Junior guard Jaylen Franklin led the way with 27 points to lead sluggish Little Rock Parkview to an 83-59 victory over Maumelle in the nightcap of the Arkansas Hoops Challenge on Saturday night at Maumelle High School.
The Patriots (8-0) started strong and led 29-8 after the first quarter, but not much pleased Coach Al Flanagan after that.
“We played terrible,’’ Flanagan said. “I was not pleased with the defense all night long. We weren’t on the line. We didn’t get back to the weak side. We need to get back to the practice floor.
“I guess these guys are ready for a Christmas break. But we will get it corrected. The only thing good out oftonight was that we won the game.”
The Patriots won the game with their play in the first quarter. They raced to a 10-2 lead, hitting six of their first eight shots. The Hornets, who got their only first-quarter field goals from Kendall Donnerson, had trouble getting shots off against the Patriots. Aside from Donnerson, who led his team with eight points, the Hornets managed four first-quarter free throws.
The lead grew to 31-8 to open the second quarter, but the Patriots began to struggle even though they kept a comfortable margin. Maumelle trimmed the lead to 37-21 before a final flurry from Parkview made it 44-21 with 1:03 left in the half. Maumelle scored the final points of the half to make it 44-25 at the half.
Daryl Macon scored 17 points while Jason Hendrix added 15 for the Patriots.
Sports, Pages 25 on 12/22/2013