LITTLE ROCK — Little Rock Hall’s boys will need some new nets for their final home game.
Bobby Portis scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the No. 3 Warriors survived a late push by rival Little Rock Parkview to take a 73-66 victory while securing the 7A/6A-Central Conference title at George Cirks Arena on Tuesday night.
The Warriors (21-5, 13-0) cut down their own nets but only after Roy Owens’ threepoint play with 1:32 remaining helped turn back the No. 4 Patriots’ building momentum.
With Parkview looking for a game-tying three-pointer, Hall junior guard Anthony Black stripped the ball away from Parkview’s Anton Beard. Hall’s Anfernee Floyd came up with the loose ball, passed it to guard Javon Perry, who found Owens under the basket on the fast break.
“I really didn’t know [Perry] was going to pass me the ball,” said Owens, who finished with seven points and six rebounds. “The ball magically appeared in my face. I felt it and I just laid it up. Thankfully, it went in.”
Owens hit the free throw - one of 13 in a row the Warriors hit to end the quarter - to give the Warriors a 67-61 advantage. Parkview got as close as 69-66 on I.J. Ready’s three-pointer with 22 seconds to play, but the Patriots never scored again.
“We lost all of our self-control,” Parkview Coach Al Flanigan said. “We should have made them play defense a while longer and got off a better shot. [Instead] we got a turnover, then we took a bad shot. ... We just weren’t patient enough.”
It was good game for all three of Hall’s senior post players. Portis, Floyd and Owens combined for 40 points,19 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.
“We’ve been toying with playing all three of them at the same time,” Hall CoachJon Coleman said. “We were trying to find the right time to actually use it, and I felt like tonight we could use it where it would give us an advantage.”
Beard led the Patriots (17-3, 11-2) with 25 points and six rebounds. Ready added 18 points.
Hall scored the first 12 points of the second quarter to turn a 17-16 deficit into a 24-17 advantage, and the Warriors never trailed again.
Hall sophomore guard Eric Dailey hit a 35-footer at the end of the third quarter to give the Warriors a 51-42 lead. The Warriors expanded their lead to 54-42 before Beard and the Patriots began to slice into the lead.
Beard, the Patriots’ 5-11 junior, scored his team’s first nine points of the fourth quarter to cut the Warriors lead to 58-51. Later in the quarter, the Patriots drew within 62-61 after a 10-footer by Jaylen Franklin, but Perry hit two free throws with 2:00 to play and Black followed with his steal to help seal Hall’s victory.
The Warriors led 31-23 at the half and were 10 of 18 from the floor and hit 20 of 22 free throws in the final two quarters. Overall, the Warriors were 23 of 40 shooting, while the Patriots were 25 of 50 from the floor.
Hall will put up new nets for Friday’s regular-season finale against Fort Smith Northside.
“Now that we know we’ve clinched the conference, it’s really a blessing,” Owens said. “But it’s always big when we can beat Parkview.”
Sports, Pages 23 on 02/20/2013