to end up with her picking Arkansas. She is a self-professed "Razorback fanatic."

"I still remember where I was when (the Hogs) won the national championship in 1994," Taylor.

Upon her official visit to Fayetteville, Lady Razorback head coach Gary Blair told Taylor she was his top recruit.

"Coach Blair told me I would start as a freshman and be a four-year starter there," Taylor recalled.

At that point it was all but set. Taylor would be a Razorback.

But her visit to national power Louisiana Tech shook things up.

"Coach Leon Barmore told me I probably wouldn't start," Taylor said. "I took that as a challenge and that made me sign with Louisiana Tech. I had to work my way to playing. After all, we were the No. 5 team in the nation. A lot of people in Arkansas were mad at me for not being a Razorback."

At Tech, Taylor led the Lady Techsters to four Western Athletic Conference championships. She was selected to the All-WAC Newcomer team and was WAC co-freshman of the year. She also made the WAC's All-Defensive teams in 2003 and '04. Taylor was also a second-team All-WAC selection her senior year.

"A lot of what I learned about basketball came from Leon Barmore," Taylor said.

Before her senior season, then Lady Techster assistant coach Kim Mulkey invited Taylor to transfer to Baylor where Mulkey had just been hired as head coach.

Taylor's college playing days ended with her being the second-round pick of the Washington Mystics (19th overall) in the WNBA draft.

Taylor did not sign with the Mystics, opting instead to start a family. She married world famous prize boxer Jermain Taylor, whom she quietly divorced in 2013.

And possibly the most impressive of Taylor's accomplishments is her invitation to the 2000 U.S. Olympic tryouts. At 17, she was the youngest player in camp.

The Americans that year were coached by the legendary Geno Auriemma.

"I shook hands with Coach Auriemma and I was in camp for five days," Taylor said. "He jumped my case in one practice. He told me don't dribble unless you're going somewhere. Of course, he used a few expletives in telling me."

Taylor's coaching highlights include her being named to coach NBA star Mike Conley's annual high school All-Star Game in Memphis and twice in Little Rock.

"Basketball's in my DNA and it's a part of who I am," said Taylor. "I have three daughters and coaching is a way to give back to them. It would be no good to have all this knowledge and not share it. I think you could call me a motivator and I feel I have the ability to will kids to reach their best."

Taylor played two games against one of Burns' best West Memphis teams in high school, with each team winning one.

"I played against Katrina Nesby and Tywanna in those games," she said. "We beat them once, which was a great accomplishment. I tease Tywanna all the time about that.

"West Memphis has a winning culture with the great coaches they've had through the years. I admire how Coach Burns motivated the girls. I saw Coach Burns the other day and I told her I won't let her down, that I would keep this train rolling. She's passing the torch to me now."

Taylor said she likes to play at a fast pace with a lot of full-court pressing.

"Of course my style will be shaped by the talent I have," she added. "I learned early on that you have to have the personnel to play fast."

The new Lady Devil mentor said she will be in contact with her players in West Memphis soon, but that she will have to adhere to the current Covid19 virus rules handed down by the Arkansas Activities Association.

"If I can have a Zoom workout with the team I'll do that," she stated. "There are some things you can do to stay sharp and in shape during the pandemic."

Taylor has four children, all of whom are athletic, she says.

Daughters Laila (7th grade), Tyra (8th grade) and Nia (sophomore) are all basketball players. Her only son, seven-year-old Jace plays all sports, she said, but is particularly outstanding in golf, where he is a participant in the First Tee Program.

Taylor said her middle daughter, Tyra, has a chance to be a special player.

Lady Devils ousted from state, Burns announces retirement

By Billy Woods

WM School District

RUSSELLVILLE ---= It was the end of an era here on Thursday afternoon.

The West Memphis Lady Devils lost an 11-point lead in the second quarter and fell victim to Little Rock Christian 56-47 in a first-round Class 5A state tournament game.

Lady Devils head coach Shelia Burns officially announced her retirement moments after the game, ending a 28-year run at the West Memphis helm.

Burns missed the 2018-19 season after suffering a stroke just a few weeks before the regular season began. She was replaced by interim coach Sonja Tate, now the head girls coach at Paragould.

"It was a great run, but it's time," said Burns, who won 10 conference championships, and a state title in 2003. "We had some great moments and some great talent. It'll be hard to let it go, but it's time for someone else."

The Lady Devils (22-7) enjoyed a quick start and led the entire first half, even extending the lead to 24-13 with 3:36 to play in the first half.

But Little Rock Christian's full-court press and its defense against West Memphis guards Aryah Hazley and Janiyah Tucker proved to be the difference.

Averaging nearly 30 points per game between them, the Lady Devil backcourt was held to a combined 10 points, with each player scoring only 5.

"They just had a tough day shooting the ball," Burns explained, referring to Hazley and Tucker. "Without Hazley's points we don't win."

It was a tale of two halves, as West Memphis' defense held Little Rock Christian to 8 of 31 shooting from the field in the first half for 26 percent. But the Lady Warriors (23-5) turned it around in the second half, canning 16 of 24 for 66 percent.

Little Rock Christian trimmed the Lady Devil lead to 28-20 at halftime, but by then the Lady Warriors had taken steps to turn the momentum around.

As Burns admitted, it was the Warrior pressure defense.

The Lady Devils had 8 of their 12 turnovers in the game during the second half.

"We worked on their press," said Burns. "Our guards just didn't get it done."

With Tucker and Hazley silent for most of the game, the bulk of the Lady Devil offense came from junior Terika Inmon and senior center Tiera Bradley, both of whom scored 10 points to lead West Memphis.

Little Rock Christian's best player, junior forward Wynter Rogers, was held to just 6 points in the first half, but she sizzled in the final two quarters, scoring 12 for an 18-point afternoon.

"She;'s good," Burns said of Rogers. "We worked on her in practice all week. We knew what she could do, but she just turned loose on us. We had nobody who could guard her."

Little Rock Christian grabbed its first lead of the game at 35-34 with 2:55 left in the third quarter after a layup by Yasmin Ott, who scored 14 points.

From there, the Lady Devils fell into a funk on offense, connecting on only 11 out of 38 shots in the second half.

West Memphis, however, won the rebounding battle, 30-27.

Also scoring 5 points for the Lady Devils were Aniyah Dean and Clemisha Prackett while Cortasia Hollins added 4.

Lady Devils looking to build on strong finish in state tournament

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The West Memphis Lady Devils went from one extreme to the other on the final week of the regular season.

Coaches and players are still kicking themselves for a Tuesday loss at Greene County Tech. But they finished strong in the final regular-season game at home with a 44-30 win over Mountain Home

They don't have time to sulk, however. Or even to savor the win over Mountain Home.

The Lady Devils (22-6) will play Little Rock Christian Academy on Thursday in the first round of the state tournament at 1 p.m. at Russellville High School.

Although West Memphis will be the No. 2 seed from the East, the Lady Devils claimed a share of the 5A-East Conference championship, which gives head coach Shelia Burns 10 conference championships during her 24-year career at the school.

Now, they at least want to make a deep run in the state tournament.

The Lady Devils came into last Friday night's game against Mountain Home unsure of their first-round opponent. It was either LRCA or Greenwood.

Burns said she prefers to play LRCA.

"I feel better now going into the state tournament," said Burns. "I feel like we can beat anybody now, if we're ready. Little Rock Christian is big, but being a team with size I think is better for us because it allows (Tiera Bradley) to play more. Greenwood is stocked with guards, and I wanted to play a big team so (Bradley) can play."

West Memphis has one of the top guard tandems in the state in senior Aryah Hazley and freshman Janiyah Tucker, both of whom combine to average over 30 points per game.

But to keep Bradley on the floor, she will have to stay out of foul trouble.

"A lot of good teams are in the state tournament, but I also think we're good," said Burns. "It just depends if we're ready to play."

If the Lady Devils win their first-round game they would play the winner of Tuesday's 7 p.m. game between Little Rock Parkview and Lake Hamilton, the team that ousted the Lady Devils from their last state tournament game in 2018 at Lehr Arena.

Win over Mt. Home gives Lady Devils share of conference title

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The West Memphis Lady Devils erased whatever angst that had built up over the last few days by defeating Mountain Home 44-30 Friday night at Lehr Arena.

After losing 70-56 at bottom feeder Greene County Tech on Tuesday night, costing the Lady Devils a full share of first place in the 5A-East Conference, all of the disappointment seemed to fade when the final seconds ticked off against Mountain Home.

As freshman guard Janiyah Tucker dribbled off the final 30 seconds with no resistance from the Bombers, the crowd at Lehr Arena gave the Lady Devils a rousing standing ovation.

The victory gives the Lady Devils (22-6 overall, 11-3 in the conference) a share of the conference championship with Nettleton. But Nettleton will received the league's No. 1 seed in next week's Class 5A state tournament in Russellville due to its two victories over the Lady Devils this season.

Still, it is considered quite an accomplishment for the squad under head coach Shelia Burns, in her 24th season at the helm. Burns missed last season due to a brain aneurysm, but returned this season to lead the team to the top of the heap.

"I feel better," said Burns. "I've been upset since we lost at Greene County Tech. I was really ticked off. I never thought we'd get beat like that. I've really been stressed for two days.

"I didn't know if we could beat Mountain Home because they are so good. I told the girls maybe I need to be mad at y'all all the time. They really played well tonight."

The Lady Devils will play their first-round game in the state tournament on Thursday at 1 p.m. against Little Rock Christian Academy, the third-place team from the West.

Instead of coming out lax like they did at Greene County Tech, the Lady Devils took it to Mountain Home (21-6, 10-4) right from the start.

On the first three possessions of the game, Burns was intent on feeding the ball inside to senior center Tiera Bradley. On her first two touches she was called for traveling, but it was clear that Mountain Home's Anna Grace Foreman was not strong enough to stand her ground.

On the third possession, Bradley scored easily, for the first points of the game, and it was on for the West Memphis girls.

The hosts only trailed for less than one minute in the second quarter.

West Memphis seized control of the game with 3:48 left in the third quarter when freshman Clemisha Prackett, who scored 6 points, stuck back a missed shot to ignite a 9-0 Lady Devil run to close out the stanza.

The Lady Devils put the game away with 4:17 left in the fourth quarter when reserve Cortasia Hollins sank a three-pointer.

Tucker was the game's high scorer with 17 points while her backcourt running mate, senior Aryah Hazley, added 9. Bradley also scored 6 points.

Burns' club played perhaps their best game of the season on defense, limiting the Lady Bombers to a surprising 1 for 17 shooting effort from three-point distance.  

"Mountain Home is a very good three-point shooting team, but we really got after their shooters tonight," said Burns. "Our defense was so good tonight. I know (Mountain Home head coach Del Leonard) feels like I felt on Tuesday night because they are a really good shooting team."

Mountain Home, which got 14 points from Kate Gilbert and 6 from Leah Jackson, outrebounded the Lady Devils 21-20, but the West Memphis defense forced 15 Mountain Home turnovers.

West Memphis only committed 8 turnovers.

Lady Devils whiff on opportunity to seize first place, lose to Tech

By Billy Woods

WM School District

PARAGOULD --- The opportunity was there for the West Memphis Lady Devils here on Tuesday night.

It was the perfect storm that even they themselves couldn't have concocted. Coming into the game against 5A-East Conference also-rans Greene County Tech, all the Lady Devils had to do was win.

Because at the same time, Jonesboro upset Nettleton, which would have given the Lady Devils first place all to themselves in the conference with just one game remaining on the regular-season schedule.

With all that staring them right in the face, the Lady Devils just couldn't get it going against Greene County Tech, losing 70-56.

Tied with Nettleton for first place in league play with a 10-2 record when action began on Tuesday night, the Lady Devils could have secured themselves of playing for a conference championship on Friday night at home.

But Greene County Tech head coach Matt Dean spread out the Lady Devil defense and back-doored them to death. 

"I didn't see the spread offense coming," West Memphis head coach Shelia Burns bristled after the game. "We did not play good man-to-man defense tonight. No help-side defense...nothing tonight."

Although the Lady Devils shot only 31 percent, they took 21 more shots from the field as Greene County Tech, as the team's 24-19 edge in rebounds would attest, the biggest problem all night was the West Memphis defense, which allowed Tech (6-19, 3-10) to shoot a blistering 66 percent from the floor.

After West Memphis' Aryah Hazley opened the game by elegantly swishing a three-pointer, it was all Greene County Tech. The hosts never trailed for the rest of the game.

"What hurt us tonight was not having (Tiera Bradley) in the game," said Burns. "When we were forced to play man-to-man, we couldn't put T-Baby in the game because she can't play man-to-man. That hurt us inside."

Tech led 15-9 at the end of one quarter and 26-17 at halftime.

Even at that point, the Lady Devils seemed to be in decent shape, but when the Lady Eagles began the fourth quarter on an 11-1 run, it was all she wrote for the West Memphis girls.

It gave Tech a 55-36 lead with 4:35 to play in the contest.

Once again, the Lady Devils couldn't get enough offense outside of their two guards, Hazley and freshman Janiyah Tucker, who scored 17 and 16 points respectively, 15 of which came from freshman Clemisha Prackett.

The two combined for 33 points. The rest of the team only scored 17.

Senior Night on Friday night now awaits the Lady Devils, where they will play Mountain Home for a shot at second place or third place.

Win pulls Lady Devils into first-place tie in league play

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The West Memphis Lady Devils moved into a tie for first place in the 5A-East Conference standings after their 54-34 win at home over Paragould Friday night and Mountain Home's 51-44 upset win at Nettleton.

