HOT SPRINGS -- Basketball fans from Pine Bluff don't have to believe in miracles. For at least the final week of the season, their team was the best.
The Pine Bluff Zebras, who entered the Class 6A boys state tournament as a No. 6 seed after a 13-13 regular-season record, toppled two No. 1 seeds, including Little Rock Parkview, en route to their first state title since 2003.
Pine Bluff clinched the title with a 46-43 victory over another No. 1 seed, defending champion Jonesboro Hurricane, at Bank of the Ozarks Arena.
"I never thought of us as being underdogs," Pine Bluff Coach Clarence Finley said. "For the last week, we've played pretty good basketball. That's the only thing we concentrated on. We didn't even mention them being No. 1. We looked at their strength; we looked at our strength, and we brought everything we thought could help us win the game."
Pine Bluff (17-13) led 25-13 at halftime, but Jonesboro (25-5) quickly showed why it was playing in its fourth consecutive state championship game.
Senior guard Marquise Pointer tipped in his own miss to put Jonesboro (25-5) within 33-30 with 3:58 left in the game.
Pointer, who sat out more than six minutes of the second quarter after he drew his second foul, scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half, including 12 in the fourth quarter.
A three-pointer by senior guard Jarma Perkins put Jonesboro within 38-35 with 1:27 left.
But Pine Bluff scored four points on its next two possessions to lead 42-35.
Jonesboro made the most of the 46.4 seconds left on the clock.
Perkins and Pointer hit three-pointers to cut Pine Bluff's lead to 42-41.
Junior guard Marquie Smith made two free throws to put Pine Bluff up 44-41 with 18.2 seconds left, but Pointer hit a layup 10 seconds later and Jonesboro was within 44-43.
Jonesboro fouled junior guard Marcus Thomas, and he hit two from the line to make it a one-possession game with 6.5 seconds left -- plenty of time for Pointer.
Pointer shot from the top of the key with two seconds on the clock, but it missed long, bounced off the back of the rim and was rebounded by 6-7 senior center Mike Session, who wrapped his arms around his 13th rebound until the buzzer sounded.
Thomas led Pine Bluff with 14 points. Smith scored 12.
"I though Session just played great tonight," Jonesboro Coach Wes Swift said. "He dominated the boards. It's like in football. If you can control the line of scrimmage, you control the game, and I thought they controlled the [the post] tonight."
The final miss was Pointer's second by inches in the final minute.
"It was frustrating," Pointer said.
Pine Bluff struggled to score early, but the Zebras led 8-2 after Session rebounded his own missed free throw and passed to junior guard C.J. Smith, who made a three-pointer midway through the period. Pine Bluff would score for nearly seven minutes after that.
But Pine Bluff's defense held Jonesboro to seven points over the same period, which happened to be when Pointer was sitting on the bench with two fouls.
Jonesboro never led by more than one point in the first half. Its final lead was at 11-10 after junior guard Marcus Hunter's pull-up jumper from the free throw line with 5:17 left in the half.
The pace picked up in the second quarter, but, with Pointer out, speed seemed to favor Pine Bluff. The Zebras scored on eight of their final nine possessions in the quarter to build a 25-13 halftime lead.
Swift said Finley deserves credit for Pine Bluff's late-season turnaround.
"I'm very familiar with Coach Finley," Swift said. "He's been a really good friend to me. When I was first coming into coaching, he was one of those guys. He treats everyone well. I have a ton of respect for him."
Sports on 03/14/2015