There was nothing cute about Little Rock Parkview's home opener Tuesday night, but the Patriots still found a way to produce an attractive outcome for Coach Scotty Thurman.
Senior forward Ryan Gordon had 20 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocked shots as Parkview held off a late charge from Bentonville West to eke out a 70-67 victory at Ripley Arena.
Cameron Wallace, a sophomore forward, added 19 points and six rebounds for the Patriots, who survived a 19-point, fourth-quarter onslaught from Bentonville West guard Dillon Bailey to make Thurman's home debut a successful one.
"It definitely wasn't pretty, but we'll take it," said Thurman, who was hired in July to take over for Al Flanigan after the long-time coach retired following 23 years with the program. "I think there were some nerves with some of these guys in this one. We've got a bunch of guys that are in new roles, different than what they were in in the past.
"And obviously, they've got a new coach as well. So it's going to take a little while before things look like we need them to look."
Defense has long been a staple of past Parkview teams, and for large portions of Tuesday's game, the Patriots looked the part. However, it was those moments of ragged play that drew Thurman's ire.
Parkview (1-1) held Bentonville West to 3-of-12 shooting in the first quarter and led 22-14 early in the second quarter, but turnovers allowed Bailey and the Wolverines to keep pace. The senior was relentless in scoring 19 of his team's first 21 points, and his assists on back-to-back possessions led to three-pointers near the end of the period to get Bentonville West within 35-33 at halftime.
"We just kept competing, and I loved that," Bentonville West Coach Greg White said. "These kinds of tests. ... that's why we scheduled these games. Scotty called and asked it we wanted to play, and I jumped at the chance.
"Games like this will make us better. We scratched and clawed our way throughout, especially in the first half where we missed so many lay-ups."
The Wolverines managed to grab a 43-40 lead after a three-pointer from sophomore guard Riley Buccino with 5:24 left in the third quarter, but Wallace and Gordon combined to score eight points during an 11-2 closing run to give Parkview a 51-45 advantage going into the fourth.
A jumper from Gordon put Parkview up 62-50 with 4:32 remaining in the game before Bailey brought the Wolverines back. His three-pointer started a 12-3 rally that saw Bentonville West whittle its 12-point hole to three, 65-62, with 1:21 to go. His leaning 24-footer with 2.6 seconds showing eventually cut the Wolverines' deficit to 68-67, but Parkview junior guard Keylon Harris knocked down a pair of free throws on the ensuing trip to help win it for the Patriots.
"We'll get some things ironed out, particularly on defense," said Thurman, who served as an assistant coach on then-coach Mike Anderson's staff at the University of Arkansas for three years prior to taking over at Parkview. "We played hard, but we didn't play smart. We had a lot of ball pressure, but we gave up too many easy shots and wide-open threes."
Bailey finished with 38 points and 14 rebounds while Buccino ended with 10 points for Bentonville West, which shot just 19 of 51 (37.2%) but held a 37-27 rebounding edge. Parkview finished the game 24 of 50 (48%) and forced 23 turnovers.
Tuesday’s scores
BOYS
Baptist Prep 52, Fountain Lake 40
Batesville 63, Paragould 36
Bergman 60, Hamburg 31
Brookland 48, Marmaduke 31
Dardanelle 79, Two Rivers 38
Gosnell 46, Nettleton 45
Harrisburg 53, Cross County 50
Huntsville 56, Ozark 36
Jonesboro Westside 73, Rivercrest 59
Lavaca 63, Waldron 59
Lead Hill 66, St. Joe 45
Lincoln 57, Decatur 30
Little Rock Parkview 70, Bentonville
West 67
Manila 49, East Poinsett County 18
Norfork 79, Timbo 45
Rogers 65, Fort Smith Southside 35
Salem 66, Cedar Ridge 63
Siloam Springs 53, Prairie Grove 51
Sylvan Hills 59, Cabot 46
Texarkana 81, Pleasant Grove, Texas 65
Valley View 69, Greene County Tech 67
Western Yell County 56, Danville 55
West Fork 45, Mountainburg 41
GIRLS
Baptist Prep 53, Fountain Lake 44
Bergman 67, Hamburg 46
Cabot 57, Sylvan Hills 37
Dover 72, Community Christian 4
Elkins 53, Shiloh Christian 49
Fort Smith Northside 82, Marion 56
Harrisburg 53, Cross County 51
Heber Springs 56, Clinton 54
Nettleton 66, Southaven, Miss. 54
Norfork 63, Timbo 17
Ozark 36, Huntsville 25
Prairie Grove 59, Siloam Springs 55
Rogers 72, Fort Smith Southside 20
Salem 62, Cedar Ridge 40
Springdale Har-Ber 57, Clarksville 42
Two Rivers 30, Dardanelle 20
Valley Springs 55, Lincoln 43
Valley View 54, Greene County Tech 45
Waldron 48, Lavaca 36
West Memphis 49, Jacksonville 48
Sports on 11/27/2019