Both West Memphis (21-5 overall) and Nettleton have 10-2 league records. The Lady Devils have a road game at Greene County Tech on Tuesday and a home game on Friday against Mountain Home, which is one game behind the Lady Devils and Nettleton with a 9-3 record.

Nettleton has two road games left, at Jonesboro and Searcy this week.

In case of a tie for the conference championship, Nettleton has the tie-breaking edge over West Memphis due to its two wins over the Lady Devils.

"It's possible we could get the help we need," said Lady Devils head coach Shelia Burns. "We like the position we're in right now. We've got two big games left that we have to win."

Although the Lady Devils never trailed in the game and it never felt like their hold on the game was in jeopardy, they never broke away from Paragould (8-15, 4-8) until the fourth quarter.

West Memphis freshman guard Janiyah Tucker scored the game's first eight points and senior Aryah Hazley added another bucket to give the Lady Devils an early 10-0 cushion.

But Paragould inched its way back into the game;

The hosts led just 23-18 at halftime.

Six straight points early in the third quarter by Aniyah Dean, Jamee Gholson and Hazley made it 29-20, but the Lady Rams cut to 34-28 by the end of the third quarter.

The decisive fourth quarter was powered by a 14-2 run to open the fourth quarter that saw all West Memphis' points come from Hazley and Tucker with the exception of a basket from senior center Tiera Bradley.

The spurt gave the hosts a 48-30 lead with 3:06 left in the game.

Hazley and Tucker combined for 36 of West Memphis' 54 points with Hazley leading all scorers with 21 and Tucker going for 15.

"Aryah has wanted the mindset of I'll set up the rest of the team to score unless they need her to score," said Burns. "I said, 'No, no. If you have the shot you make sure you take it.' We need Aryah to score for us to win."

Bradley added 6 points for West Memphis, which shot 45 percent from the floor on 21 of 47 shooting and 3 of 11 from the three-point arc on 3 for 11.

The Lady Devil defense forced 21 Paragould turnovers while the hosts committed only 13. West Memphis won the rebounding chart 20-11.

Alex Branguard led Paragould with 17 points while Blythe Benefield scored 6.

Lady Devil turn back Jonesboro for crucial victory

By Billy Woods

WM School District

JONESBORO --- Coming off a tough loss last week at home to Nettleton, the West Memphis Lady Devils could have brewed themselves further trouble here Tuesday night taking on the dangerous Jonesboro girls.

But ninth-grade guard Janiyah Tucker and senior reserve Jamee Gholson would have none of it.

The twosome combined for 38 points Barry Pruitt Hurricane Gymnasium to lead the Lady Devils to a 57-54 victory.

A loss by West Memphis would have created a three-way tie for second place in the 5A-East Conference. But now the Lady Devils (20-5 overall, 9-2 in the conference) own second place all to themselves, one game ahead of third place Mountain Home, with three games to play.

It also kept them just one game behind first-place Nettleton in the standings. The Lady Raiders still have another game left against Mountain Home, the team which gave them their only conference loss.

West Memphis head coach Shelia Burns couldn't hide her satisfaction with the grind-it-out style with which her club employed at Jonesboro.

"That was a huge win," she said. "We needed it to stay alive in the conference race. We made all the plays down the stretch."

The rookie Tucker was matched up against Jonesboro's star senior, Destiny Salary, the University of Tennessee signee. The 5-foot-3 Tucker guarded Salary for most of the game despite giving up eight inches in height.

Although Salary was a factor, leading her team with 19 points, it was Tucker who got the better of the match-up, as she led all scorers with 20 points, 7 of which came in the final 1:36 of the game.

But Tucker had lots of help from Gholson, who scored a career-high 18 points.

"That was Jamee's best game all season," said Burns. 

The West Memphis girls also overcame a dismal start from the free-throw line, hitting on just 5 of their first 15. However, they sank 5 of their final 6, including four straight from Gholson, to cinch the outcome.

For the game, the Lady Devils hit 15 of 29 foul shots.

The back-and-forth affair looked to be swinging Jonesboro's way past the midway point of the fourth quarter as the Lady Hurricane (13-10, 7-4) took a 45-42 lead on a three-point play from Salary.

But West Memphis' 6-foot-3 senior center, Tiera Bradley, who had been held scoreless through the first three quarters, was able to receive the ball deep in the post and she contributed two straight baskets to go along with a layup from Tucker to give the visitors a 48-45 lead with 1:36 to play.

It was a rough go for the Lady Devils with leading scorer, senior point guard Aryah Hazley held to just 5 points for the game.

"(Jonesboro) was playing (Hazley) very tight all night," said Burns. "She never was really able to get in the game. She needs to learn how to move without the ball in situations like that. She's liable to see that a lot from here on out."

With time winding down, the Hurricane trimmed the West Memphis lead to 55-54 on a three-pointer from Salary with 1.7 seconds left.

Gholson was fouled on the inbounds play and she calmly sank both free throws to keep Jonesboro at bay.

Burns promoted ninth-grader Clemisha Prackett of Wonder Junior High and the rookie's debut was successful as she contributed 8 points to the cause. Bradley scored all 6 of her points in the final quarter.

Jonesboro also got 15 points from Ereauna Hardaway while sophomore Destiny Thomas scored all 11 of her points in the second half.

The Lady Devils still have a home game left on Friday night with Paragould and a road date at Greene County Tech before the biggest game which could decide second place, at Lehr Arena on Feb. 28 against Mountain Home.

Eaton onslaught too much for Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The West Memphis Lady Devils have seen enough of Elauna Eaton.

The 6-foot-1 lefty-shooting guard-forward-center left an indelible imprint on the Lady Devils this season after she fired in a game-high 38 points on Friday night at Lehr Arena to lead Nettleton to a 65-61 victory over the West Memphis girls.

The onslaught by Eaton, bound for the University of Arkansas, gave her 69 points in two games against West Memphis. It also put the Lady Raiders (22-3 overall, 9-1 in the 5A-East Conference) in first place all to themselves in league standings after coming into the contest tied for first with the Lady Devils (19-5, 8-2).

"She's good," Lady Devils head coach Shelia Burns said of Eaton. "She's by far the best player in Arkansas."

It took Eaton all of six seconds to send a warning to the West Memphis girls. Nettleton controlled the opening tip, took one pass to Eaton, who didn't hesitate putting up a three-pointer that found nothing but the bottom of the net.

She then hit her first six shots of the night, all from three-point range, and the Lady Devils now know how the Atlanta Braves felt in the top of the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the NLDS.

Nettleton was on top of the hosts 15-0 just four minutes into the game.

"We didn't even have time to get settled in," said Burns. "I knew if we didn't get out on (Eaton) that that would happen. It happened so fast."

And Nettleton didn't let up the entire game. 

The Lady Raiders shot a torrid 12 of 17 from the bonus arc for 71 percent. Eaton scored 24 of her points in the first half, in which she missed only three shots.

Despite the early 15-point deficit, the Lady Devils went about chipping away at it. Nettleton led 25-8 after one quarter, but the hosts outscored the Lady Raiders 20-11 in the second quarter and found themselves down only 36-28 at halftime.

However, each time the Lady Devils got within smelling distance, Eaton and teammate Briley Pena, who added 11 points, answered strongly.

A layup from West Memphis junior Terika Inmon cut the Nettleton lead to 44-38 in the third quarter, but the Lady Raiders closed the stanza scoring the final seven points to take a 51-38 lead into the fourth quarter.

Then in the fourth quarter, an Inmon basket sliced the Nettleton lead to 55-50, but Eaton responded with four straight free throws.

"We had several opportunities in the game to give up, but I will say we kept fighting back," said Burns.

Finally, a basket after a steal by Aryah Hazley, whose 20 points topped the West Memphis scoring, cut the lead to 61-58 with 47 seconds still to play.

The Lady Devils got one chance at tying, but suffered a turnover, leading to four consecutive free throws from Pena to ice it for Nettleton.

Ninth-grader Janiyah Tucker added 15 points and Inmon scored 9 for the Lady Devils.

Lady Devil win sets up big match-up on Friday with Nettleton

By Billy Woods

WM School District

SEARCY --- With their eyes on an all-important date on Friday for first place in the 5A-East Conference, the West Memphis Lady Devils very nearly let one get away from them here on Tuesday night against a team that had not won a league game all season.

Some late heroics from ninth-grader Janiya Tucker, however, propelled the Lady Devils to a 50-43 victory over Searcy.

The win pushes the West Memphis girls record to 19-4 overall and 8-1 in the 5A-East. Awaiting them on Friday at Lehr Arena is Nettleton, which defeated Marion Tuesday night 77-60. Last month, Nettleton handled West Memphis 67-46 behind 31 points from University of Arkansas signee Elauna Eaton.

Both teams are tied for first place in the conference standings.

Searcy very nearly ruined West Memphis' hopes for a tie-breaking game against Nettleton.

The Lady Lions (5-16, 0-9) took a fourth-quarter lead before West Memphis guards Aryah Hazley and Janiya Tucker, who scored 17 and 14 points respectively, made the plays down the stretch.

Down 43-40 with 2:05 to play in the game, Hazley converted a three-point play on a stickback. Then, perhaps the play of the game, Tucker split two defenders on her way to the basket for a twisting, off-balance layup to give the visitors the lead for good with 1:03 to play in the contest.

"The lane was open," said Tucker, matter of factly. "I wanted it to be opened up because I'd already made my move."

Tucker was hardly finished, though.

After Searcy called an immediate timeout after Tucker's basket, the impish West Memphis guard created a scrum for the ball once it got past halfcourt. As soon as she gained possession while sprawled on the floor, Tucker called timeout and was awarded it.

"I think her defense was the best part of her game tonight," West Memphis head coach Shelia Burns said of Tucker. "Janiya just has a knack for making the plays at the end."

Still not through, Tucker was fouled 13 seconds after she gained possession for the Lady Devils. She split a pair of free throws, but it was still only a one possession game with 27.1 seconds left.

A Searcy turnover then led to two free throws by Hazley with 13 seconds left to seal it.

Despite a 29-20 halftime lead, the Lady Devils couldn't make Searcy go away.

The Lady Devils committed eight of their 16 turnovers in the third quarter to let the Lady Lions back in the game.

Burns, however, made the adjustment on the bench to get it all back together for the Lady Devils.

"I took all the bigs out and went small," said Burns. "We needed the ballhandlers."

The Lady Devils overcame the turnovers by shooting lights out from the field, hitting on 23 of 39 attempts and also outrebounding Searcy 19-16.

Senior Jamee Gholson came off the bench to provide 7 points for West Memphis while Rhiana Bedford scored 5.

Searcy got a team-high 15 points from Meredith Webber.

Tucker, defense lead Lady Devils to blowout over Marion

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Three quarters of the way through her first year of high school basketball, ninth-grader Janiya Tucker has very few, if any boxes left to check off.

One of her many skills was at work on Friday night at Lehr Arena.

Tucker's composed posture was on full display as she scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in the third quarter to lead her West Memphis Lady Devils to a 50-32 victory over Marion.

High leverage moments in the game do not seem to deter Tucker. With hands in her face, Tucker scored several big baskets as the Lady Devils broke open a tight game.

A turn-around jumper in transition, leaving a Marion defender in total disarray, gave the hosts a 27-17 lead with 3:50 to play in the stanza.

"She had been struggling the last game or so, but she put on a show tonight," West Memphis head coach Shelia Burns said of Tucker. 

Tucker and veteran backcourt mate Aryah Hazley scored all but 10 of the points for the Lady Devils (18-4 overall, 7-1 in the 5A-East Conference). Hazley pumped in 7 of her 19 points in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, the last of which came on a three-point play with 4:42 to play in the game to give the West Memphis girls a 48-27 lead.

The big key for the Lady Devils in sweeping Marion was their 2-3 zone that was resurrected after a brief hiatus at Mountain Home.

Marion (10-13, 3-5) was held to a 19.6 percent shooting mark, making just 11 of 56 shots from the floor. In addition, the Lady Devils held Marion to 4 of 26 shooting from three-point range for 15 percent.

"We had to play man-to-man at Mountain Home because of the way we match up with them, but we got back to the 2-3 tonight," said Burns. "Our girls are starting to understand the defense."

West Memphis forced 21 Marion turnovers and sank 8 of its 12 free throws.

Senior center Tiera Bradley added 4 points for the Lady Devils, who travel to Searcy on Tuesday night.

The victory keeps the Lady Devils in a tie for first place in the 5A-East with Nettleton, which overwhelmed Greene County Tech on Friday, 75-50.

Bradley's late heroics lift Lady Devils over Mountain Home

By Billy Woods

WM School District

MOUNTAIN HOME --- Tiera Bradley just has a knack of being in the right place at the right time.

There she was with the final seconds ticking off, waiting for the ball to fall into her hands. Her teammate, Janiya Tucker, missed a runner, but Bradley was there to grab the rebound and stick it back in with 1.9 seconds to play here Friday night to lift the West Memphis Lady Devils to a 35-33 victory over Mountain Home.

Before her heroics, however, Bradley was whistled for two travel calls late in the fourth quarter as the Lady Devils (17-4 overall, 6-1 in the 5A-East Conference) tried to protect a slim lead.

"Nothing bothers her, I swear," said a jubilant West Memphis head coach Shelia Burns. "She knew she shuffled her feet."

Bradley's comments after the game would indicate otherwise.

"Those were two bad calls that went against me," she said.

