Porter's 37 not enough as SCC falls in opener

NEW MADRID -- Despite 27 first half points for Scott Central's Otto Porter, the Scott County Central Braves lost their season opener to the North Little Rock Charging Wildcats on the first day of the New Madrid County Central Riverbend Classic on Friday, 68-60.

The Braves rode the 6-9 senior's dominance to a 42-35 halftime lead but was slowed by a change in the Wildcats' defense. The switch to a 1-3-1 halfcourt zone defense riddled Scott Central to a tune of 18 second half points.

"We just didn't move the basketball around like we were supposed to," Scott Central head coach Kenyon Wright said about the second half. "We came out stagnant. We came out and just quit. All five of them died together out there. They didn't step up and keep going and keep pushing themselves like they did in the first half.

"They looked like they just quit playing."

Porter, who led all scorers with 37 points, was held to 10 points throughout the last two quarters after blistering North Little Rock in the first half. Porter was given little in the likes of support as Dominique Porter was the Braves' second leading scorer with five.

"Looking at the scorecard, nobody else stepped up a put the ball in the basket for us," said Wright. "Of course, we didn't get too many open shots because we didn't move like we were supposed to."

"We wasn't moving on our offense at all. Nobody was moving, cutting or going through like they was supposed to. Nobody was putting any points on the board."

Scott Central held a 51-42 lead during the middle stages of the third quarter. Lead by North Little Rock's Cody Ware and Chris Campbell, the Wildcats charged back with a 16-0 run that extended into the first minute of the fourth quarter. The Wildcats finally took over just before the buzzer sounded to indicate the end of the third quarter when Campbell, a 6-5 senior, sunk his second of three, 3-pointers to give his team a 52-51 advantage.

The Braves went without a field goal for a stretch of eight minutes. By that time, they were down 63-54.

"You get a team with that much talent and you get them down you have to put them away. You have to be able to put someone like that away. We had them in the first half and had them contained. They were able to get a little bit of excitement going and they took off with it."

Reggie Bryles paced North Little Rock with 22 points while Campbell and Ware added 17 and 15 respectively.

North Little Rock 15 20 17 16 -- 68

Scott Central 24 18 9 9 -- 60

NORTH LITTLE ROCK (68) -- Cody Ware 15, Reggie Bryles 22, Thomas Alexander 6, Chris Campbell 17, Donovan Coleman 2, Cameron Williams 4. FG 26, FT 4-8, F 16. (3-pointers: Ware 2, Bryles 3, Alexander 1, Campbell 3. Fouled out: none.)

SCOTT CENTRAL (60) -- Stewart Johnson 4, Trey Johnson 4, Reggie Woodson 2, Lemarcus Steward 4, Otto Porter 37, Dominique Porter 5, Calvin Porter 4. FG 23, FT 14-18, F 11. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none.)