Ready willing, able to take over

Saturday, February 2, 2013

— I.J. Ready scored a game-high 31 points for Little Rock Parkview and the Patriots broke open a close game in the second half for an 82-66 victory over Greenwood in a 7A/6A-Central game at H.B. Stewart Bulldog Arena.

Ready and Anton Beard, who had 20 points, led the charge after Greenwood trailed only 44-40 going into halftime.

“It’s always nice to win on the road,” Parkview Coach Al Flanigan said. “They played with a lot more intensity than they did when they played us at home.”

Greenwood’s Drew Caple, Ethan Clark and Evan Lensing combined to hit eight three point baskets in the first half to keep the Bulldogs in the game.

“Our guys battled their hearts out and believed,” Greenwood Coach Brian Martin said. “They knew we had a chance to win this thing with the way we played that first half.”

Parkview dashed those hopes in the second half when it switched to a zone defense.The Bulldogs (11-9, 4-3) only hit one three-pointer in the second half and couldn’t keep up with the fast-paced Patriots (13-2, 6-1).

“They couldn’t miss in the first half, but we changed our defense and I think it threw them off,” Flanigan said. “I’m proud of how our guys played in the second half.”

Ready scored 22 of his points in the second half to help put the game out of reach. Parkview outscored Greenwood 10-2 in the third quarter and took a 58-49 lead into the final quarter.

“That’s my little special guy and he is my floor general,” Flanigan said of Ready.“He played hard tonight, and it’s exciting just to coach him.”

The Patriots’ defense held Greenwood to nine points in the third quarter and scored 26 points in the fourth quarter to close out the game.

Clark finished with 24 points and Caple added 14 for Greenwood.

Sports, Pages 24 on 02/02/2013