The victory by the Lady Devils breaks up what was a three-way tie for first place in the conference. West Memphis and Nettleton are now tied for the lead after the Lady Raiders drubbed Searcy 61-26 on Friday night.

The Lady Devils found themselves down by 9, 24-15 early in the third quarter, and it looked like the game may have been getting away from them.

But Tucker, who scored 10 points, scored a basket that ignited a 6-0 run to get the Lady Devils back in it before senior point guard Aryah Hazley drew her third foul with 2:46 to play in the stanza.

Bradley, who led her team with 11 points, stuck another miss back in later in the quarter to begin a 6-0 West Memphis spurt heading into the fourth quarter, that gave the visitors a 27-26 lead.

Tucker then sank two goals to give West Memphis a 31-26 lead.

Mountain Home (16-4, 5-2) regained the lead for the final time of the game when  Emma Martin swished a three-pointer to give the hosts a 33-31 lead with just 1:35 to play.

After Bradley tied it 33-33 with a layup, the Lady Bombers were set to take the last shot of the game inside a minute to play. But guard Leah Jackson was called for an offensive foul when she pushed off her defender, Tucker.

"That's great because (Mountain Home) never turns the ball over," said Burns. "We got some points off their turnovers tonight."

That miscue gave the Lady Devils the final shot, which came from the opportune hands of Bradley.

"I just believed in myself and kept pushing through it after those two travel calls," said Bradley. "I kept thinking that Janiya was going to take the last shot because I have confidence she can make those kind of shots. I just got underneath and waited for a rebound in case she missed."

The Lady Devils won despite 17 turnovers in the slow-paced game. But the visitors outrebounded Mountain Home 25-20 and shot 43 percent to Mountain Home's 29 percent.

It was the first loss at home this season for the Mountain Home girls.

"I'm so excited for the girls," said Burns. "They played so good."

Hazley's normal production was slowed to just 6 points while teammate Terika Inmon also scored 6.

Addison Yates paced Mountain Home's attack with 11 points while Kate Gilbert and Martin had 8 and 7 respectively.

Lady Devils down Greene Co. Tech, focus on Mountain Home

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Only minutes after her team had picked up another important win in 5A-East Conference play, West Memphis girls head coach Shelia Burns was already focusing on the next game.

"We have a lot of things to prove against Mountain Home," were the first words out of Burns' mouth after her team's 54-42 victory Tuesday night at Lehr Arena over Greene County Tech.

A four-way tie for first place in the conference was broken up (a little) on Tuesday night after Nettleton blasted Jonesboro 63-46. Now it's a three-way tie for first place with West Memphis, Nettleton and Mountain Home all sporting 5-1 records.

West Memphis visits Mountain Home on Friday.

Against Greene County Tech, the Lady Devils (16-4 overall) made only 16 of their 38 shots from the floor, but their defense forced the Lady Eagles (4-14, 1-5) to a 15 of 52 (29 percent) from the field.

"I knew (Tech) could shoot the ball a little from three-point, but we did a good job getting out on them," said Burns.

Burns' squad used some solid free-throw shooting (10 of 14) and a steady offensive performance to oust Greene County Tech. West Memphis also won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Lady Eagles 25-14.

They rushed out to a 27-20 halftime lead and then pushed the lead to 40-31 after three quarters. But the Lady Devils used an 11-3 run midway through the fourth quarter to extinguish Greene County Tech.

Leading the way once again were the guards, senior Aryah Hazley and freshman Janiya Tucker, who between them scored 30 points. Hazley hit for 20 of them, a game-high total.

Hazley split a pair of free throws with 57 seconds left to push the score to 53-38 West Memphis.

Following Tucker's 10 points were Tiera Bradley with 7, Terika Inmon with 6 and Jamee Gholson with 5.

Kylie Stokes led Greene County Tech's offense with 10 points while Emma Bates and Hannah Foster hit for 9 apiece.

Mountain Home, which has scored the only defeat on preseason favorite Nettleton, pummeled Searcy 53-30 on Tuesday night. Burns said her team's defense had better be sharp against the Lady Bombers.

"We'll work on defense for two days in preparation for Mountain Home," said Burns. "Regardless of how that game turns out, we're still in the running (for the conference championship). 

"I think we match up with them really well. They have good guards and so do we. If we can get T-Baby (Bradley) on the boards and play defense as a team we have a chance to win."

But the Lady Devils will need to hold down the turnovers at Mountain Home after committing 21 miscues against Greene County Tech.

Lady Devil defense comes to the rescue in win at Paragould

By Billy Woods

WM School District

PARAGOULD --- After watching Paragould's Carson Defries and her teammates sink 4 of 6 three-point attempts in the first half, West Memphis Lady Devils head coach Shelia Burns directed her halftime speech toward perimeter defense.

The Lady Devils not only heard it, they acted on it.

West Memphis broke a 20-20 halftime deadlock with a furious third quarter led by a stifling exterior defense that limited Paragould to 1 of 9 shooting in the stanza on its way to a 47-32 victory over the Lady Rams.

Defries, who led her team with 14 points, 10 of which came in the first half, hit a three-ball with 6:35 to play in the third quarter, and those were the only points the hosts scored in the stanza. 

In fact, the Lady Rams were held scoreless from the field from the 6:35 mark of the third quarter to the 3:10 mark of the fourth quarter.

"We challenged them at halftime," said Burns. "We broke it down for them. We had to make sure where (Defries) was on the floor the whole time."

Meanwhile, the Lady Devils (15-4 overall, 4-1 in the 5A-East Conference) outscored Paragould 12-3 in the quarter on the strength of eight points from ninth-grade guard Janiya Tucker, who despite sitting on the bench for several minutes of the second half, still led the Lady Devils in scoring with a game-high 16 points.

From there, it was all Lady Devils.

The victory, coupled with Mountain Home's upset over Nettleton, moves the Lady Devils into a four-way tie for first place in the 5A-East along with the two aforementioned teams and Jonesboro.

West Memphis owned the boards, outrebounding Paragould 24-14 and it limited Paragould to just 26 percent shooting (9 of 35) for the game.

Senior Terika Inmon is becoming more of an offensive threat for the Lady Devils, having scored 13 points at Paragould, hitting from all angles in the paint area.

"We need to work her a little more on defense, but her offense has been very good lately," Burns said of Inmon.

Inmon converted a three-point play with 4:04 to play in the game to give the Lady Devils a comfortable 41-24 lead. Her final basket came on a layup with 1:07 to play to account for the final points of the game for both teams.

Burns squad shot a season-high 60 percent from the field, making 21 of 35 shots.

The victory came at the expense of former Lady Devil great and the team's interim head coach last year, Sonja Tate, who is the Paragould head coach now.

Paragould falls to 5-11 overall and 1-4 in the conference.

Senior point guard Aryah Hazley and senior center Tiera Bradley each scored 6 points for the West Memphis girls.

Bradley's basket paves way for Lady Devils win over Jonesboro

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Seeking a signature win in conference play, the West Memphis Lady Devils relied on the confidence of one of their veterans to turn back Jonesboro 61-58 on Tuesday at Lehr Arena.

With the ball and the score tied 57-57 with under a minute to play, Lady Devils head coach Shelia Burns called timeout to set up strategy.

When the team went back on the floor, the plan was nixed in favor of resolution.

Senior center Tiera Bradley split a double-team and hit a highly contested layup with 45 seconds to play to give the West Memphis girls the victory.

"We wanted T-Baby to kick the ball back out to the guards," said a smiling Burns. "That's what we drew up during the timeout, but she said she could hit that shot."

Twenty-one seconds later, West Memphis' Jamee Gholson, who had missed two easy layups earlier in the game, drained the one that counted most to ensure the triumph.

It took a hot hand from senior guard Aryah Hazley, who hit six of the team's seven three-pointers on the night for a game-high 29 points.

"For us to win, Aryah has to shoot the ball," said Burns. "I got all over the team after the loss to Nettleton, and I think most of them heard me. Aryah told me she wasn't hitting (at Nettleton), and I said , 'I don't care. You gotta shoot. You're the shooter.' So she did."

Hazley wasn't the only hot shooter on the night. As a team West Memphis hit 7 of 15 from long range and 14 of 17 on the night at the free-throw line.

But it also took a solid defensive effort.

Just four days after being torched for 31 points at Nettleton by future Razorback Elauna Eaton, the Lady Devils faced another Division 1 signee in Jonesboro's Destiny Salary, who is headed to the University of Tennessee.

Salary could only manage 10 points against Burns' zone defense, which the Lady Devils stayed in the whole game.

"We had to know where she was all the time," Burns said of Salary. "We knew the way she was shooting the ball early, she wasn't hitting. So, the second half, I told our girls she wouldn't quit shooting. We just had to make sure we were up on her."

West Memphis (13-5 overall, 3-1 in the 5A-East Conference) led 37-34 at halftime and increased the lead to 52-43 at the end of three quarters. But Jonesboro (9-7, 3-1) drew the fourth foul on West Memphis' Bradley to open the fourth quarter and it sparked the visitors to an 11-3 run to the 3:44 mark of the game.

Leading just 55-54 with 2:07 left, the Lady Devils got a pair of free throws from Hazley, but Salary emerged from her funk to drain a three-pointer to tie the score 57-57 with 1:43 to play.

Although it may have appeared the Lady Devils were holding for the last shot, Burns said that was not the case. She said the team was in their "five-out" offense, which is designed to create layups or free throws.

It did create both a layup and go-ahead basket by Bradley.

"Big, big win for us," Burns added.

The West Memphis girls also got 17 points from ninth-grader Janiya Tucker while Gholson scored 5 and Bradley and Terika Inmon each scored 4.

Jonesboro got 19 points from Ereauna Hardaway while Destiny Thomas scored 15.

The Lady Devils hit the road Friday night to play Paragould.

Eaton pours through 31 to lead Nettleton over Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

JONESBORO --- It was just too much Elauna Eaton.

No matter how hard they tried or whatever they threw at her defensively, the West Memphis Lady Devils just couldn't stop the Nettleton Lady Raiders' standout senior.

Eaton erupted for 13 second-quarter points to break open a tight game and went off for a game-high 31 points by game's end to lead her team to a 67-46 victory over West Memphis on Friday night.

"She's the best we've seen all year," said West Memphis head coach Shelia Burns. "She can score any time she wants to."

The Arkansas Lady Razorback signee, who was miffed two years ago when she was snubbed for Most Valuable Player honors as she led Jonesboro High School to the state championship, took the game over when the second quarter started.

Leading just 13-12 after one stanza, Nettleton simply gave the ball to Eaton to start the second eight minutes and then got out of her way.

Eaton scored the first 11 points for her team in the second quarter and by the time the quarter ended, the Lady Devils (12-4 overall, 2-1 in the 5A-East Conference) found themselves down 29-14 at halftime, and for all practical purposes the game was firmly in hand for the hosts.

"It didn't help us having one of our leading scorers out of the game (Janiya Tucker) with two fouls at that time, but I don't think it would have made much difference," said Burns.

It also didn't help that West Memphis senior guard Aryah Hazley went scoreless through the first half, although she ripped the nets for 15 points in the second half to lead her team in scoring.

Furthermore, the Lady Devils suffered a 1-for-9 shooting effort from the floor in the second quarter.

Although Nettleton's lead never dipped below 12 the rest of the night, every time West Memphis made a move to trim the deficit, Eaton had an answer.

Lady Devil senior Jamee Gholson hit a layup with 1:53 to play in the third quarter to give the visitors a glimmer of hope, trailing only 39-27.

But Eaton immediately answered with a three-point play on the other end.

Nettleton (16-2, 3-0) led 51-31 after three quarters and from there put it in coast mode.

Nettleton hammered West Memphis from the free-throw line, sinking 27 of 32 while the Lady Devils were a dismal 12 of 22.

Nettleton also got the better of the Lady Devils on the boards, outrebounding them 32-22. 

Senior center Tiera Bradley added 12 points for the Lady Devils while Tucker managed 9.

Eaton got support from teammates Briley Pena and Travia Woodruff, who scored 14 and 9 points respectively.

The Lady Devils return to action Tuesday night at home against Jonesboro.

Bradley's put-back lifts Lady Devils over Marion

By Billy Woods

Powered by their diverse guard play, the West Memphis Lady Devils kept threatening all night to create some distance between them and the Marion girls.

But late in the third quarter, Marion head coach Shunda Johnson made two adjustments that quelled the Lady Devil backcourt play.

1. She sent enough defenders back to defend against those long outlet passes from West Memphis senior center Tiera Bradley that were leading to easy layups.

2. She bottled up Lady Devil guards Aryah Hazley and Janiya Tucker from penetrating in halfcourt sets.

And then just as that strategy seemed to put Marion in position to win, it left open West Memphis' inside game.

Bradley, all 6-foot-2 of her, stuck back a missed shot with 5 seconds left to give the West Memphis girls a 50-48 victory on Friday night at Marion.

Bradley trailed a play that saw Lady Devil guard Hazley miss a contested layup  after Marion's Jala Henderson tied the game 48-48 on a mid-range jumper with 15 seconds to play.

As usual, when Bradley gets the ball deep in the low post she is nearly impossible to stop.

"Something told me to go down and trail the play," said Bradley, who scored only 4 points. "I just saw the opening for the put-back."

The Lady Devils (11-3 overall, 1-0 in the 5A-East Conference) bolted out to a 23-11 lead in the second quarter against Marion (7-9, 0-1) largely due to the West Memphis guards releasing on Marion missed shots. Bradley's strong-armed outlets led to easy Lady Devil layups.

