Arkansas basketball signee Nick Smith supplied enough of an offensive punch to send North Little Rock (27-3) back to the state championship game over the weekend.
In a 58-40 victory, Smith finished with 24 points and Oregon signee Kel’el Ware had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks for the defending champion Charging Wildcats. They took down their long-time rival Little Rock Central for the third time this season.
On Friday, North Little Rock defeated Springdale 81-40 and Smith had 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Corey Washington added 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals against the Tigers.
Annor Boateng scored 14 points and Luke Moore had nine points for Central (18-12), which advanced by beating Bentonville West on Friday. The Tigers didn’t have enough left in the tank to beat the No. 1 Charging Wildcats.
Central trailed 14-10 in the second quarter until a Ware dunk started an 8-0 run for North Little Rock.
The Charging Wildcats later led 24-13 at the half but ripped off 13 of the first 16 points of the third quarter to open up a 21-point lead.
Central did manage to close within 46-31 after a three-point play from Daniel Culberson with just over three minutes remaining, but Washington’s alley-oop dunk on the next trip started another 8-0 run that secured the win.
Smith and North Little Rock will face Bentonville in the 6A state title game on Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs.