Little Rock Parkview allowed only one field goal in the first half in Tuesday's 54-28 victory over North Pulaski, but the Patriots' defense wasn't as sound as that statistic made them out to be.
The Patriots sent the Falcons to the line for 15 free-throw attempts in the first two quarters, giving Parkview Coach Al Flanigan some cause for concern.
Battle of the Border schedule
BOYS Friday’s games Little Rock Parkview
Southwest Christian Prep vs. Prime Prep (Dallas), 6 p.m. LR Parkview vs. Memphis Hamilton, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday’s games North Little Rock
LR McClellan vs. Memphis Westwood, 2 p.m. Jacksonville vs. Memphis Cent., 3:30 p.m. Episcopal Coll. vs. Memphis Catholic, 5 p.m. LR Parkview vs. Arlington (Tenn.), 6:30 p.m. N. Little Rock vs. Memphis Mitchell, 8 p.m.
"Almost every point they made was from the free-throw line," Flanigan said. "I was trying to tell our [starters] to quit reaching. Nobody is going to let us play with our hands. You've been around long enough to know that they are not going to let us play like that."
Javon Franklin, a 6-5 sophomore, led the Patriots with 13 points and nine rebounds while junior Ryan Pippins scored 11 points and handed out six assists.
Flanigan said his team could have used another game or two in November. The Patriots (2-0) opened their season Nov. 18 with a 68-48 victory at West Memphis, but went without an opponent until Tuesday's home opener.
The drought will soon be over. Parkview has back-to-back games this weekend at the Battle of the Border, an event that pairs teams from Pulaski County against teams from the Memphis area.
The Patriots will be on their home court Friday to take on Memphis Hamilton.Parkview will play Arlington, Tenn., on Saturday at North Little Rock's arena.
Hamilton (4-0) is coming off a 77-56 victory over Wooddale, Tenn., on Tuesday and features 6-8 forward Detric Lawson, who has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball for the University of Memphis. Arlington, which lost in the consolation finals to Jonesboro during last week's Rumble on the Ridge, is 3-4.
"When you've played only two games, you really don't know how good your team is," Flanigan said. "I think we'll play at little better on Friday."
ESTEM
Mets remain perfect
A jump up in classification has not hurt the eStem Mets' record this season.
RaShawn Langston turned in a 17-point performance Tuesday during the Mets' 44-30 victory at Central Arkansas Christian. Trevor Clark added 16 points as eStem improved to 7-0.
"I thought our defense was amazing," said eStem Coach Jeremy Brown, whose team is giving up only 39.3 points a game this season. "CAC really took it to us and was up 6-0 in the first three minutes, but I thought our guys responded to the situation and controlled the tempo the remainder of the game."
Tuesday's victory also gave the Mets a 2-0 record in the 2-4A Conference.
The Mets will play Dermott on Friday and will have another conference game Tuesday against Heber Springs. Both of those games will be played at Philander Smith College.
BAUXITE
Madison: 'He's gifted'
Ben Madison's future may be in baseball, but the 6-2 senior has racked up some impressive numbers playing guard for Bauxite's basketball team.
Madison averaged 28 points a game during the 2013-2014 season, leading the Miners to their first state tournament appearance since 1963.
"Baseball is his favorite sport, and that's what he's looking to do outside of high school," Bauxite Coach Andy Brakebill said. "He's starting to get some interest [from basketball programs] and we'll have to see what happens, but he's looking to go the baseball route as of right now."
Madison scored a season-high 29 points in Wednesday's 66-25 victory over Poyen in the Bill Gibbs Memorial Tournament at Benton Harmony Grove. He scored 15 points in the first quarter and played sparingly in the second and third quarters. He finished the game with 3 three-pointers, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists.
"Ben is just a good athlete and a good kid," Brakebill said. "He's just gifted."
Bauxite (4-1) has a solid supporting cast to go with Madison this season.
"Ben's averaging about 17 [points], but the deal is he's got more help this year," Brakebill said. "He's got some more scorers around him this year and they're playing well. ... We're deeper than we were last year.."
JONESBORO
Hunter's solid start
Defending 6A state champion Jonesboro may rely heavily on point guard Marquise Pointer and Jarma Perkins this season, but the Hurricane picked up a solid effort from guard Marcus Hunter during last week's Rumble on the Ridge.
Hunter led the Hurricane in scoring in the tournament's first two games before becoming more of a support player against Arlington, Tenn., in the fifth-place game.
"He's a guy that's going to have to back Marquise up at the [point], and hen we need to use Marquise more as a scorer as we did [against Arlington]," Joneboro Coach Wes Swift said. "He led us in scoring the first two days and then he reversed roles with Marquise and Jarma."
Hunter combined for 24 points in the Hurricane's first two games. Against Arlington, Hunter dished out four assists while Pointer scored a team-high 22 and Perkins hitting 16.
Jonesboro begins play today in the Barry Pruitt Classic. The Hurricane's first-round opponent is Greene County Tech. Defending Class 4A state champion Brookland and defending 2A state champion Cedar Ridge are also entered in the Jonesboro tournament.
Sports on 12/04/2014