But Johnson's adjustments brought the Marion girls back.

"I was on the girls the whole second half," explained West Memphis head coach Shelia Burns. "We played so good the first half, but we didn't come out strong in the second half."

The Lady Devils led 32-24 with 4:46 to play in the third quarter, but they committed 16 of their season-high 26 turnovers in the second half, which allowed Marion to come back.

"We made some silly mistakes, a lot of silly mistakes," Burns added.

Marion went on a 10-0 run near the end of the third quarter to take a 34-33 lead and the Lady Devils trailed 38-35 heading into the fourth quarter.

Down 46-45 with inside a minute to play, the Lady Devils got a crucial steal from Hazley, who scored 13 points, and Marion was called for an intentional foul on her way to the basket.

Hazley missed the first free throw, but made the second. Then Hazley went back door for a layup with 35 seconds to play to give the visitors the lead again at 48-46.

That left the door open for Marion's Henderson to tie the game with her 15-foot jumper with 15 seconds to play.

Bradley was just in the right place at the right time when it mattered most.

"I was blocked on the play, and I thought Aniya Dean was the one who made the winning basket," said Burns. "But T-Baby always seems to be hanging around the basket at the right time."

Tucker led all scorers with 15 points while Terikal Inmon added 5 for the Lady Devils.

Keiana Delaney and Joi Montgomery each had 11 points to lead Marion.

Guards rake Memphis Central over the coals

By Billy Woods

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.

T-Baby the difference in Lady Devils' victory over North Little Rock

By Billy Woods

WM School District

As was often the case last season, the West Memphis Lady Devils' fortunes are directly tied to the amount of minutes played by center Tiera Bradley.

On Thursday night at Lehr Arena, that long-held belief was upheld, and then some.

For the first time in her career, the 6-foot-3 Bradley played all 32 minutes and led the Lady Devils to a 55-43 victory over North Little Rock.

Bradley led all scorers with 15 points, which included her first three-pointer of the season, and grabbed 14 rebounds to go along with numerous blocked shots.

"T-Baby was the key to us winning," said Lady Devils head coach Shelia Burns. "North Little Rock had two good big girls out there, and we knew that as long as she was in the game we were in good shape. She was great on the boards."

In pushing their early-season record to 3-0, the Lady Devils ran out to a sizable lead and then watched North Little Rock (1-3) seize the lead before the hosts began the fourth quarter with a strong push to take the lead for good.

West Memphis, which hadn't beaten North Little Rock since 2014, led 11-8 after one quarter, but used a balanced attack to start the second stanza in opening up a 21-11 lead with 3:54 to play before halftime behind two free throws by Terika Inmon and a drive to the goal from senior point guard Aryah Hazley.

The Lady Devils led 25-18 at halftime, but lost the lead immediately in the opening minutes of the third quarter after Hazley, who scored 10 points, was whistled for her third foul. She exited for the rest of the third quarter.

During that time, the Lady Devils suffered costly turnovers and saw the Lady Charging 'Cats score the final seven points of the stanza to take a 35-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

"I wasn't worried, I was mad," Burns said. "We have so many guards, but we couldn't do anything. I told them to slow down and just get the ball past the halfcourt line."

North Little Rock's Arin Freeman sank a layup 10 seconds into the fourth quarter to give the visitors their biggest lead of the game at 37-32.

But it was their last lead.

The Lady Devils used a 13-1 run from there to claim a 45-38 lead with 4:43 still to play.

North Little Rock countered Bradley's presence with 6-4 sophomore Amauri Williams, who paced her team with 14 points, and 5-10 sophomore Destine Duckworth, who added 9.

"I think T-Baby staying in the game wore out those two big girls for North Little Rock," said Burns.

The closest North Little Rock could get from there was 45-41, but a layup from Hazley, a bank shot by Rhianna Bedford and two more free throws from Hazley cinched the game for West Memphis, making it 51-41 with just 1:23 to play.

Janiya Tucker and Inmon each added 8 points for the Lady Devils while Bedford rang up 6 points and Cortasia Hollins scored 4 before leaving the game with a sore knee in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Devils play at Jacksonville on Tuesday before playing in the Great 8 Tournament in Rogers Dec. 5-7.

Lady Devils get balanced effort to defeat LR Parkview

By Billy Woods

WM School District

After blowing out a minimally-talented Blytheville squad last week in the regular-season opener, the West Memphis Lady Devils were in need of a more accurate measuring stick on Tuesday night at Lehr Arena.

They got it in a 53-42 victory over a solid Little Rock Parkview outfit.

"We needed that," said Lady Devils head coach Shelia Burns. "We didn't get challenged against Blytheville, and we needed to see what we really have."

Led by guards Aryah Hazley, Janiya Tucker and Jamee Gholson, the Lady Devils (2-0) broke down the Lady Patriots' defense with their quickness and ability to penetrate the lanes.

Hazley and Gholson, who came off the bench, led the scoring with 12 points apiece while the rookie Tucker shook off several missed early layups to score 7 points.

But perhaps the biggest impact on the game was senior center Tierra Bradley, who was saddled with foul trouble for portions of the first and second halves.

When she was in the game, however, she provided impact with her shot-blocking, rebounding and her outlet passes for run-outs.

"She's another big that we need out on the floor," Burns said of Bradley. "She clogs the middle of the lane, and it helps our guards when she's in there."

The game was swung in West Memphis' favor midway through the second quarter when Gholson came off the bench to score seven consecutive Lady Devil points, beginning with a long three-pointer with 5:02 left in the stanza to tie the game at 14-14.

It triggered a 14-2 Lady Devil surge to end the half. It also was dotted by a four-point play by Hazley, who swished a three and then sank her foul shot to give the hosts a 26-17 halftime lead.

The Lady Devils, who play Thursday night at home against North Little Rock, got solid production from several players. Five players scored 7 or more points, including Bradley, who had 8.

Cortasia Hollins pumped in 5 points and Terika Inmon added 4.

"It was a good team win," Burns pointed out. "A lot of kids contributed."

Hazley, Tucker power Lady Devils over Bartlett

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Shelia Burns' first game back on the Lady Devil bench as head coach was heavily punctuated by a lethal one-two punch from her backcourt.

Appropriately wearing Nos. 1 and 2 on their jerseys, the guard duo of senior Aryah Hazley and ninth-grader Janiya Tucker combined for 29 points as the West Memphis girls easily disposed of Bartlett 64-44 Tuesday night at Lehr Arena in a benefit game that will not count toward the regular season.

It was business as usual for Burns, back to coaching after missing last year due to a brain aneurysm and then fighting hard within rehab. The winningest coach and longest-tenured coach in Lady Devil history watched as her team dismantled Bartlett.

"(The players) knew what to do. I didn't have to do much," said Burns. "I thought they really played team ball."

And most of it centered around the two girls doing most of the ball-handling, Hazley and Tucker. Hazley, who like Tucker gained some high school experience playing as a ninth-grader, scored whenever she wanted, pumping in 13 points in limited minutes.

Unlike Tucker, however, Hazley's ninth-grade experience came only when her junior high season ended in February 2017. In her first game in state tournament play Hazley pumped in 29 points in a West Memphis win over Sheridan.

Tucker is getting her high school career off the ground immediately as a ninth-grader and she did not disappoint in her debut. The lightning-quick 5-foot-3 guard swished through a game-high 16 points.

"I think she'll be able to handle high school ball," Burns said of Tucker.

It was all Tucker and Hazley in the early going as the pair assisted or scored on West Memphis' first 23 points of the game, covering all of the first quarter and the first 1:20 of the second quarter.

The Lady Devils breezed to a 19-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and then stretched it to 27-9 by the 4:31 mark of the second quarter after a pair of free throws from senior Jamee Gholson, who scored 11 points.

As Burns began subbing fairly early in the second quarter, the Lady Devils clung to its big lead and eventually took a 33-18 lead into halftime.

With a lead of 56-28 at the end of the third quarter, the Lady Devils needed only two more points to employ the mercy rule, which they did in the opening minute of the final stanza.

West Memphis, which opens its regular season Friday night at Blytheville, also got 6 points apiece from Aniaya Dean, senior center Tiera Bradley and Rianna Bedford.

Loss at Mountain Home closes out Lady Devil season

By Billy Woods

WM School District

MOUNTAIN HOME --- A very difficult season was put to rest here Friday night for the West Memphis Lady Devils.

The Lady Devils overcame a pair of eight-point deficits in the first half and then watched as Mountain Home made all the plays down the stretch in a 49-41 West Memphis loss.

West Memphis ends with a 13-11 record overall and a 6-8 mark in the 5A-East Conference. The Lady Devils failed to qualify for the state tournament, but understandably so.

Their journey began with one near tragedy and one tragedy that struck the nerve of everyone involved in the program.

Just days before the start of the season, long-time head coach Shelia Burns was struck with a brain aneurysm in her office before practice at Lehr Arena. Burns has since made remarkable recovery and she has attended a few Lady Devil games this season, including Friday's game at Mountain Home.

In her stead, interim head coach Sonja Tate was dealt a tough hand, including the biggest tragedy of all, the death of senior Jatava Murray, who was killed in an auto accident during the Thanksgiving holidays.

Through it all, the Lady Devils tried to pull it all together and actually stayed in contention for a state tournament berth up until the final week.

"I'll say one thing, these girls would not quit," said Tate. "They showed some heart."

The Lady Devils found themselves down 9-1 to start the game and later they trailed 20-12 midway through the second quarter. But each time, the visitors made runs of their own and actually led 22-20 at halftime.

"I tell them no matter what happens, you gotta continue to play," Tate said. "If you don't respond soon enough, things start to snowball on you."

For the second game in a row, leading scorer Aryah Hazley went scoreless in the first quarter before turning it on. Her first basket opened the second quarter when she stole a ball near mid-court and turned it into a layup. Hazley went on to score just 6 points in the first half before scoring 16 second-half points, leading all scorers with 22.

Hazley sank two free throws with two seconds to play to give West Memphis the lead at halftime.

In the end, however, Mountain Home (17-10, 9-5) got some big baskets from Payton Huskey, playing the final home game of her career, to break away from the Lady Devils.

Mountain Home made 9 of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the deal. Huskey made all four of her charities and led her team in scoring with 18 points.

Dampening the Lady Devil hopes was sophomore Ta'Nya Burnett drawing her fourth foul with 4:31 left in the fourth quarter with the visitors trailing just 37-35.

When she exited the Lady Bombers scored four straight points.

Burnett eventually fouled out with 2:16 to play in the game.

Burnett added 6 points to the Lady Devil offense while Chyna Alls had 4 points and Cortasia Hollins scored 3.

Mountain Home also got 13 points from Anna Grace Foreman and 11 from Kate Gilbert. The Lady Bombers clinched third place in the conference and will play Thursday at 1 p.m. against Sheridan.

After the game, Tate assured that her team will "be back."

"We've got some talent to build on," she said. "We have a lot of girls back next year and we'll get to work on building them up and getting ready for next season."

Lady Devils send seniors out in style with win over Tech

By Billy Woods

WM School District

With her team officially eliminated from postseason play, Lady Devils head coach Sonja Tate was content just watching her team have some fun against Greene County Tech in a 60-49 win Tuesday night at Lehr Arena.

Tate sent off three of her seniors on Senior Night, but it was the one who wasn't dressed out that elicited the most emotion. Jatava Murray, who was killed in an auto accident last November, was represented at a mid-court ceremony by her parents David and Sally.

"That was the toughest part of the whole night," said Tate, whose team improved to 13-10 overall and 6-7 in the 5A-East Conference. "Everybody loved Jay."

The Lady Devils finally used a more balanced attack to thwart Greene County Tech after standing idly watching junior point guard Aryah Hazley account for over 60 percent of the team's offense the last several games.

Hazley, indeed, was the team's leading scorer on Tuesday night, but the Lady Devils got 15 points from bespectacled senior Kenya Freeman, who sported eye glasses on the court for the first time all year.

It marked the first game a player other than Hazley scored in double figures in the last seven games.

Freeman said the glasses made a big difference in her game.

"I wear them all day in school," she said. "It was hurting me when I was taking them off. It seemed to help tonight."

The West Memphis girls had no trouble dispatching Greene County Tech (10-14, 3-10). 

Held scoreless through the first half, Hazley heated up in the second quarter when she pumped in 14 of her game-high total of 17. Several of Hazley's baskets came in transition on pull-up mid-range jumpers.

The outburst was part of an 8-0 run to end the first half and give the hosts a comfortable 33-15 lead at halftime. All but one of the points was scored by either Hazley or Freeman.

"Kenya played well tonight," said Tate. "She's been talking about how she hadn't been able to see very well. She made the decision to wear them tonight, but I had to tape the bar back together."

The Lady Devils kept their double-digit lead the rest of the way, leading 47-32 at the end of three quarters and then sitting on the cushion for the final eight minutes of the game.

"We wanted to send the seniors out in style tonight," said Tate. "We came in relaxed and played really well. It was good to see Aryah bounce back in the second quarter. I thought she played very under control tonight. That's what we keep talking about with her. When she slows it down just a little she's even more dangerous than when she goes full speed."

Sophomore Ta'Nya Burnett made it three Lady Devils in double figures as she scored 11 and Cortasia Hollins added 6.

Tech got a team-high 13 points from Tiffany Gramling, 11 from Shelby Adams and 7 from Kinley Prichard.

The Lady Devils close out their season Friday night at Mountain Home.

