Wampus Cats bounce back from upset

CONWAY — Conway bounced back from a loss in the 7A-Central Conference opener, rolling past Cabot 80-66 Friday night at Wampus Cat Gymnasium. North Little Rock upset the Wampus Cats (11-2, 1-1) 69-64 Tuesday night on the road. "I told (them) we had to hold serve at home," Conway coach James Bates said. "We didn't want to start off 0-2. We responded well." Senior post player Jarvis Garner, who played a limited role last year, led the charge with 22 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks. Bates said it was Garner's 10th double-double in 13 games. "His game has gone up another level," Bates said. "Your senior year, you want to do that. His hard work is paying off." Sophomore Micah Delph, the son of Arkansas great Marvin Delph, scored 21 points. Kenyon McNeaill scored 15 and Preston Purifoy added 13 points off the bench as he continues to recover from knee surgery. "He's still not able to do the things he can," Bates said. "I think he's three or four games away from being at full strength. "It was his second game back tonight, and we were in so much better flow as a team. I think he got into the flow as well. That's gotta give him some confidence." Conway led 55-47 after the third quarter and took control in the opening moments of the final period. Delph drilled a three-pointer and scored on an easy layup in the first two minutes, giving the Wampus Cats a 60-47 lead. Arkansas State signee Adam Sterrenberg tried to keep Cabot (10-4, 0-1) in it. He hit back-to-back threes with 4:20 to play to cut the lead to 65-57. Austin Johnson who scored a game-high 26 points, continued the run with a short hoop and Sterrenberg, who scored 19 points capped it off with a dunk that trimmed the lead to 67-62 with more than three minutes left. However, Garner responded with a conventional three-point play on Conway's next possession, and the Wampus Cats hit six free throws to preserve the win. Delph sizzled in the first quarter scoring nine points and leading the Wampus Cats on a 10-0 run that gave Conway a 19-8 lead after the first quarter. Johnson helped Cabot get back in the game in the second quarter, hitting two threes, and Cabot only trailed 37-31 at halftime. Miles Monroe scored 15 points for the Panthers. Lady Panthers 47, Lady Cats 45 Cabot led nearly the entire game, but needed some last-second heroics from Amber Rock to seal a 47-45 win against Conway. Rock, a junior reserve guard, drove the lane with 4.5 seconds left and lost control of the ball as she was scooping it to the basket. The ball bounced high of the glass and dropped through to give the Lady Panthers (11-2, 1-0) the win. The loss drops Conway to 9-5, overall, and 0-2 league play. Stephanie Glover led Cabot with 15 points. Rock came off the bench to score 11 and Arkansas-Little Rock signee, Shelby Ashcraft, also added 11. Super sophomore Taylor Gault scored 13 points, leading Conway. Na'Dra Robertson added 11 points and Jasmyn Wilkins chipped in 10. Conway held its only lead of the game (9-7) with 2:13 to play in the first quarter. Cabot led 10-9 after the first period and held a 27-21 halftime advantage after leading by as many eight in the second quarter. Cabot led 37-32 heading into the fourth quarter and tried to milk the clock in its first two possessions. Gault stole a pass and cruised in for an easy layup cutting the lead to 39-38 with 5:54 to play in the game. Rock, who scored seven fourth-quarter points, scored and was fouled with 3:12 to play. Her free throw upped the advantage to 44-40. Wilkins responded making it 44-42 with a bucket with 2:53 left. Conway had a chance to tie the game with 1:24 remaining but Megan Lewis only hit one of two free throws leaving the Wampus Cats with a 44-43 disadvantage. After Ashcraft hit a one of two free throws, Conway tied the game on a short jumper by Gault with 37.2 seconds remaining. Cabot let the clock melt and Rock hurried to the basket with around 8 seconds to play, hitting the wild go-ahead hoop. Conway had to go the length of the court to tie the game but couldn't convert.