Blue Devil ninth-grader wows Marion in WM win

9:59 AM (2 minutes ago)

By Billy Woods

WM School District

The reins were taken off West Memphis' Chris Moore Tuesday night and the ninth-grade sensation took no prisoners.

The 6-5 Blue Devil freshman had game-high totals of 22 points and 13 rebounds and his two free throws with 1.1 seconds to play gave his team a 50-48 victory over the Marion Patriots.

"Ninth-grader? That boy ain't no ninth-grader," Marion head coach Irving Clay said in disbelief after the game. "He has the motor. He has what they're looking for at the next level."

For the first time in program history, Blue Devil head coach Larry Bray elevated a ninth-grader to his high school squad. Bray somewhat eased Moore into the competition by bringing him off the bench, although Moore saw high-leverage minutes through the first half of the season.

But on Tuesday night, Bray started Moore for the first time, and it proved to be pivotal for the Blue Devils (12-2 overall, 5-1 in the 5A/6A-East Conference).

Moore dominated the paint area, where Marion sophomore star Timothy Ceasar, who is three inches taller than Moore, had so much trouble guarding him that he fouled out of the contest with 2:34 left in the game.

Marion (8-5, 3-3) trailed for most of the game, although the Blue Devils' largest lead was a mere seven points.

Patriot senior Shaun Doss swished a 10-foot jumper with two Blue Devils in his face with 7 seconds to play to tie the score 48-48.

But two halfcourt passes by the Blue Devils as soon as the ball was pulled out of the chords got it to a waiting Moore near the basket and all the Pats could do was foul him, which they did.

Moore's first free throw bounded high off the back of the rim and into the basket, drawing a sigh of relief from the West Memphis contingent.

His second touched nothing but net.

All Marion had left was an unanswered Hail Mary heave.

"I was fine with Chris at the line at the end of the game," said Bray. "We work all the time in practice with situational free-throw shooting...score tied up, you got one (shot). We try to have them mentally prepared."

Marion led 24-22 at halftime and its last lead was 26-22 when Doss, who led his team with 18 points, drained a mid-range jumper less than a minute into the third quarter.

The sloppy start by his team got Bray's attention.

"We turned the ball over too much," the Blue Devil chief stated. "We also have to know when to shoot and who's going to shoot. Actually, a lot of things we did tonight were uncharacteristic for us."

West Memphis took over from there as Moore scored seven straight points on an array of moves deep in the blocks.

Ceasar picked up his fourth foul with 6:28 to play and exited the game until 3:30 was left.

West Memphis senior Demarious Hudson canned a three-pointer from the baseline with 5:34 to play in the game to give the visitors their biggest lead at 42-35.

But Marion tied it on two Doss foul shots with 4:47 to play and the Blue Devils regained the lead on a layup from Moore.

Clay called time out as his team had the ball with less than 40 seconds to play and the Pats down 48-46. Doss got the ball out of the timeout and attacked the rim, where two Blue Devil defenders awaited with their arms outstretched.

Doss rose above both and sank a hanging mid-range jumper, sending the Marion crowd into delirium.

The Blue Devils wasted no time inbounding the ball.

"We sort of kept our cool right there," Bray admitted.

Moore was firmly planted inside the paint area and the Blue Devils hit him with a perfect pass.

"If you can keep (Moore) on the floor, (West Memphis) can go a long way," Clay said.

Zachary Byrd, reinstated into the starting lineup, added 10 points for West Memphis while Kelsey Hubbard hit two treys for 6 points and Tevin Mosley chipped in 5.

Marion also got 10 points from Kamari Marrs while Ceasar had 8 and Martinez Harper pitched in 6.