Hazley's 21 not enough as Paragould defeats Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

PARAGOULD --- West Memphis' Aryah Hazley has been providing nearly 60 percent of her team's offense since the 5A-East Conference season started.

While that's an astounding statistical achievement, it has done very little to boost her team's won-loss record.

Once again on Friday night, Hazley was a one-man attack, scoring 21 of her team's 32 points (or 65.6 percent of the team's production) in West Memphis' 54-32 loss at Paragould.

Amazingly, Hazley kept her team in it through the first half, scoring 16 of her team's 20 points as the Lady Devils trailed just 20-16 at halftime. But it was just too much to ask of the junior point guard the rest of the way as Paragould (17-8 overall, 7-5 in the conference) outscored Hazley and the Lady Devils 34-12 in the second half.

"We're just not getting enough offense out of the rest of our players," said a dejected West Memphis coach Sonja Tate after the game. "Aryah is scoring all the points, but you just can't play a team game and expect one person to do it all."

The loss put a severe damper on the Lady Devils' state tournament hopes. With two games left in the regular season, West Memphis (12-10. 5-7) must win its two games this week and then hope it gets some help in order to secure the fourth and final state tournament berth.

The Lady Devils are two games behind Mountain Home and Paragould, both of whom stand at 7-5. The Lady Devils must beat Greene County Tech on Tuesday at home and then win at Mountain Home on Friday.

Then they have to hope for the best.

The Lady Devils got outrebounded 20-13 at Paragould and made just 9 of 26 field-goal attempts in the first half while the Lady Rams countered with 60 percent shooting for the game.

Still, it took three quarters for the hosts to shake loose from Hazley.

"Hazley's a special player. She's something else," said Paragould head coach Jay Cook. "We knew she would be an issue for us because she can just take over a game. We like to play man-to-man defense, but sometimes you have to swallow your pride and admit there are some players you can't hold one-on-one. We had to play some zone at her."

Twice early in the second half, the Lady Devils came within two points of Paragould, once on a steal from Hazley and then another from two free throws from sophomore Ta'Nya Burnett, which made the score 26-24 Paragould.

But that's when the Lady Rams pulled away.

They built a 37-29 cushion at the end of three quarters, but Paragould outscored the Lady Devils 17-3 in the final quarter to put it away.

"We don't have enough people who say, 'hey, give me the ball,'" said Tate. "It's just tough when you don't have enough players you can depend on."

Burnett provided 4 points for the Lady Devils while Terrica Inmon, Tierra Bradley and Cortasia Hollins all had 2 apiece.

Paragould's Taylor Beasley led all scorers with 18 points while sister Zoey Beasley added 11 and Alex Brangard hit for 8.

Hot-shooting Hurricane delivers blow to Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The West Memphis Lady Devils simply ran into a hot shooting bunch of Jonesboro Hurricanes Tuesday night at Lehr Arena.

Jonesboro sank 7 of its first 10 shots on the way to building an insurmountable lead and a 47-38 victory over West Memphis.

The visitors (16-8 overall, 7-4 in the 5A-East Conference) built a 23-point lead (38-15) by the 5:32 mark of the third quarter and held on for the win despite a furious Lady Devil rally in the fourth quarter.

"We relaxed," said Jonesboro head coach Jodi Christenberry. "We sometimes get off to a good start and we have trouble holding on to that type of effort."

Although the loss dampens the Lady Devils' hopes for a state tournament bid, a fourth-place finish is still possible. The fourth and final spot for the state tournament from the East is currently held by Paragould at 6-5.

The Lady Devils stand 12-9 overall and 5-6 in the conference. They play an all-important game this Friday night at Paragould which in all likelihood will determine the Lady Devils' postseason fate.

Jonesboro's accuracy from the field in the first half (18 of 39), coupled with West Memphis' 9 turnovers in the first quarter and 13 for the half, doomed the hosts.

The Lady Devils found themselves down 38-18 to start the fourth quarter before finally springing to life.

A layup by sophomore Ta'Nya Burnett got the Lady Devils started, followed by another layup by junior guard Aryah Hazley, who led her team with 17 points.

West Memphis started the fourth quarter on a 13-2 run, cutting Jonesboro's lead to 41-33 and still enough time to win (3:36).

But the Lady Hurricane got a crucial three-pointer from junior Tamia Clark and a runner from Kayla Mitchell to push its lead back to 14 (47-33) with 1:59 to play.

"That proved to be the back-breaker for us," said Christenberry. "Those two shots broke (West Memphis') momentum and gave us a lead we felt comfortable with."

The Lady Devils, who outrebounded Jonesboro 18-13, also got 9 points from junior center Tierra Bradley while Cortasia Hollins hit 5 and Burnett scored 4.

Jonesboro's Sunni Martin led all scorers with 18 points, including 4 three-pointers. Kiana Hardaway and Destiny Salary added 8 apiece.

Powerful Nettleton drowns Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

JONESBORO --- The West Memphis Lady Devils simply ran into a buzz-saw Friday night at Nettleton High School.

Elauna Eaton and Mya Love combined for 31 points and the Lady Raiders didn't let up until they had imposed the mercy rule on the West Memphis girls in a 72-33 victory.

With the transfer of Eaton, last season's Most Valuable Player in the Class 6A state tournament for the champion Golden Hurricane of Jonesboro, the Lady Raiders have established themselves as a legitimate contender for the Class 5A title this season.

Nettleton (21-1 overall, 10-0 in the 5A-East Conference) is ranked No. 4 overall in the Arkansas Sports Media girls poll.

"They are a really good team," West Memphis coach Sonja Tate said of Nettleton. "But we didn't do a whole lot to help our cause."

Nettleton ran out to a 25-10 first-quarter lead and didn't stop until the scoreboard read "tilt."

The hosts used a 16-2 run to close out the first half en route to a 45-16 lead at intermission.

Nettleton's 2-3 zone press forced six Lady Devil turnovers in the second quarter during that final spurt.

"We were giving (Nettleton) exactly what they wanted as far as getting out in transition," Tate added. "We didn't go with our game plan."

Eaton led all scorers with 18 points while Love added 13. Nettleton also got 9 points from Wakiyra Daniels and Dasia Young hit for 7.

The Lady Devils were paced, as usual, by junior point guard Aryah Hazley, who had 17 points. From there, it was slim pickings for the Lady Devil offense. 

Senior forward Kenya Freeman and junior center Tierra Bradley hit 6 apiece and Terrika Inmon scored 3.

The Lady Devils (12-8, 5-5) will return home Tuesday night when they face Jonesboro.

Hazley, Lady Devils hold off Searcy bid

By Billy Woods

WM School District

With her team scratching and clawing to work its way back into state tournament contention, West Memphis girls coach Sonja Tate had to rely on her team's desire Tuesday night at Lehr Arena.

It was clearly not one of their better performances when the Lady Devils began the game in a 2-for-16 shooting funk after one full quarter and trailing Searcy by as many as seven points in the first half. 

But junior point guard Aryah Hazley willed her team to a 45-41 victory by pouring in a game-high 23 points.

The win pulled the Lady Devils (12-7 overall, 5-4 in the 5A-East Conference) into a three-way tie for third place in league standing with Mountain Home and Jonesboro.

A loss to Searcy, which came into the game 4-17 and 0-8 in conference play, would have been devastating for Tate's club. Nevertheless, she was more vocal about how unhappy she was with her team's effort rather than the victory.

"We came out with the win...I guess that's the positive," said Tate. "We came out flat-footed. Maybe because it wasn't a big-time (team) we were playing. But we watched video of (Searcy) just before the game and what they did in the game was exactly what we saw on video."

For the second straight game, Hazley provided more than 50 percent of the Lady Devil offense (51.1 percent). She scored all but six of her team's points in the fourth quarter.

"One thing we talked about after the game was how we didn't want to be so one-dimensional on offense," said Tate. "We're relying too heavily on Aryah and teams are going to start doubling her."

Searcy's 2-3 zone defense confounded the Lady Devils all night. They ended the first half making only 5 of 27 shots from the field, although things heated up just a tad after that. West Memphis sank 5 of 19 shots in the second half.

The team's saving grace, however was in the turnover department, where the Lady Devils committed only nine miscues while forcing Searcy into 24 turnovers.

West Memphis also outrebounded the Lady Lions 27-24.

Searcy held a 30-24 lead with 1:37 left in the third quarter before the hosts scored the final six points of the stanza to pull even heading into the final eight minutes.

It was then that Hazley took over the game.

A three-point play by junior center Tierra Bradley with 6:45 to play in the game gave West Memphis the lead for good at 35-32. But it took Hazley's accuracy from the free-throw line to win it for the Lady Devils.

Hazley sank 11 of her 13 free throws in the game, including 8 of 9 in the fourth quarter.

Nursing a 41-36 lead with 1:08 to play in the game, Hazley was knocked to the floor by Searcy's Taylor Burch, who was called for an intentional foul. After sinking both of those free throws for a seven-point Lady Devil lead, the home team was assessed a technical for leaving the bench on the intentional foul.

However, Searcy's best shooter, Alexis Broadway, who paced her team with 20 points, misfired on both of those techs.

From there, West Memphis survived with apt damage control.

"We just kept on grinding it out," Tate added.

Bradley added 8 points for the winners while senior Kenya Freeman provided 5.

Burch tacked on 8 points to the Searcy total and Eliana Oden pumped in 6.

The Lady Devils travel to league-leading Nettleton on Friday night.

Hazley hammers Marion in Lady Devil victory

By Billy Woods

Aryah Hazley was a one-person wrecking ball on Friday night.

The junior point guard accounted for 64 percent of her team's offense in the Lady Devils' 53-49 overtime victory at Marion.

Hazley poured through a game-high 34 points and assisted on a few other West Memphis baskets to single-handedly beat Marion by herself.

"Aryah did a really good job of being under control," said Lady Devils head coach Sonja Tate. "She's put in a lot of work on her shot and mixing things up."

Hazley scored five of her points in overtime, including a three-point play that gave the Lady Devils (11-7 overall, 4-4 in the 5A-East Conference) the lead for good with 1:47 to play with the score 48-47.

She then clinched the game by sinking 3 of 4 free throws in the final 48 seconds of overtime.

"(Hazley) was also very clutch tonight," Tate added.

The trend in West Memphis' last three losses to Marion has been for the Lady Devils to break out on top early, but eventually fade in the end.

The trend reversed a bit on Friday night.

Marion darted out to a 10-1 lead before Hazley got it going from the floor. Hazley hit 15 of her points in the first half as the Lady Devils built a 28-19 advantage at intermission.

But the Lady Patriots (12-10, 4-4) hit the visitors hard at the beginning of the second half by scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter and outscoring West Memphis 18-4 in the stanza to take a 37-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

West Memphis sophomore Ta'Nya Burnett, who although only scored 6 points, made one of the biggest defensive plays of the night for her team. She stole the ball near mid-court and then converted a layup on the other end which preceded a rebound basket by junior center Tierra Bradley to give the Lady Devils a 37-36 lead.

Turnovers nearly cost the Lady Devils the game. The visitors turned it over 22 times to just 9 for Marion.

Down 44-43 and approaching one minute left in the game, the Lady Devils turned it over and allowed Tashlee Milow to tie the game by splitting a pair of free throws. It eventually allowed the game to be sent into overtime.

"It looked like Deja Vu from our last game," said Tate. "We'd get a rebound and just throw it without looking where we were throwing it. We called timeout and I said, 'listen, we have a point guard and we need to get it into our playmaker's hands."

In the extra stanza, Hazley hit two free throws with 1.5 seconds to play to make it a two-possession game (53-49) and it clinched the game for the Lady Devils.

Senior Kenya Freeman added 7 points for West Memphis while Bradley added 4.

Marion was paced by Joi Montgomery and Keiana Delaney, each of whom had 14 points.

The Lady Devils return home Tuesday night to face Searcy.

Cold shooting Lady Devils fall to Mountain Home

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The rim never looked smaller for the West Memphis Lady Devils.

With each attempted shot it seemed the Lady Devils fell deeper into the funk that would define their night on Friday at Lehr Arena. 

The West Memphis girls sank just 2 of their first 24 shots from the field and just 5 of 30 for the entire game in an ugly affair that saw Mountain Home come away with a 24-22 victory.

Granted, Mountain Home wasn't much better at finding the range.

The Lady Bombers 7 of 30 shot from the floor.

The bottom line, however, is that the Lady Devils (10-7 overall, 3-4 in the 5A-East Conference) lost their chance to create some separation from the field of four teams that came into Friday night tied for third place in the conference standings. WMHS, Paragould, Mountain Home and Marion all had 3-3 records before Friday night's games. Marion, Mountain Home and Paragould all came away winners and now the Lady Devils find themselves on the outside looking in with regard to state tournament implications.

"I don't know if you can get any worse than what we did tonight," said Lady Devils head coach Sonja Tate. "We just weren't executing, we were fearful...I don't know."

Despite the frigid shooting, the Lady Devils found themselves in good shape after one quarter, leading Mountain Home (12-8, 4-3) 6-3 heading into the second stanza. But Mountain Home's Payton Huskey drained two three-pointers on successive trips down the floor to help the visitors to a 13-8 halftime lead.

"We kept abandoning the plays we were supposed to run," said Tate. "You just have to have the courage to execute the plays."

Eventually, the Lady Bombers built a nine-point lead (31-22) in the second half, but the West Memphis girls kept chipping away and finally caught Mountain Home.

With a chance to give her team the lead with 19.6 seconds to play in the game, West Memphis' Aryah Hazley, who led all scorers with 16 points (or over 72 percent of her team's offense), split a pair of free throws with the second one missing for a 22-22 score.

