LR Parkview slips past Fort Smith Northside

LITTLE ROCK — Little Rock Parkview gave Fort Smith Northside three chances to regain a lead in the final 1:18 Friday night, but the No. 1 Lady Bears were not up to the task.

Sophomore Sausha Davey hit a free throw with 14 seconds remaining to break a tie, Roshunda Johnson added another free throw seven seconds later and the No. 2 Lady Patriots survived a wild 7A/6A-Central Conference finish for a 57-55 victory at Charles Ripley Arena.

Derriel Banyard led the Lady Patriots (8-1, 4-0) with 12 points and nine rebounds as they grabbed sole possession of first place in the league standings. Parkview is one-half game ahead of Little Rock Hall (15-2, 3-0).

“Derriel stepped up and played her style of basketball tonight,” Parkview Coach Lahoma Howard said. “I call her the clean-up woman. She’s great at getting the rebound and putting it back. That’s what she does best.”

Northside (17-2, 4-1) was coming off a 20-point drubbing of Greenwood and appeared to be sitting in a perfect spot against Parkview when the Lady Bears took a 33-25 lead into halftime. But the Lady Patriots outscored the visitors 17-2 in the final 4:25 of the third quarter to take a 48-39 lead into the final eight minutes.

“We just got rattled,” Northside Coach Rickey Smith said. “Give Parkview credit. They sped the game up on us and we went from an eight-point lead to an eight-point deficit in no time. ... What was frustrating to me was that we took three timeouts and I could just see the scared look in our eyes.”

Parkview never trailed in the fourth quarter, but Northside managed to erase the Lady Patriots’ nine-point lead and tie the game at 55 with 1:30 remaining when Bria Caldwell hit the back end of a two-shot free throw opportunity.

The Lady Bears forced a Parkview traveling violation with 1:18 to play, but the Lady Bears missed an ensuing shot. With 1:04 left, Parkview was charged with an illegal screen. Again Northside failed to take advantage of the possession when Davey recovered a loose ball and was fouled with 14 seconds left.

Davey hit the second of two free-throw attempts to give Parkview a 56-55 lead, and Johnson picked up a steal with :09 showing. Johnson also hit the second of two free-throw attempts to set the final margin.

Northside had one final possession but never got off a shot, fumbling the ball into Banyard’s hands as time expired.

“We really didn’t play well the whole night,” Smith said. “Parkview’s speed rattled our guards so much that we couldn’t execute our offense the way we wanted to.”