The Little Rock Parkview Patriots made up for a recent disappointment with a 69-45 victory over the Pine Bluff Zebras at Ripley Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
Parkview (17-3, 6-1 5-A South) atoned for a 10-point loss to Little Rock Hall four days earlier, following senior point guard Ryan Pippins and 23 points from sophomore forward C.J. White against Pine Bluff (11-7, 4-3).
White scored points in the first four minutes to lead the Patriots, who charged to a 10-3 lead.
"I think this might've been a breakout game for C.J.," Parkview Coach Al Flanigan said. "He needed this, and I think it's going to do wonders for him. This should really help his confidence."
Pine Bluff's primary source of points was senior guard Marcus Thomas, who led his team with 18. His layup with 4:22 left in the second quarter and two free throws on the Zebras' next possession cut Parkview's lead to 22-12, but two dunks by junior forward Javon Franklin and a free throw by White on Parkview's next three possessions gave the Patriots a 27-12 lead a minute before halftime.
Franklin, 6-5, impressed Pippins on his way to scoring 12 points.
"He is way too athletic," Pippins said. "He's a great player."
"He's a game-changer," Flanigan said. "He's so athletic that he can play anywhere."
"We didn't come to play," Pine Bluff Coach Clarence Finley said. "I thought I had them ready to play, but we didn't block them out all night. We just couldn't play with them tonight. They brought their 'A' game after losing to Hall, like we thought they would. We couldn't play with them tonight."
Parkview lost to Hall, 55-45, on Friday.
"We wanted this a little more because we were still steaming a little bit from that loss at Hall," Flanigan said. "It would've been bad for anybody coming in here tonight."
Pippins, who scored one point in the first half, hit a layup and a total of four free throws on three of four possessions in the third quarter, a run concluded with free throws that gave Parkview a 45-28 lead in the final minute of the quarter.
"Coach Finley knows what I can and I can't do," Pippins said. "I could tell they were working hard to stop me, but it opened things up for everybody else and I could distribute it to them."
"Al I wanted Pip to do was run the offense and get everyone else involved," Flanigan said. "He did a good job of that tonight."
PINE BLUFF (45)
Skelton 1 2-2 4, Thomas 3 9-10 18, Parker 1 2-2 4, Smith 1 1-2 3, Williams 2 0-0 4, Baggett 3 3-5 9, Ganter 0 1-2 1, Morris 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 18-23 45
LITTLE ROCK PARKVIEW (69)
Terry 2 2-4 7, Garland 3 1-4 7, Farr 1 0-0 2, Pippins 2 5-6 9, Franklin 5 2-10 12, White 8 6-8 23, Stokes 1 0-0 2, Simons 1 1-1 3, Cross 1 0-0 2, Henderson 0 0-0 0, Cooper 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 17-35 69
Pine Bluff (11-7);6;11;13;15;--;45
LR Parkview (17-3);13;15;17;22;--;69
Three-point shots -- Pine Bluff 4 (Thomas 3, Baggett 1); Little Rock Parkview 2 (Terry 1, White 1). Total fouls -- Pine Bluff 28; Little Rock Parkview 22. Fouled out -- Parker, Pine Bluff; Garland, Little Rock Parkview
GIRLS
LR PARKVIEW 57,
PINE BLUFF 20
Brady Morgan scored 16 points to help lead the Lady Patriots to victory over the Lady Zebras. Joy Porter scored 15 points for Parkview. Krystalyne Miles and Lydya Deshazier each scored six points for Pine Bluff.
Sports on 02/03/2016