Mountain Home ran down the rebound and head coach Dell Leonard called timeout with 11.3 seconds to play.

West Memphis' Tierra Bradley fouled Kate Gilbert with 5.5 seconds left on the clock. Bradley sank both free throws.

With barely enough time to go the length of the floor, Hazley lost control of the ball after she crossed half-court and the ball went out of bounds as the buzzer sounded.

After the game, Tate lamented some crucial missed free throws.

"If we shoot 75 percent (from the free-throw line) in the fourth quarter we win the ball game," said Tate. "We missed four free throws in the fourth quarter."

Both teams went one full quarter without scoring from the field. West Memphis' came in the second quarter and Mountain Home's came in the fourth quarter. In fact, the Lady Bombers were nearly shut out in the final eight minutes, except for Gilbert's free throws at the end and another foul shot by Emma Martin early in the quarter.

West Memphis took decent care of the ball, turning it over just nine times while forcing 15 Mountain Home turnovers, including 7 in the fourth quarter.

Still, it wasn't enough.

After Hazley's 16 points, the rest of the Lady Devil offense was sparse. Bradley scored 3 points and sophomore Ta'Nya Burnett contributed 2.

The Lady Devils take Tuesday night off before playing at Marion on Friday night.

Lady Devils rally in second half for win at Tech

By Billy Woods

WM School District

PARAGOULD --- It wasn't quite as miraculous as their victory here last year, but the West Memphis Lady Devils seemingly rose from the dead here Tuesday night to record a 49-43 victory over Greene County Tech.

Last year, sophomore Aryah Hazley torched Tech with a career-high 42 points to lead the West Memphis girls back from a 10-point deficit after three quarters for a 72-67 overtime win. 

On Tuesday night, the Lady Devils fought back from an 11-point hole late in the second quarter before dominating the Lady Eagles in the second half.

"We regained our composure in the second half," said Lady Devil head coach Sonja Tate. "We just executed offensive plays and played great on defense."

Tate ordered her club into a 2-3 zone defense in the second half and after making four three-pointers in the first half, the Lady Eagles converted only 8 of 21 shots from the field in the final two quarters.

Furthermore, the Lady Devil defense forced seven Tech turnovers in the third quarter and 11 for the second half after the hosts turned it over just four times in the first half.

"We have been practicing a lot on trapping lately," said Tate. "We tried to do it in the first half. We just didn't execute it. We did in the second half."

Hazley didn't enjoy the outing she did a year ago at Tech, but on Tuesday night she scored 15 of her game-high 23 points in the second half. She scored nine points during an 11-2 run late in the third quarter as the Lady Devils (10-6 overall, 3-3 in the 5A-East Conference) took their first lead since 2-0 in the first minute of the game.

Hazley's stickback of her own miss with 2:09 left in the third quarter gave the West Memphians a 29-28 cushion.

The Lady Devils led 34-30 after three quarters.

"When (Hazley's) under control, she's really good," Tate added. "Sometimes she still tries to force things, but we've been on her constantly about playing under control.She's getting better."

Greene County Tech's Brooke Barnes converted a basket from in close with 1:18 to play in the second quarter to give the hosts a 23-12 lead.

The Eagles led 23-14 at halftime.

Ice cold from the field in the first half, the Lady Devils could manage only a 7 of 23 shooting performance.

But in the second half, with Hazley slicing up the Tech defense with her penetrating, the Lady Devils hit on 12 of 22 from the field for a .521 percentage.

"Our shot selection in the second half was way better," Tate commented.

The Lady Devils also outrebounded Tech (9-8, 2-4) 31-18.

A Tierra Bradley layup with 5:50 to play in the fourth quarter gave West Memphis a 50-40 lead, but with 1:42 still to play, the Techsters sliced the lead in half at 45-40 when Barnes, who scored 7 points, got a basket off a steal.

But the Lady Devils calmly sank 4 of 6 free throws in the final 1:08 in the game to seal the decision.

Senior Kenya Freeman added 9 points for West Memphis while Bradley hit 8 and Ta'Nya Burnett scored 6.

Sabrina Kellett paced the Greene County Tech attack with 14 points while Tiffany Gramling chipped in 13.

The Lady Devils return home Friday night to face Mountain Home.

Lady Devils 'Play for Jaay', defeat Paragould

By Billy Woods

WM School District

It was a special night for the West Memphis Lady Devils in ways more than one.

The team came decked out in purple warm-ups giving tribute to fallen teammate Jatava Murray, who was killed over the Thanksgiving holidays in a car crash. The warm-ups read "West Memphis Strong. Play for Jaay."

Murray's parents, David and Sally, were honored after the game in a ceremony at mid-court as the Lady Devils presented them with a signed basketball and a poster team picture with Jatava in it.

The Lady Devils topped it all off with their biggest win of the season, a 38-35 victory Friday night at Lehr Arena over Paragould, which jumbled the standings in the 5A-East  Conference.

"It was definitely a special night and a special win," West Memphis head coach Sonja Tate commented. "A lot of our kids were playing with emotion and they just really brought it all out on the court."

Tate's troops (9-6 overall, 2-3 in the conference) beat the team that held second place in league play. Dropping to 1-4 in the conference would have put the Lady Devils in a hole nearing the midway point of the 5A-East schedule.

In a back-and-forth game that featured two key defensive stops by the Lady Devils, in the end it came down to two free throws by junior point guard Aryah Hazley to seal the win for the Lady Devils.

Hazley led all scorers with 21 points, or 55 percent of the team's offensive output.

"I've had some long talks with Aryah about her role on this team and the leadership aspect of it," said Tate. "As she goes, we go. If she doesn't score we're not winning. She has to embrace that and welcome the challenge to have to do everything."

It was Hazley's basket off a steal with three seconds left that pulled the Lady Devils even with Paragould (13-5, 3-2) at the end of the third quarter. But Paragould's Alex Brengard swished a three-pointer to open the fourth quarter to grab the lead back for the Lady Rams.

The hosts seized the lead for good (36-35) with 2:43 to play in the game on a basket from Tierra Bradley, assisted by Hazley.

Tate's club got two dazzling defensive plays inside the two-minute mark.

The first came on an intercepted pass by sophomore Ta'Nya Burnett and another when Paragould's Kalyssa Hollis missed a shot inside that was heavily contested by Bradley, who also outfought Hollis or the rebound.

With the intent of holding the ball the rest of the way in the hands of Hazley, Tate screamed for a timeout, but instead all she got from the refs was a whistle for a five-second call on Hazley.

On the other end, Hollis was called for double dribble and the Lady Devils had one more shot at holding it.

This time Hazley was fouled with 5.7 seconds to play.

She drained both free throws and all Paragould could manage was a half-court heave that went unanswered.

Senior Kenya Freeman added 7 points for West Memphis while Aniaya Dean and Bradley each scored 4. Paragould's Hollis paced the Ram attack with 15 points.

A few of the Lady Devils poured out their emotions after the game when the ceremony neared.

"I considered Jatava the backbone of the team," Tate said. "When I needed someone put in check, she would always tell me 'Coach I'll talk to her.'  Jatava was a person I could always go to, and I think the rest of the girls also felt that way. She wasn't merely important to us on the court, but off it as well."

Jonesboro downs Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

JONESBORO --- The West Memphis Lady Devils hung close to Jonesboro here on Tuesday night through the first half, but the Lady Hurricane came out smoking hot in the third quarter en route to a 64-37 win.

The Lady Devils (8-6 overall, 1-3 in the 5A-East Conference) played tight defense in the first half, limiting Jonesboro (12-5, 3-1) to a 10 for 28 shooting effort from the floor and trailing just 24-18 at halftime.

But the Lady Hurricane, contrary to their recent play opening the second half according to their head coach, could not seem to miss in the third quarter. The hosts sank 9 of their 11 shots from the field in the third quarter to take control of the game.

"We usually struggle coming out at the half," said Jonesboro head coach Jodi Christenberry. "To come out and play like we did at the start of the third quarter tonight was a big boost."

Jonesboro led 51-25 at the end of the third stanza, and from there it was too much for the Lady Devils to overcome.

The script was flipped at the beginning, however.

Behind a patient offensive attack, controlled by junior point guard Aryah Hazley, the West Memphis girls ran out to a 10-5 lead in the first six-and-a-half minutes.

But the Lady Devils couldn't keep the flow in their favor, hitting on just 7 of 29 shots in the first half and committing 7 first-half turnovers, 5 of which came in the second half when Jonesboro turned every one of them into points on the other end.

With junior center Tierra Bradley and senior forward Kenya Freeman controlling the inside, the Lady Devils outrebounded Jonesboro in the first half 15-11 and for the game, 26-21.

But the difference in the game was the torrid shooting of Jonesboro junior guard Destiny Salary, who led all scorers with 28 points, scored 19 points in the third quarter and missed on only one shot.

"Destiny is just a special player," Christenberry added. "She can do it all, and it's hard to guard somebody like that."

Jonesboro's Kianna Hardaway opened the third quarter by hitting a jumper just inside the three-point arc, but Salary came back on the next possession and made sure her feet were outside the arc, canning a triple to make it 29-18 and the route was on.

Salary followed up that first three-pointer by scoring Jonesboro's next 6 points and 11 of the team's next 13 points.

West Memphis got 10 points from Freeman while Hazley and Bradley each scored 9. Terrica Inmon added 8 points for the Lady Devils.

Jonesboro also got 10 points from senior Sonni Martin and 8 from Talia Clark and 6 off the bench from Brooklyn Dooley.

The Lady Devils will play at home on Friday night against Paragould.

Nettleton defeats Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

It's become a learning season for the West Memphis Lady Devils.

At least that's how interim head coach Sonja Tate sees it.

Plagued by 21 turnovers, including 17 in the first half, the Lady Devils fell to Nettleton 60-43 Friday night at Lehr Arena.

As part of a triple-header that concluded with Memphis East and Rancho Christian (Calif.) Academy playing in front of ESPN2 cameras, the Lady Devils had trouble getting started against Nettleton (14-1 overall, 3-0 in the 5A-East Conference).

"Right now we're just taking it one day at a time," Tate explained. "We're just growing as a team. It's been frustrating for the players who've been here and started for a while, but that's really not too many."

The loss drops West Memphis to 8-5 and 1-2.

Nettleton jetted out to a 19-6 lead by the early moments of the second quarter and the lead reached 46-26 by the 1:32 mark of the third quarter. That signaled the best stretch of ball the Lady Devils played all night.

They went on an 11-2 run and sliced the Lady Raider lead to 48-37.

But Nettleton's Mya Love, who combined with teammate Elauna Eaton for 37 points, quelled the West Memphis momentum by hitting a free throw that triggered a 10-3 run that put the game out of reach for the hosts.

"I was proud of the way we scrapped," Tate added. "They could have folded their tents, but they competed and they did some of the things I've asked them to do in practices."

West Memphis got 15 points from junior point guard Aryah Hazley while sophomore Ta'Nya Burnett continued her impressive play with 13 points. Senior Kenya Freeman had an additional 9 points for the Lady Devils.

Nettleton, one of the favorites for the 5A state championship this season after adding Jonesboro transfer Eaton, got hit just 18 of 33 free throws. But Eaton led all scorers, normally spotting up in the corner where she buried three 3-pointers. She had 22 points.

Love scored 15 and Dasia Young added 9.

The Lady Devils will play again at Jonesboro on Tuesday night.

Burnett sparks Lady Devil victory

By Billy Woods

WM School District

SEARCY  --- With each game, sophomore Ta'Nya Burnett displays athleticism and a growing acumen for defense. On Tuesday night, Burnett burned Searcy with her thievery.

Burnett picked off four passes at the top of the Lady Devil 2-3 zone defense and turned them all into baskets on her way to 16 points to help the West Memphis girls to an easy 62-39 victory over Searcy.

After allowing the Lady Lions to stay within contention through the first eight minutes, Burnett and her defense allowed West Memphis to build an insurmountable lead on the way to the team's first 5A-East Conference win.

West Memphis head coach Sonja Tate decided to play Burnett a few minutes in the preliminary junior varsity game, and she said it led to the rookie's anticipation at the top of the zone.

"I was trying to get (Burnett) a feel for playing there," said Tate. "I think she took advantage of that because she looks real good at the top of that zone because she has the length and the athleticism. I think this was her best game, both offensively and defensively."

It took a three-pointer by junior point guard Aryah Hazley, who led all scorers with 17 points, with three seconds left to give the Lady Devils (8-4 overall, 1-1 in the conference) a 15-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

By halftime, the lead ballooned to 33-23 thanks to 6 points by Burnett and two more steals that led to baskets by Hazley and junior center Tierra Bradley, who came off the bench to score 13 points.

Hazley, last year's leading scorer, has been urged by Tate, a point guard herself during her Hall of Fame playing career, to display more of a pass-first mentality and the move has gotten more of Hazley's teammates involved in the offense.

"I've told (Hazley) that when we go out on the floor that we have fun and play hard and that we're not worried about how many points we're scoring," said Tate. "Sometimes I have to remind her that one mistake should not ruin the rest of her game."

The Lady Devils took their second-quarter momentum into the early moments of the third quarter when they hit Searcy (4-11, 0-2) with a 14-2 run that effectively put the game out of reach.

Once again it was Burnett in the middle of all of it. She scored one basket off an offensive rebound and two other buckets came via layup. The only things that seemed to slow her down were two brief bouts of muscle cramps in her legs that stopped play.

