Fourth-quarter charge lifts Zebras

PINE BLUFF -- Pine Bluff finished strong in its 5A-Central Conference regular-season finale.

Led by senior guard Kaleb Higgins' 26 points, the Zebras outlasted Little Rock Parkview 61-60 on Thursday night at Pine Bluff High School.

Senior forwards Berkarian Black and Colby Davis scored 15 points and 12 points, respectively, for the Zebras.

Pine Bluff (14-10, 12-2 5A-Central) will be the No. 2 seed in the Class 5A state tournament at Lake Hamilton next week.

"We wanted to win tonight," Pine Bluff Coach Billy Dixon said. "We knew everything was set and done. The best we could be was 12-2 in conference, which we thought was a great accomplishment to have and they [Parkview] were the only team this year in the conference that we hadn't beaten.

"I told them [the Zebras] it was like a playoff game. It's going to be just like next week in the state tournament."

Parkview (17-9, 9-5), which was led by senior forward Allen Flanigan's 30 points, enters the state tournament as a No. 3 seed after two consecutive losses.

"We have to do a lot of soul searching because right now, we're not going to beat nobody the way we're playing," Parkview Coach Al Flanigan said. "If we get in there and we get these guys to get motivated to play for each other and not be selfish, we've got a chance. But if they don't, we'll lose the first game."

The Patriots led 55-45 with less than five minutes remaining.

Pine Bluff wasn't done, though.

The Zebras used a 12-2 run to tie the game at 57-57 with 1:16 left to play on senior forward Darius Morris' layup.

Flanigan's two free throws put the Patriots back on top, 59-57, with 1:04 left to play.

With 55 seconds remaining, Black scored and was fouled by Flanigan. Black completed the three-point play for a 60-59 lead.

After a Parkview turnover, Higgins was fouled by freshman forward Cameron Wallace, then knocked down one of two free throws for a 61-59 advantage with 22 seconds left.

The Patriots pulled within 61-60 with four seconds remaining after Flanigan made the first of two free throws. Flanigan missed the second free throw and Pine Bluff junior center Xavier Turner grabbed the rebound. Turner ran into the corner of the court being defended by Flanigan as time expired.

"The last two minutes, the defense was the difference in the ballgame," Dixon said. "In the state tournament, that's the way you have to play them. That was good."

Pine Bluff, which trailed 31-25 at halftime and 47-43 after three quarters, shot 22 of 41 from the floor. Parkview went 21-of-38 shooting.

Sports on 02/22/2019

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