Late run lifts West Memphis over NMCC

New Madrid County Central's William Bledsoe has his shot blocked by West Memphis' Demarcus McVay Friday afternoon. (David Jenkins, Staff) [Click to enlarge]

NEW MADRID -- Two costly turnovers towards the later stages of the fourth quarter by New Madrid County Central gave the West Memphis Blue Devils a chance to pull away for a 59-49 win on Friday night at the 15th annual Riverbend Classic.

Two steals were turned into four points by the Blue Devils which aided their 10-point advantage at the end of the game.

"That's how you know they are a good team," NMCC head coach Travis Day said. "When we made a mistake they made us pay for it. The mistakes we did have were the ones I knew we were going to make,"

Even with most of their players coming straight off the football field, NMCC's defense looked to be in mid-season form. It was a defensive struggle for the most part in the first half after a 7-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and an 18-16 advantage at the half, both by the Blue Devils.

"I loved our defense, the way it looked, for three-and-a-half quarters," Day said. "We played hard and got after it."

That defense kept the Eagles close for most of the game as the 36-32 third quarter score would indicate. However, Day said that conditioning caught up with NMCC in the fourth quarter which enabled West Memphis to gain a sizable lead with time ticking away.

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