Friday night, the 7A-Central leading Northside Grizzlies had relatively little trouble in their Homecoming game.

If the Grizzlies want to maintain their hold on the conference, next week may tell the tale.

Northside positioned itself for the pivotal week by scoring 26 of the first 30 points in Friday’s game against Little Rock Catholic. The Grizzlies went on to a 61-43 win at Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse.

“We’re not going to look (ahead) to any game, it’s one game at a time,” Northside coach Eric Burnett said. “Yes, we are in first right now, but that doesn’t mean anything. We’ve still got a lot of ball to play and we’ve just got to take it one game at a time and try to get better each game.

“I thought we did a good job defensively. We didn’t let them just hit us with one or two passes and score; we made them pass the ball five or six times at times to make that clock run, but I was really pleased with our defense.”

The Grizzlies (18-6, 9-1) stayed a game ahead of North Little Rock for first place. On Tuesday, Northside travels to face Conway before coming back home next Friday for a showdown with NLR.

Northside was tied 2-2 early in Friday’s game before seizing control. The Grizzlies broke the tie when senior Isaiah Joe converted a three-point play.

Fellow senior Kentrell Jacobs then went to work. He scored the team’s next nine points, including making a pair of 3-pointers as the Grizzlies extended their lead to 10 points, 14-4.

Northside was far from being done.

The Grizzlies then knocked down four consecutive 3's, two of those courtesy of junior Javion Releford. Senior guard Noah Slater, who started Friday’s game, finished off an 18-0 run with a 3 of his own as Northside led 26-4 a minute into the second quarter.

“That was my first start of the year, and to describe it, it was very exciting for me to get the start, and to experience that and 7A basketball,” Slater said. “I just wanted to go out and play hard, and that’s what I did.

“I just tried to do whatever I can to keep the energy up and just keep things rolling.”


Northside went on to lead by as many as 24 points by halftime, as a long-distance 3 from Jacobs made it 31-7. The Grizzlies hit seven treys in the first half as they shot 50 percent from the field in that span, leading 37-19 at halftime.

Jacobs ended up with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting and four 3's. Joe added 10 points, made all five of his free-throw attempts and finished with three steals.

Northside also out-rebounded Catholic (7-15, 1-9) by a 37-21 margin. Kendall Myers and Jaylin Williams each grabbed six boards for the Grizzlies.

Northside 59, Mount St. Mary 31

GIRLS — The Lady Bears remained tied for the 7A-Central lead with North Little Rock with Friday’s win, setting the scene for a pivotal week coming up. Northside (21-2, 9-1) travels to third-place Conway on Tuesday before returning home next Friday to face NLR.

Northside started five seniors on Friday (Cierah Carey, Destiny O’Neal, Brenna Cooksey, Alexis Evans and Sydney Green), and they contributed to an early 12-0 lead. Green scored the game’s first six points.

The Lady Bears then outscored MSM in the first quarter, 21-0.


Northside later built a 29-4 advantage in the second quarter on a three-point play from sophomore Quinisha Tillery. The Lady Bears then went up by 30 before halftime, 36-6, as sophomore Keith Tampus hit a 3 and fellow sophomore Eriel West followed with a jumper.

Lady Bear junior forward Sara Bershers scored her team’s first 10 points in the second half, and went on to lead all scorers with 14.

Alison Allgood had 10 points for MSM (2-20, 1-9).


