By TODD TRUAB
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville Red Devils evened their conference record with a 70-46 victory at Searcy on Friday night.
Jacksonville, the 2009 6A state champion, almost beat defending champion Little Rock Hall in the conference opener. After weather related break that postponed their game with Little Rock Parkview, the Red Devils erupted to hand Searcy the one-sided defeat.
Jacksonville outscored Searcy 25-8 in the first quarter and led 43-21 at halftime.
Leading scorer Raheem Appleby continued to produce for Jacksonville as he scored a game-high 26 points. Teammate Terrell Brown added 14 points for the Red Devils (11-1, 1-1) who saw an 11-game, season-opening winning streak come to a close against Hall.
In an indication of the kind of snarl expected to take place in the 6A-East, Hall fell to Parkview on Friday in the second conference game for both teams.
Casey Wilmath scored 12 points to lead Searcy (11-6, 0-3) and Jacksonville held Ole Miss signee Jamal Jones to 11 points.
The Red Devils are on a conference road swing to Jonesboro and Marion this week.