"I don't think those had anything to do with her playing the JV game," Tate said with a smile. "She only played a few minutes in the JV game. But she was very active on the court tonight."

Senior Kenya Freeman added 4 points in a relief role for the Lady Devils.

Searcy was paced by Whitney Davis, who scored 12 points, while Alexa Broadway added 10 and Taylor Branch hit for 9.

The Lady Devils will play Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. at home against highly-ranked Nettleton as part of the ESPN featured night at Lehr Arena.

After the Lady Devils game, the Blue Devil boys will host Nettleton and the evening will be capped off by ESPN 2's broadcast of the Memphis East-Rancho Christian (Calif.) Academy contest, set to tip off at 8 p.m.

Marion girls down Lady Devils

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Last Friday night's game between the West Memphis girls vs Marion went nearly the same way last year's meetings went.

The Lady Devils bolted to an early lead, only to fade in the end and see Marion come out on top.

So it was this time as well.

Marion rallied from an early deficit to defeat the Lady Devils 47-43 at Lehr Arena.

Interim head coach Sonja Tate's troops broke out to leads of 5-0 in the first quarter and 16-11 by the early moments of the second quarter.

The Lady Devils even led at halftime 22-18 before Marion broke a 34-34 tie at the end of three quarters to own the final eight minutes.

"This team is going to have to learn to continue to fight...all four quarters," said Tate. "You can't have mental breakdowns and then not be able to repair it."

The West Memphis girls have not had many smooth moments this season. In fact, it's been more about tragedy than triumph.

The death of teammate Jatava Murray in November shook the program.

Tate's father also recently died.

And before the season even began head coach Shelia Burns was struck with a brain aneurysm. On Friday night, Burns made her first return to West Memphis since being struck down. She was welcomed by dozens of Lady Devil fans, coaches, friends and the current Lady Devil roster.

Burns has regained most of her speech, although she still has a ways to go to regain use of her right hand. Regardless, she has made remarkable progress and her presence at the Marion game was very encouraging to a lot of folks.

The Lady Devils led twice in the fourth quarter, at 39-36 after a layup by Tierra Bradley, who came off the bench to score 8 points. Bradley also stuck back a missed shot with 2:35 to play to give her team its final lead at 41-40.

But Marion's Joi Montgomery, who served as a Lady Devil spoiler last season, did it again to West Memphis. She hit a turn-around jumper from mid-range at the 2:16 mark to give the visitors the lead for good.

The final dagger came in the form of two free throws by Tashlee Milow with 10.5 seconds to play to clinch the win for Marion.

"The final two minutes were crucial against us," said Tate. "We just gotta grow up and play through those things."

Despite the setback, the Lady Devils outrebounded Marion 33-26, but the category that hurt them most was in turnovers, where West Memphis turned it over 18 times to Marion's 12.

The biggest discrepancy in the game, however, was at the free-throw line.

Marion had 27 free-throw attempts to West Memphis' 3.

"I'm not happy about that, but it is what it is and that's just something else you've got to play through," Tate added. "It's not something I want to emphasize."

West Memphis sank 20 of 47 shots from the field while Marion converted 20 of 46.

The Lady Devils will return to action Tuesday night at Searcy before coming home this Friday night to face Nettleton in a game that will begin at 4 p.m. as part of a very special night at Lehr Arena.

ESPN will televise the Memphis East-Rancho Christian (CA) boys game that will begin at 8 p.m. Tickets to both West Memphis games and the Memphis East game are on sale at the West Memphis School District's administrative office and at the Academies of West Memphis main office until the day of the game.

Tickets are $5 apiece.

Hazley takes a tumble, Lady Devils blow out Chicks

By Billy Woods

WM School District

As Aryah Hazley weaved her way through heavy traffic on a full-speed path to the goal, the partisan crowd at Lehr Arena braced for one of her typical electrifying finishes.

Instead, Hazley was fouled hard and she banged hard into the goal support and when she landed hard Lady Devil fans gasped audibly.

The West Memphis guard, who led her team to a 55-32 victory over Blyltheville on Friday night at Lehr Arena, lay on the floor for a few minutes before being helped to the bench.

Her night was over.

Hazley left the arena, holding her ribs, in the arms of a few teammates as she headed to the emergency room. As of press time, it wasn't known what the prognosis was.

However, the Lady Devils (2-1) will move on as they prep for the Christmas holiday tournament schedule.

Hazley, who had 11 points to pace the Lady Devil offense, has evolved into more of a pass-first facilitator instead of the prolific scorer she was all of last season and at the end of her ninth-grade season for the West Memphis varsity.

She assisted on three consecutive field goals for West Memphis' first six points of the second quarter to stretch their lead to 21-6. Hazley ended the evening with 6 assists.

"Just trying to get her calmed down and slow down the game," said West Memphis interim head coach Sonja Tate. "Her being a point guard we want her on the ball, getting everyone involved, versus going one-on-one and scoring at will."

It took the Lady Devils a while to get their first field goal of the game, but center Tericka Inmon's rebound basket at the first-quarter buzzer gave the hosts a 13-4 bulge heading into the second quarter.

That's when Hazley's play-making ability took over.

After senior Kenya Freeman hit a driving layup to open the second quarter, Hazley fed Jamee Gholson, Ta'Nya Burnett and Tierra Bradley for baskets to lead the oncoming onslaught.

"We got a lot of run-outs tonight, something we've been working on in practice," said Tate. "We're looking to get some easy baskets that way, and that's what happened tonight."

West Memphis led 27-13 at halftime and lengthened the lead to 20 points for the first time when Bradley, who scored 6 points, hit a layup with 6:47 to play in the fourth quarter, giving the hosts a 46-26 lead.

"We could have led by more than (20 points) if we'd hit our layups," said Tate. "We missed a lot of layups. We are still a long way from where I want us to be. We just gotta settle down because we're rushing a whole lot handling the ball. That's causing the missed layups."

Cortasia Hollins later sank a layup that gave the West Memphis girls a 51-31 lead with 4:32 to  play in the contest, which sealed the deal.

Gholson added 8 points for the Lady Devils while Bradley and Inmon each scored 6.

Lady Devils battle hard, but fall to Parkview

By Billy Woods

WM School District

LITTLE ROCK --- The West Memphis Lady Devils are still in adjustment mode after two devastating events in their camp the last two months.

First, head coach Shelia Burns suffered a brain aneurysm in October and is still recovering in a rehab facility in Jonesboro.

Second, senior Jatava Murray was killed in an auto accident the day before Thanksgiving.

The Lady Devil hearts are heavy these days, but still they soldiered on here Tuesday night at Parkview High School under interim head coach Sonja Tate.

The Lady Devils battled hard to the end, but fell 54-50 to the Lady Patriots to even their record on the season to 1-1.

"It's been hard for us the last few days," Tate said following the game.

However, the Lady Devils put forth a valiant effort at Parkview, in a game that was decided by turnovers and missed layups on West Memphis' end.

The West Memphis girls found themselves up 50-48 with 59 seconds to play in the game. But Parkview's Kaylan Larry, who led all scorers with 20 points, drove the lane for a basket to tie the score with 40 seconds left. She then put the Lady Patriots on top for good with two free throws with 24.8 seconds left.

Finally, after West Memphis junior guard Aryah Hazley, an all-state choice as a sophomore and last year's leading scorer, missed a shot in traffic on the other end and it eventually led to two free throws with 14.2 seconds left by Parkview's Keylon Harris, which sealed the outcome.

Afterwards, Tate lamented her team's turnovers and missed shots near the basket.

"Like I've always told (the players) if we make our layups and free throws we win games no matter how bad we play," Tate commented. "(Parkview) took care of the ball down the stretch, they made some big baskets and they made their free throws. So...that was the difference in the game."

A first half that saw the Lady Devils outplay Parkview but still trail 24-23 at intermission, was marred by several costly turnovers, mostly on fastbreaks. Plus, Hazley, who is capable of 20-plus points per game, didn't get enough shot attempts.

But the Lady Devils got solid play from emerging sophomore Ta'Nya Burnett, whose athleticism and footwork on defense, kept her team in it all night. She was the linchpin of the team's fourth-quarter resurgence that saw them rally from a two-possession deficit.

Burnett stuck back a missed shot with 4:43 to play to give West Memphis a 41-38 lead. Then she added a free throw to advance the score to 42-38. Amaya Dean's basket with 3:43 to play gave the Lady Devils a 44-38 lead and it looked like the momentum had swung their way.

But Parkview flipped the momentum by going on a 5-0 run from the 2:41 mark to the 1:58 mark.

"A lot of times tonight we played faster than we're capable of playing," said Tate. "I told them not to feel bad about this loss because we didn't play our best and we've been carrying a big burden."

Hazley led the Lady Devil scoring with 13 points while Cortasia Hollins, a junior, added 9. Dean hit for 8 and Burnett scored 7.

Larry's effort was complemented by 16 points from Jordyn Williams and 10 from Dynasty McGraw.

The Lady Devils will see action again this weekend in the Greene County Tech Invitational.

Lady Devils mirror Tate in opening win

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Sonja Tate's first game as interim head coach mirrored her illustrious career at West Memphis High School in the late 1980s.

On Tuesday night at Lehr Arena, the Lady Devils were a blur on the fastbreak, attacked hard on the defensive end and played with emotion in the team's 62-46 victory over Little Rock Central.

All of those superlatives described the way the Hall of Famer Tate played for head coach Ron Gean before she made her way to an All-American career at Arkansas State University and a pro career in the WNBA.

"That was great," said Tate, who is the team's head coach in the interim after head coach Shelia Burns suffered a brain aneurysm in October. After losing her speech and movement on her right side, Burns has made amazing progress in the last few weeks. She has regained her speech and movement. She is still in a rehab facility in Jonesboro.

In the meantime, Tate has apparently put her own stamp on the Lady Devils' outfit.

The West Memphis girls led for nearly the whole game, but Central kept it close. The Lady Devils clung to a 44-42 lead after three quarters before putting on the jets in the final eight minutes.

The team's top inside player, junior center Tierra Bradley, took a nasty fall after being fouled on an offensive rebound. The crowd at Lehr came to a hush as Bradley writhed in pain for a few minutes as Tate left the bench to tend to Bradley.

After she was helped to her feet, Bradley was forced to leave the game because Tate came to her aid without calling a timeout. Her replacement at the free-throw line, senior forward Kenya Freeman, split two free throws.

"T-Baby came down on her ankle and she twisted it," Tate said. "That would have been a big loss for us. I think she'll be OK in a few days."

The Lady Devils proceeded to hit their stride from there, outscoring the Lady Tigers 18-4 in the fourth quarter, not allowing a single field goal along the way.

"Our goal on defense each game is to allow 10 points or less each quarter," Tate stated. "We didn't do that through the first three quarters, but we finally did in the fourth quarter. That was a great job on defense."

Also hitting her stride in the fourth quarter was all-state junior guard Aryah Hazley, who scored a game-high 18 points. She followed up Freeman's free throw with eight of her team's next 14 points to extend the Lady Devil lead to 58-42 with 4:24 left to play.

At times last season, partly out of necessity, Hazley would try to do too much and force things. On Tuesday night, she let the game come to her.

"I sat down before the game and talked to her," Tate said. "We talked about how instead of playing in a big chunk, I wanted her to break it down quarter by quarter. If we need 20 points from you, then this is how we gotta get it. She played very patiently tonight."

Hazley also played her part as the team's distributor, throwing an 80-foot assist to sophomore Ta'Nya Burnett, who scored 10 points.

Freeman and junior guard Jamee Gholson added 9 points apiece for the Lady Devils while Bradley had 6.

The Lady Devils will return to action on Nov. 27 at Little Rock Parkview before playing in the Greene County Tech Invitational Nov. 29-Dec. 1.

Lady Devils open new season Tuesday at home

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The West Memphis Lady Devil basketball season opens Tuesday night at Lehr Arena, but one familiar face will not be on the bench.

Shelia Burns, the 22-year head coach of the Lady Devils, suffered a brain aneurysm one day in early October before practice. After a few weeks of not being able to move her right side and not being able to speak, Burns has made tremendous progress in the last few weeks and is progressing in a rehab facility in Jonesboro. She has regained her speech and most of her movement on the left side.

So, as the Lady Devils host Little Rock Central on Tuesday night, they will do so without Burns and with interim head coach Sonja Tate, who was hired this season to be Burns' assistant.

"I go to visit Coach Burns every week and we're just going to continue to pray for her and be thankful that she's made great progress," said Tate, a former Lady Devil standout and a 2015 West Memphis Sports Hall of Fame inductee.

"Shelia has told me every time I go see her that I'm supposed to be here," Tate continued. "It's so unfortunate for Shelia, but she's doing well. She's battling hard. In the meantime, it's going to be a very different situation for me, but I'm confident we'll have a good season."

Tate will welcome back plenty of experience from last year's 16-15 team that advanced to the final of the 6A-East Conference tournament.

Junior point guard Aryah Hazley leads the way after pouring in a team-leading 17 points per game to go along with 4 assists and 3 steals per contest.

"Aryah has been stepping up in practice these last several days," Tate said. "I've been talking to her a lot about how to be a leader for the team. She's a great talent and a great scorer."

Also returning from a starting role last year is senior forward Kenya Freeman, who averaged 9 points and 7 rebounds per game.

"Kenya's very strong and she is a pretty good athlete," Tate said. "We need her to be a force under the basket for us."

Freeman will get plenty of help in the pivot from junior center Tierra Bradley, who led the Lady Devils in rebounding last year with 11 per game while also scoring 6 points per game.

