Little Rock Hall and Little Rock Parkview set a new standard in on-the-court rivalries Friday night at Charles Ripley Arena.
After leading for most of the game, Hall succumbed to Parkview's home-floor pressure. Khalil Garland's dunk with 2:35 to play gave Parkview its second lead of the game, 38-37, after it led briefly by four points early in the third quarter. Then the Patriots (24-2, 14-0) secured an undefeated 6A-South conference season at the free throw line in the final minute to win 45-41.
"They stepped it up at the end and got out there and guarded like I wanted them to," Parkview Coach Al Flanigan said. "We were playing terrible at first, because everybody is going to come at us with solid ball and want to take away our possessions. That's probably the only way to beat us."
For the majority of the game, Hall kept the ball away from Parkview. After a rough first quarter that saw both teams receive two technical fouls for on-the-court antics, Hall (19-10, 9-5) held the upper hand with an 8-4 lead. Two three-pointers from Dayton Artis provided Hall with a 17-13 lead midway through the second quarter and an offensive rebound basket from Drelane Walters put them up 19-16 at halftime after Parkview's Jaylen Franklin broke loose for a two-handed slam to cut the lead to one.
Braelon Walker hit a three-pointer in the third quarter to tie the game at 23-23, then baskets from Franklin and Garland secured a 30-26 lead for Parkview at the 2:20 mark. Parkview didn't score again until Ryan Pippins made one of two free throws with 5:08 left in the game.
Hall built a 37-30 lead on baskets from Robert Verges and Eric Daily, but Walker scored on a drive to the basket and made a deep three-pointer from the left wing to get Parkview to within one point.
Free throws from Pippins and Walker in the final 1:08 were enough to secure an unbeaten conference season for Parkview.
Daily led Hall with 11 points, all of which came in the second half. Walker led Parkview with 12 points and all of his scores came in the second half, as well.
"This is our 28th win in the conference and that means we've been undefeated for two years in a row," Flanigan said. "These guys played their tails off and I love all of them. This rivalry is going to get bigger and bigger. It's tough, but this team I have has a chance to be special. If they keep playing the way they are playing, they have a chance to be one of the best teams to come through here."
LITTLE ROCK HALL (41)
Daily 3 5-8 11, Artis 3 0-1 9, Verges 3 1-3 7, Smith 2 1-2 5, Edwards 2 0-2 5, Walters 2 0-2 4. Totals 15 7-18 41.
LITTLE ROCK PARKVIEW (45)
Walker 4 2-2 12, Pippins 1 7-10 9, Franklin 3 0-2 6, Henderson 3 0-0 6, Garland 3 0-0 6, Javon Franklin 2 1-3 5. Totals 16 10-17 45.
Little Rock Hall;8 11 12 10 -- 41
Little Rock Parkview;4 12 14 15 -- 45
Three-point goals -- Hall 3 (Artis 3), Parkview 2 (Walker 2). Total fouls -- Hall 21, Parkview 19. Fouled out -- Garland.
Sports on 02/28/2015