Parker Gives Lions’ Defense Bite

Gravette’s Quinten Parker looks to pass the ball during the Lions’ game Feb. 13 against Prairie Grove in Gentry.
Gravette’s Quinten Parker looks to pass the ball during the Lions’ game Feb. 13 against Prairie Grove in Gentry.

— The bigger they are, the tougher Quinten Parker will guard them.

The senior guard has grown accustomed to his role over the past three years with Gravette’s boys basketball team. He’s usually matched up against the opposing team’s leading scorer, and he must find a way to slow that person down, no matter how much taller that person is.

“That’s typically the case most nights,” Parker said. “It can be challenging at times, especially if he’s a good player.

“I’ve got to where I don’t even think about it any more. I’ve been having to guard people bigger than me since my freshman year. I just try to do my best and help the team out.”

Class 4A North Region Tournament

At Maumelle

Boys

Today’s Games

Game 1: No. 1 Farmington vs. No. 4 Booneville, 5:30 p.m.

Game 2: No. 1 Subiaco vs. No. 4 Lincoln, (n)

Friday’s Games

Game 3: No. 2 Maumelle vs. No. 3 Gravette, 5:30 p.m.

Game 4: No. 2 Pea Ridge vs. No. 3 Pottsville, 8:30 p.m.

Saturday’s Games

Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 3, 5:30 p.m.

Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 4, 8:30 p.m.

Monday’s Games

Consolation Round

Game 7: Loser Game 4 vs. Loser Game 5, 1:30 p.m.

Championship

Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 7:30 p.m.

*Games postponed one day due to weather

The 5-foot-9 Parker usually gives up anywhere between three and six inches to the person he’s defending most nights. The biggest problem he faces is when the player he’s defending wants to use his height advantage to post Parker up inside.

Parker, however, has never complained about the player being too tall or too tough to handle.

“He’s tenacious,” Gravette coach Dustin Peters said. “He comes out and does his job every day, whether it’s in a game or in practice.

“He does such a good job of playing hard-nosed and defending people. It’s amazing defensively — some of the guys we’ve put him and Cody Nims up to guard, and he never makes excuses about it.”

Parker isn’t known as a scorer, averaging only 5.5 points per game heading into Friday’s game against Maumelle in the Class 4A North Region Tournament. But there have been times when Gravette needed him to score, and he has produced — especially against Prairie Grove.

He hit four of six shots from 3-point range scored a season-high 17 points, most of them in the first half, in a victory over the Tigers at home last month. He also scored 12 points in last week’s 4A-1 District Tournament game against Prairie Grove, helping Gravette secure its regional tournament berth.

“In that first game, we were struggling a little bit on offense,” Parker said. “Because of the defense they were throwing at us, it was giving me some open shots.

“I had to step up and knock them down to get us going. Once that first one goes in, it gets easier. After you hit two or three, then you feel like you can’t miss sometimes.”

Like almost all seniors, Parker realizes his high school playing days are about to end. He admits he hasn’t thought about what he’ll do when his playing days are over.

Peters, however, knows Parker’s future will be a bright one.

“The biggest thing I can say about Quinten is he’s going to be a success in life,” Peters said. “He has great parents, and they’ve done a great job in raising him. He’s done an outstanding job representing our program the last three years.”

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