This is the battle for fifth place at the City of Palms Classic.  Both teams have acquitted themselves well at the event and should be considered prime contenders for state championships in their respective states.

Greg Glenn of Calvary Christian scored off the tip to start the contest.  Corey Washington of NLR scored inside and then again on a drive to give NLR a 4-2 lead.  Brenan Lorient tied the game for Calvary with a bucket inside then Marvel Allen gave CC the lead with a transition basket.  NLR took back the lead with a mid-range jumper from Nick Smith and a bucket inside from Keiel Ware.  At that point, CC took off, closing out the first period with a 15-0 run that started with an Allen free throw and finished with a Taylor Hendrix free throw to make the score 21-8 in favor of Calvary Christian.

As quick as Calvary got hot in the first quarter, they froze up in the second period.  This allowed NLR to go on a 10-0 run, highlighted by a three from Charles Maris to draw within three at 21-18 with 3:35 left in the half.  Calvary righted itself, getting a lob score inside to Hendricks and a transition slam by Lorient to push their lead back to seven at 25-18.  Ware jammed back home a miss for NLR but an Allen score at the basket nullified that.  A three from Smith for NLR ended the scoring for the second period which found Calvary up by four, 27-23.

Glenn scored inside for Calvary to start the second half but was matched by a slam inside by Ware of NLR to keep the margin at four.  That four point margin would continue until Hendricks of Calvary knocked down a three to make the score 34-27 in Calvary’s favor with 5:42 to play.  NLR matched that three to get back within striking distance.  Things got interesting with Calvary up four at 37-33 with 2:44 when Smith hits a three to get to within one.  On their next possession Ware puts back a miss to give NLR a 38-37 lead.  Calvary responded with a bucket inside from Allen and a free throw by Glenn to retake the lead.  Ty Fredrick hit a three for NLR to close the scoring for the third quarter to put NLR up by one at 41-40.

Calvary scored the first four points to retake the lead in the fourth quarter.  NLR hit one of two free throws but a Carl Cherenfant  score made it a 46-42 game.  Washington scored in the lane for NLR to get back within two.  At that point, Calvary ran off six straight points to take an eight point 52-44 lead.  NLR would eventually cut that deficit in half after a Ware dunk inside to make it 58-54 with just under a minute to play.  However, that is as close as they would get as time was running out and now NLR had to foul.  Calvary was able to extend their lead at the foul line and win by nine, 64-55.

Calvary was led by Taylor Hendricks with 18 points, Lorient and Allen scored 12 points each and Cherenfant and Glenn each scored 10 points.

For North Little Rock, Ware finished with 19 points and Smith added 16 points.