By Tony Burns
Sports Editor
Senior guard Viraj Vora got West Side Christian off to a good start.
Sophomore Stephfan Tabe led the way in finishing it Tuesday as the Warriors upended Arkansas Christian Academy 60-33 at the Warrior Center.
West Side won the senior girls game 44-10.
Tabe pumped in 29 points with 12 rebounds for the Warriors, who improved to 4-3 on the season.
He scored 16 in the second half as he out dueled the Knights’ Taylor Sanders in the paint.
Tabe had one of his first shot attempts blocked and then put on a pump fake clinic around the basket.
“Sanders is an all-state player in our league. He’s had some pretty big games,” said West Side coach Randall Miller. “Stephfan took it as a personal challenge and took it to him on the glass. We knew we could get him in the air, pump faking him, and Stephfan worked him over a little bit down there and frustrated him.
“I was proud. I thought we played tough the whole game. They got physical late and I thought we kept our composure.”
Vora scored seven of his 11 points in the first quarter as the Warriors took an 11-6 advantage.
A 13-0 run, keyed by back-to-back 3-pointers from Zackley Pearson, opened up a 28-11 cushion with 3:41 left in the second quarter.
The Knights, from Bryant, cut the deficit to 30-16 at the half after a four-point play by David Dunn.
West Side led 43-29 going into the fourth and then spread the floor over the final three minutes. Tabe drove to the basket for lay-ups and Vora went 4-for-4 at the line down the stretch.
Miller said defensive rebounding from Tabe, Tucker Williams and others was key for the Warriors.
“We’ve got to hold teams to one shot. We’ve got some young guys that go in and take up some minutes just blocking out and taking care of the ball,” Miller said. “Until late, I thought they didn’t get many second chance points at all. Holding them to one shot and then our recipe all year has been Stephfan and Viraj and Zach (Scriber) be aggressive and try to get us a lead and then spread ‘em out and lets finish it.
“I thought we did a pretty good job finishing it off.”
Defensively, Scriber held the Knights’ point guard, Keyun Taylor, to just two points.
“That little guard is a transfer from Parkview. He’s really quick, gets into the lane and they have about three shooters they kick to. He just kept him out of there,” said Miller, who also credited his own point guard.
“Viraj just controls the game. He gets defensive rebounds, controls tempo, gets us a shot we’re looking for. He’s aggressive when he needs to be and slows it down when he needs to.”
The Knights actually went out of their way to keep the ball out of Vora’s hands in the second half. The Warriors went to more of a team ball-handing attack until Vora was able to get open.
“Zach can do it. He does a good job and he’s super quick. So, I trust him with it, too,” said Miller. “And, John Wylie, a sophomore, had some times where he was tough with it when they came after him.”
Pearson finished with 11 points, including three 3-pointers.
Sanders scored 13 for the Knights while Dunn contributed 12.
The Lady Warriors improved to 7-1 on the season after a senior girls game that was over early.
West Side scored the first 30 points of the game and led 35-3 at the half.
“We’ve been working on blocking out. I thought we blocked out well tonight,” said Miller,” who played his entire bench.
The Lady Warriors didn’t score in the third and Arkansas Christian Academy closed the deficit to 37-7.
Lauren Land led the Lady Warriors with 14 points and six rebounds. Olivia Voss scored eight with five rebounds. Hannah Miller chipped in with six points.
Cassidy Goddard scored eight of her team’s 10 points.
MONTICELLO 62,
SMACKOVER 33
MONTICELLO - The Lady Bucks fell to the Lady Billies on the road Tuesday.
Jordyn White led Smackover with eight points while Camree Jones and Sharnes McGhee each scored seven.
Taylor David led Monticello with 13.
Monticello won the junior girls game 32-27.
Jamiya Murphy scored 11 points for Smackover with Laiylah Gatson adding five. Jawanna Parks led the Billies with 12.
MONTICELLO 67,
SMACKOVER 55
MONTICELLO - The Buckaroos dropped a matchup on the road Tuesday in Monticello.
Peyton Jones had 14 points for the Bucks, who were playing their season opener.
Devaario Ballard led the Billies with 19.
EL DORADO FRESHMEN FALL
MONTICELLO - El Dorado's freshman boys basketball team fell at Monticello 42-39 Monday night.
The Wildcats led 25-20 at intermission, but Monticello rallied to take a 33-31 lead after three periods before hanging on to win.
James Hartsfield III led the Wildcats with 19 points, while Jarmel Love added 13 points and Isaiah Ramey chipped in with five points.
El Dorado (4-3) returns to action on December 8 against Sheridan.