It was far from a perfect performance, but it was more than enough.
Little Rock Hall jumped out to an early lead and never trailed as it dispatched of eStem 56-45 Friday night at Cirks Arena in Little Rock.
"We really missed a lot of free throws and didn't convert a lot of makeable shots, but we are definitely trending in the right direction," Hall assistant coach Ahmad Martin said. "It's definitely encouraging, but we are definitely striving for the top. So we're trying to get better each and every day."
The Warriors (14-5, 4-1 4A-5 South) outscored eStem (20-8, 3-2) by 10 points in the opening minutes and led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.
"We sometimes come out a little dry, especially at the beginning of the game," Martin said. "So it was really good to come out and jump on them. I wish we could have built on it some more."
The first-quarter lead grew to double digits at halftime (25-15). The Warriors led by 14 points at one juncture before the Mets closed the gap just before the break.
The Mets closed the deficit to 27-20 a few minutes into the third quarter, but Warriors guard Landen Hill and his teammates took over. They closed the quarter on an 11-6 run, capped by a three-pointer from Micah Moore as time expired.
A flurry of eStem baskets, led by Kingston Alexander and Holden Kirk, kept the game close throughout the fourth quarter, but the burst wasn't enough to noticeably cut into the Warriors' lead.
"I think we fought through," Martin said. "I think there were times we could have laid down, but we fought through."
Friday's win was the fifth in a row for Hall, which is a half-game behind Mills in the conference standings. The Comets will host the Warriors in their next game on Tuesday for the top spot in the 4A-5 South.
Girls
eStem 52, Little Rock Hall 21
After a back-and-forth first quarter, eStem's swarming defense became too much to handle as it led to a convincing win over Little rock Hall.
The Lady Mets' (14-11, 5-0 4A-5 South) led 15-10 after the first quarter, but that grew to 28-15 at halftime.
Hall's highest-scoring quarter in the first. The Lady Warriors (3-8, 1-4) followed that with five points in each of the next two quarters before scoring just a free throw in the fourth.
eStem's lead grew to 45-20 after the third quarter, before the Lady Mets were held to seven points in the final fourth.
Morgan Thornton got the Lady Mets going to start both halves as she combined for 19 of her 23 points in the first and third quarters. It was then Precious Powell's turn to lead the offense, scoring 10 of her 15 points in the second and fourth quarters.
Hall was led offensively by Niya Parker (7), Amiah Brown (6) and Aniya Rawls (6), who combined to score 19 of their team's 21 points.
Support journalism that digs deeper into topics that matter most to Arkansans. Donate today to preserve the quality and integrity of local journalism.