Morgan Brady and No. 5 Little Rock Parkview played like they were on a mission Friday night.
Brady, a 5-9 senior guard, scored 22 points and the Lady Patriots were dominate in every phase of the game in a 60-40 clubbing of No. 8 Pulaski Academy in the 5A-Central Conference Tournament championship game in front of a packed house at Maumelle High School.
Parkview (25-3) enjoyed a 34-15 advantage on the boards, hit 23 of 39 field-goal attempts and was 11 of 14 from the free-throw line, but it was the Lady Patriots' defense that Coach Lahoma Howard was impressed with the most.
"We continued to play hard from start to finish," said Howard, whose team won its 11th consecutive game. "I'm so proud of them. They stepped up and played every quarter. I told them that we need to be thinking that every quarter started as if it was zero-zero and we couldn't come out flat."
Friday's game was the third meeting between the teams this season, and by far the most lopsided. The Lady Bruins won 52-42 on Jan. 24 and Parkview won the return match 58-55 a week later.
"They did not shoot like that before," Pulaski Academy Coach Rick Treadway said. "And I give them all the credit. They just shot lights out. It was a very, very nice job of shooting the ball."
Pulaski Academy (28-3) suffered 17 turnovers and was only 12-of-35 shooting. Parkview came up with seven steals.
"We knew we had something to fight for," Brady said. "PA is a great team. We had to come out with more intensity than they had. We had to show we had more heart."
Parkview trailed 3-2 two minutes into the game, but three consecutive baskets -- two by 6-2 senior Sydni Williams and one by 5-7 junior Kania Lasker -- put the Lady Patriots on top for good.
Williams scored all 17 points in the first half, including eight consecutive points to start the second quarter. Williams also pulled down 12 rebounds, nine of which came in the first two quarters.
"When she gets into her game, nobody can stop her," Brady said of Williams. "Nobody in the paint can stop her. There's no size matchup for her."
Lady Bruins senior Morgan Wallace scored 14 points and grabbed 6 rebounds, but sharp-shooting sophomore Mattie Hatcher was limited to 9 points. Mary Elizabeth Engskov also scored nine.
Parkview led 18-11 after one quarter and then outscored Pulaski Academy 18-5 in the second quarter for a 36-16 halftime advantage. Parkview's biggest lead was 41-16 with 5:32 left in the third quarter. The Lady Bruins could only draw to as close as 19 points the rest of the way.
"When you get down early like we did, it takes a little away from your defense," Treadway said. "I thought we were a half-step slow with our defense, and it may have been because of the game we had yesterday [a 50-36 victory over Beebe]. We play six or seven and that's about it."
PARKVIEW (60)
Lasker 2 0-1 5, Alexander 2 2-2 7, Brady 8 5-5 22, McGraw 1 0-0 2, Williams 7 1-2 15, Junior 3 0-0 6, Jones 0 3-4 3, Ross 0 0-0 0, Bumpers 0 0-0 0, Givens 0 0-0 0, Iverson 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 11-14 60.
PULASKI ACADEMY (40)
Hatcher 3 1-3 9, Wallace 3 8-11 14, Swanson 1 0-0 2, Engskov 4 0-0 9, Wiggins 0 2-4 2, Woods 0 0-0 0, Dunn 0 0-0 0, Levett 1 0-0 3. Totals 12 11-18 40.
Parkview (25-3) 18 18 12 12 -- 60
Pulaski Academy (28-3) 11 5 11 13 -- 40
Three-point goals -- Parkview 3 (Lasker, Alexander, Brady); Pulaski Academy 5 (Hatcher 2, Wallace, Engskov, Levett). Team fouls -- Parkview 17, Pulaski Academy 17.
BEEBE 43, SYLVAN HILLS 40
Katie Turner's two free throws with 31.9 seconds remaining gave the Lady Badgers (20-10) the lead for good in a third-place victory over the Lady Bears (18-11).
Libbie Hill led Beebe with 12 points while Turner finished with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Alana Canady paced Sylvan Hills with 18 points while Jayla Bell put in 15.
Turner's final free throws gave Beebe a 41-40 lead. Sylvan Hills missed a shot to regain the lead, and Hill was fouled after grabbing a loose ball. Hill hit two free throws with 0.2 seconds left to account for the final score.
Sports on 02/25/2017