By ANN THARP
Special to The Leader
The Cabot Panthers defeated the visiting West Memphis Blue Devils (7-9, 1-4) Friday night by a final of 73-56. The Panthers (12-5, 3-2) led by 12 at the half, dominated the third quarter and held on in the fourth for the victory.
“I thought we did a good job tonight in all aspects of the game,” said Cabot head coach Jerry Bridges. “I thought our defense was very solid. They like to get the ball to high post a lot and high-low you. I thought our guards did a great job of keeping the ball out of the post. It was just a well-balanced game. I’m sure we shot the ball well, because we usually take good shots. I thought we rebounded well. I liked our balance and everything. It was a good game.”
Hunter York hit two three-pointers and one two-pointer to lead the Panthers in scoring in the first quarter, as the home team outscored West Memphis 15-10. York started the scoring and Garrett Rowe snagged an offensive rebound and put it in to give Cabot a 5-0 lead.
Baskets by Michael Smith, Hunter Southerland and a steal and lay-up by York stretched the lead for the Panthers. Gary Henderson had eight points for the visitors, including two three-pointers.
Nick Thomas scored the first two points for Cabot in the second quarter, then hit a three-pointer for a 23-13 lead, then gave the Panthers a 27-17 lead with a layup. Thomas also scored the final two points of the half, hitting two free throws with three seconds to go.
Rowe added a three-pointer and a two-point basket in the quarter as Cabot outscored West Memphis 20-13 to lead 35-23 at the intermission.
The Panthers had very balanced scoring in the third quarter with seven players scoring a total of 21 points, and four players sharing the lead with four points.
Adolfo Iglesias was one of the four with a tip-in for a 54-28 lead. Dannie Gatewood had seven of the nine points for the Blue Devils.
West Memphis outscored Cabot 24-17 in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers held on and sank 8 of 12 free throws to secure the lead.
The Blue Devils hit three three-point baskets, but missed eight free throws while making only five in the final quarter. Jake Ferguson sank a three-pointer for Cabot.
York and Thomas each had 16 points to lead the Panthers in scoring, Rowe added 13 and Smith had eight points.
Cabot outrebounded the Blue Devils 21-13 and shot 6 percent from the field.
Gatewood led West Memphis with 19 points and Henderson added 14, including four three-point baskets.
Cabot hits the road twice this week for 7A/6A East games. The Panthers were at Jonesboro on Tuesday and will travel to Searcy on Friday.