Another junior to be counted on will be Jamee Gholson, who along with the other aforementioned players earned all-conference honors last season.

"The talent is definitely there," said Tate. "It's exciting to see. But it's going to have to be more than just talent for us to win."

Tate said with the group she has this year she would like to play at a fast pace on offense.

"Yes, because we've got a big in Kenya who can really run," Tate stated. "She runs like a guard. (Bradley) can get the ball off the board to Aryah, who is a great ball-handler. We've got the pieces to do all this."

The Lady Devils will follow up Tuesday night's season-opener at home with a Nov. 27 contest at Little Rock Parkview before playing in the Greene County Tech Invitational Nov. 29-Dec. 1.

All-time great Tate returns as assistant

By Billy Woods

WM School District

Hall of Famer Sonja Tate is headed back to her alma mater.

Tate, widely considered the best player in school history, has been hired as an assistant coach for the West Memphis Lady Devils basketball program. She will be the chief assistant for long-time head coach Shelia Burns.

"It's always been my dream to come back to West Memphis High School," said Tate. "I'm looking forward to the challenge of helping the players achieve their goals as basketball players."

Tate was among nine inaugural inductees to the West Memphis Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. She was also inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

In fact, Tate and Blue Devil boys head coach Marcus Brown were inducted in both of the aforementioned Halls of Fame in the same years.

"I've always held a lot of respect for Marcus and we talk basketball all the time," said Tate. "It's ironic that we were inducted in both of those Halls of Fame together and now we're coaching at our high school alma maters."

Tate led the Lady Devil basketball team, coached by Ron Gean, to the semifinals of the state tournament in both her junior and senior seasons in 1988 and '89 respectively. She signed to play at Arkansas State University, where she starred for four years. She is the school's all-time leading scorer and she is in the top five in six offensive categories in the ASU all-time record books.

Tate said she is familiar with the Lady Devil roster, which is led by returning starters Aryah Hazley and Tierra Bradley, both juniors.

"I came to a couple of games last year and obviously we have a phenomenal point guard (Hazley)," said Tate. "I told her on a few occasions that maybe one day I'll get to coach her. We have a lot of talent returning for this coming year."

Tate, who led the ASU women to the WNIT her senior season, played five seasons of professional ball. She was among the first players in the fledgling American Basketball League in the 1990s, playing for the Columbus Quest, which won two league championships.

She also played two years in the WNBA for the Minnesota Lynx.

"I'm really looking forward to working with Coach Burns," Tate added. "I just hope the girls realize I'm here to help. Basketball can be a vehicle to take you where you want to go as far as dreams. That's my biggest objectives, to help Coach Burns and to help lead the players."

Tate wasn't only a star basketball player at West Memphis and ASU. She was one of the top track athletes at both schools. Tate excelled for the Lady Devil track and field team in sprints and both the long jump and the high jump. She also ranked among the top Division 1 athletes in the nation while at Arkansas State.

"I'd like to say that I've got some deep roots in West Memphis," she stated. "I have a lot of people to thank. I didn't get to where I was in college without help along the way. Coach Gean and Coach (Grafton) Moore were very big influences for me in high school."

Tate said she'll big one of the biggest advocates for Blue Devil athletics.

"We've had so many great ones come through West Memphis," Tate said. "There are too many to name, but wherever you go in Arkansas, West Memphis garners respect all over the state. I think we'll continue to be at the forefront in producing athletic talent and also for winning teams."

Lady Devils earn postseason honors

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The West Memphis Lady Devils established themselves as the team of the future this season as three of the team's sophomores landed on postseason honors lists.

Sophomores Aryah Hazley, Tierra Bradley and Jamee Gholson earned postseason honors along with junior Kenya Freeman and seniors Kyla Proctor and Tatyana Burks.

Hazley, one of the top sophomores in the state, made the all-state team along with Freeman. Gholson, Burks and Proctor made the all-conference team.

Hazley led the Lady Devils in scoring with 17 points per game while also averaging 4 assists and 3 steals per game.

Freeman put up 9 points and 7 rebounds per game.

Bradley led the team in rebounding with 11 caroms per game and she scored 6 points per game. Burks, who had two 30-point-plus games this season, averaged 6 points per contest.

The Lady Devils finished with a 16-15 overall record and 11-8 in the 6A/5A-3 Conference.

"It was a learning year for us," said Burns. "The sophomores are our future. We saw a lot of growth and maturity in them, and then you throw in Kenya Freeman among them...we'll have a lot of experience back. Hopefully that is what we're building on."

Lady Devil season ends with 66-44 loss

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The West Memphis Lady Devils ran into a torrid-shooting team from Lake Hamilton Friday night as they fell 66-44 in the quarterfinals of the Class 6A state tournament at Lehr Arena.

The Lady Devils (16-15) dug themselves an early 10-0 hole and the shooting totals from the first eight minutes told the whole story. West Memphis made only 2 of 14 shots from the floor while Lake Hamilton almost could not miss, sinking 8 of 10 shots in the first quarter to take a commanding 21-5 lead.

Lake Hamilton (19-13) shot like that in the first half of their first-round game against Jacksonville, but the Lady Wolves tailed off significantly in the second half as Jacksonville rallied to within seven after trailing by 20 at one point.

No such luck for the Lady Devils on Friday night.

The closest the West Memphians could get after the first quarter was 38-26 in the opening moments of the third quarter when sophomore Ayrah Hazley, who led all scorers with 20 points, hit a layup.

But Lake Hamilton shot the score back up to 54-31 by the end of three quarters before applying the mercy rule midway through the fourth quarter.

The Lady Wolves shot at a .736 clip in the first half on 14 of 19 from the field.

Jenny Peake led the winners with 17 points while Grace Tedder pumped in 16.

The Lady Devils also got 7 points from Tatyana Burks.

Lady Devils fall to Marion

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The flip side was the same as side A for the West Memphis Lady Devils Saturday in the 6A-East Conference tournament championship game.

A few weeks ago at Patriot Arena, the Lady Devils led for most of the game only to implode in the fourth quarter in a 60-50 loss to Marion. It happened again in the same arena on Saturday as the Lady Patriots took a 61-48 victory to win their second straight conference tournament title.

With the loss, the Lady Devils (16-14) get the conference's No. 2 seed for next week's 6A state tournament at Lehr Arena. The West Memphis girls will play on Friday (March 2) at 7 p.m. against the winner of Thursday's game between the No. 3 seed from the West and the No. 6 seed from the East.

"It was the same story," West Memphis head coach Shelia Burns bemoaned. "We stopped communicating on defense and (Marion) just simply outplayed us."

The Lady Devils played solidly through three quarters, building leads as large as seven points in the first half and turning it over only four times through three quarters. But they suffered eight turnovers in the fourth quarter alone.

"The pressure stepped up on us," Burns added. "And we didn't handle (Marion's) pressure. We didn't have a leader that would just step up and calm things down for us. I had to use all my timeouts just to calm us down."

West Memphis led at halftime 27-25, but the momentum slowly swung Marion's way. Angel Davie, who scored 9 points, hit a three-pointer with 2:16 to play in the third quarter to give her team its first lead since it was 4-3 barely over a minute-and-a-half into the game.

Marion only connected on 2 of 9 field goals in the fourth quarter, but it drained 14 of 20 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

"We knew they were good free-throw shooters," Burns stated. "That's the one area that they are better at than us."

Marion outscored the Lady Devils 10-3 in the final 29.3 seconds of the game.

The Lady Devils, who outrebounded their counterparts 33-32, got 13 points apiece from sophomores Aryah Hazley and Tierra Bradley while fellow soph Jamee Gholson hit 9 and junior Kenya Freeman scored 7.

Marion also got 9 points from Tashlee Milow and Mikiya McAdory.

Lady Devils upset Jonesboro

By Billy Woods

WM School District

For several days before the game, West Memphis girls head coach Shelia Burns said she felt very confident going into Tuesday night's 6A-East Conference semifinal game against top-seeded Jonesboro.

Turns out, her feelings were well-founded after her Lady Devils upset Jonesboro 72-71. The Lady Devils (16-13) will play at Marion Saturday at 2 p.m. for the tournament championship.

"This is probably one of my highs in the last decade," said Burns, the Lady Devils head coach since the 1995-96 season. "Obviously we were the underdog. To knock off No. 1 and play such high-level basketball...it was just a positive to see."

Burns' club battled back from a 44-33 deficit in the second half behind a hot-shooting fourth quarter, which saw the Lady Devils make 6 three-pointers. Sophomore Aryah Hazley, who scored 21 points, hit an NBA-range three-pointer to tie the score 68-68 with two seconds to play in regulation and send it into overtime.

From there, Hazley hit two out of four free throws, good enough to give West Memphis the victory as the visitors outscored the Lady Hurricane 4-3 in the extra period.

The Lady Devils made 13 of their 16 shots from the floor in the fourth quarter.

Lady Devil senior guard Tatyana Burks led her team's scoring with 22 points while junior Kenya Freeman turned in a solid game with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Kyla Proctor, another senior and whose defense in the fourth quarter aided the win, hit 6. Sophomore Tierra Bradley hit only 4 points, but she dominated the boards with 12 rebounds.

Burns said Proctor's defense on Jonesboro's Kayla Mitchell, who led her team with 21 points, 17 of which came in the second half, was pivotal.

"We went man-to-man and we put Kyla on Mitchell and those last few minutes she did a great job of defending Mitchell," said Burns.

Elana Eaton of Jonesboro led all scorers with 23 points while Brooklyn Dooley added 16. Eaton only scored 7 in the second half.

Last time the two teams met, Jonesboro head coach Jody Christenberry used an effective 3-2 zone to shut down the Lady Devil tandem of Hazley and Bradley. It worked well enough for a 47-42 Lady Hurricane win.

Christenberry used the 3-2 again on Tuesday night, but not with as much success.

"(The 3-2) left the off players, like (Burks) and Kyla open," said Burns. "We ran a three-flat against it and (Jonesboro) was double-teaming (Bradley). That left the baseline open, and it happened to be (Burks). She was on fire.

"Burks played the two-guard slot to perfection. She was really focused and concentrated. Mitchell kept taking us to the basket in the fourth quarter and that's when I put a taller player on her in Kyla. It was a good overall team win."

The Lady Devils and Marion split their two regular-season games with West Memphis winning the first one 45-37 and Marion taking the second game 60-50.

"We're confident we can play (Marion) point for point," said Burns. "It's just a very high emotional game for both teams so it's very fun. We just have to stay focused and concentrate on our game plan."

The boys tournament championship game will be played at Lehr Arena at 6 p.m. with the Blue Devils facing off against No. 2 seed Jonesboro.

Lady Devils have no trouble with Jacksonville

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The West Memphis Lady Devils clinched a berth in the Class 6A state tournament, and given the way they have played lately and the fact that the tournament is at Lehr Arena, they may be a very tough out.

The Lady Devils (15-13) ran up a 24-point lead at one point and then let Jacksonville back in the game before holding on for a 64-53 victory Saturday in the first round of the 6A-East Conference tournament.

West Memphis' girls will travel to Jonesboro Tuesday night to play the top-seeded Lady Hurricane in the semifinals.

Head coach Shelia Burns' club fed off last Thursday's solid outing in a 66-58 loss at Nettleton, one of the top Class 5A teams in the state, and threatened to run the Lady Titans off the Lehr court.

"We played good at Nettleton and I thought we played well tonight except for that stretch at the end of the third quarter into the fourth quarter," said Burns. "I like the way we're playing right now."

The Lady Devils never trailed against Jacksonville (13-15), but they led only 28-21 at halftime. They took a cue from their boys counterparts in the third quarter, though. West Memphis came out of the locker room at halftime and went on an 18-3 run to start the second half to stretch their lead to 46-23 with 2:16 to play in the third quarter.

"That was as well as we've played all year," Burns added.

Figuring the 23-point lead was at least enough to give her starters some rest, Burns subbed out three starters and Jacksonville pounced on the opportunity.

TheTitans immediately scored the next 11 points thanks to five turnovers over the next six West Memphis possessions.

Asked if she was worried at that point, Burns said, "Yeah, I was worried. There was still plenty of time to play, but I felt we just needed to get back to doing what we'd been doing."

Jacksonville sliced the Lady Devils lead to 52-44 with 4:53 to play.

A free throw and a basket off a steal by senior guard Tatyana Burks and a layup by sophomore center Tierra Bradley righted the West Memphis ship, stretching the hosts' lead to 56-44 with 3:09 left.

Burks and Bradley each scored 10 points. But the Lady Devil offense, as it had most of the regular season, was carried by sophomore point guard Aryah Hazley, who paced the winners with 20 points.

But it was Bradley who dominated the lanes with several rebounds, blocked shots and great outlet passes leading to Lady Devil transition baskets.

"We had an officiating crew we haven't seen before this year and we had to tell them that (Bradley) goes straight up at 6-foot-4 and she doesn't jump," Burns said, referring to the blocked shots. "T-Baby gets called for a lot of fouls when she blocks shots, but if you haven't seen her before you have to be aware that she doesn't jump into the opposing player."

Two other Lady Devils also played a huge role in the victory. Senior Kyla Proctor and junior Kenya Freeman each scored 9 points.

Jacksonville's Shymaryia Christopher was the game's top scorer with 26 points while Deshundra Shockley chipped in 13.

The Lady Devils offset 20 turnovers by outrebounding Jacksonville 39-30-. They connected on 14 of 24 shots in the first half and 10 of 25 in the second half.