JONESBORO -- Little Rock Parkview stopped a losing streak by extending another Saturday afternoon.
The Patriots came up with 16 steals and used a hot-shooting third quarter to take care of Nettleton 80-56 during the Natural State Hoopfest in Don Riggs Gymnasium in Jonesboro.
Senior forward Ryan Gordon had 20 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks for Parkview (5-7), which had dropped its previous four games. But head coach Scotty Thurman got boosts from nearly everyone he put on the floor in winning for the first time since beating Baptist Prep on Dec. 14 at Jammin' for Jackets.
Sophomore forward Darius Miller had 17 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals and junior guard Christian Winkler ended with 15 points and 2 steals for the Patriots. Dexter White and Keylon Harris each had nine points and three steals apiece.
"That's what it's going to take for us to be a good team," Thurman said of his team's collective effort. "We don't really have the quote-on-quote headliners. It's gotta be a group approach, and if this team continues to buy into that, we're going to be pretty good."
Sophomore guard Devares Whitaker had a game-high 21 points for Nettleton (3-8), which has lost its past five games. The Raiders played well in the first quarter but had to scuffle to keep up the rest of the way. Nettleton, which is replacing all five starters from a year ago, was just 2-of-9 shooting in the second period and committed five turnovers, which helped Parkview turn a 16-14 deficit into a 25-18 lead by the 2:18 mark of the quarter.
"We're gonna turn the ball over, but what we can't do is have live-ball turnovers where I throw it [to the opponent], and they go done and shoot on the other end," Nettleton Coach Bubba Deaton said. "We've just got to keep getting better. We're going to keep battling this thing out and keep fighting."
Parkview led 31-23 at halftime but shot 84.6% (11 of 13) in the third quarter. The Patriots also put together separate 7-0 and 8-0 runs to take a 56-42 lead into the fourth, where they scored seven of the first nine points to erect a 63-44 lead.
"We shared the basketball and limited the turnovers," Thurman said. "But the biggest thing was that we got out and defended. We had guys in help position, where [Nettleton] couldn't have straight-line drives all game.
"If we continue to defend the way we did and continue to play unselfish basketball, we can make some noise."
The Patriots finished 31 of 50 (62%) for the game, while Nettleton went 16 of 43 (37.2%).
LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 54, JONESBORO 49
The Tigers outscored the host team 10-0 during a two-minute time frame that spanned the second and third quarters to exit Don Riggs Gymnasium on top.
Jeremiah Jones scored 21 points for Central (7-7), which led 10-7 in the first quarter but rode its 10-point spurt to establish a 34-18 lead at the half. Corey Camper and Cody Robinson each ended with 10 points for the Tigers.
Keylin McBride tallied 16 points for Jonesboro (7-5). The Hurricane outscored the Tigers 15-8 in the third quarter and later formed an 8-0 run in the fourth to get as close as 50-49. But Jonesboro a missed shot that would've given it the lead with 13.7 seconds showing and turned ball over with six seconds left while trailing 52-49.
Brodie Williams scored 12 points and Amarion Wilson chimed in with 10 points for the Hurricane.
Sports on 01/05/2020