Much like their previous meeting, Little Rock Parkview jumped out to a huge lead on North Little Rock in the Jammin' for Jackets tournament.
Unlike last season, the Charging Wildcats had a response.
Senior guard KeVaughn Allen scored 32 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead North Little Rock to a 64-58 come-from-behind victory over the Patriots in Saturday's championship game at North Little Rock's arena.
Parkview (5-2) scored the first seven points Saturday, led 12-2 five minutes into the game and was comfortably in front by 12 -- 24-12 -- with 2:38 remaining in the first half. But North Little Rock (6-1) cut Parkview's margin to 26-23 by the end of the half, and the second half was a tug-of-war that eventually landed in favor of the Wildcats.
"Parkview lives on being tougher than you are," North Little Rock Coach Johnny Rice said. "Once we got past that, we were fine."
"We got punched in the mouth," said North Little Rock 6-10 center Sam Dunkum, who contributed 12 points and seven rebounds. "But I think our chemistry is better than what it was this time last year, and I knew we'd respond. We had to go out in the second half and execute."
Thanks to Allen, that's exactly what the Charging Wildcats did.
Allen was held to 10 points in the first half, but he sparked an 11-2 North Little Rock outburst to end the first half, capping the scoring with one of his three dunks 15 seconds before the end of the half.
In the second half, the two teams traded leads four times before Allen sparked an 8-0 run in the final four minutes that put the host team on top for good.
"One stretch, one stretch," Parkview Coach Al Flanigan said. "KeVaughn got that eight, and that was the difference in the game."
A year ago when the teams met in the Jammin' for Jackets semifinals at Little Rock Hall, Parkview jumped out to a 17-2 lead. The Patriots eventually won 64-55.
"We talked about that even before we went on the floor tonight," North Little Rock Coach Johnny Rice said. "We played with too much emotion. ... At that point we had won so many games in a row and were ranked nationally. We had all of this build-up and we didn't play together. ... Tonight we didn't panic, and that's a sign of toughness."
Parkview hit its first three shots from the floor Saturday, including three-pointers by Braelon Walker and Ryan Pippins. When Javon Franklin tipped in a miss with 10:55 left in the first half, the Patriots' lead had swelled to 12-2.
"We just had to start rebounding and fight through it," Allen said. "We knew it wasn't going to be a blow out. It was going to be tough game all the way through."
North Little Rock took its first lead with 12:05 remaining when Adrian Moore hit an 8-footer for a 31-30 lead.
Back-to-back three pointers by Seth Milner and Walker put Parkview on top 42-38 at the 7:09 mark, but North Little Rock responded by scoring the next seven points. Parkview regained the advantage when Javon Franklin's 3-footer gave the Patriots' a 46-45 lead with 4:36 to play, but the Charging Wildcats scored 12 of the next 17 points. Allen hit 25-footer at the 4:12 mark to start the game-deciding rally.
Trailing 61-58 with 45 seconds to play, the Patriots had two chances for a potential tying shot, but two long three-pointers fell short and free throws by Moore and K.J. Hill capped the the scoring.
Pippins led Parkview with 13 points while Walker and Khalil Garland scored 12 points each. The Patriots were 7 of 20 on three-pointers and 20 of 49 overall. North Little Rock was 3 of 13 on three-pointers and 22 of 42 from the floor. North Little Rock held a 38-24 advantage on the boards.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK (64)
Ricks 0 0-0 0, Hill 3 3-4 9, Allen 11 8-9 32, Moore 2 1-4 5, Dickerson 2 1-3 6, Dunkham 4 4-4 12, Dobbins 0 0-0 0, Taylor 0 0-1 0. Totals 22 17-25 64.
PARKVIEW (58)
Elliott 1 0-0 3, Walker 5 0-0 12, Jay. Franklin 3 1-2 7, Pippens 4 3-3 13, Jav. Franklin 1 0-0 2, Garland 3 6-7 12, White 1 0-0 3, Stokes 1 1-2 3, Milner 1 0-0 3. Totals 20 11-14 58.
Halftime -- Parkview 26, NLR 23. Three-point goals -- NLR 3 (Allen 2, Dickerson); Parkview 7 (Walker 2, Pippens 2, Elliott, White, Miller). Team fouls -- NLR 14, Parkview 22. Fouled out -- Garland.
LITTLE ROCK MCCLELLAN 76, EPISCOPAL 74, OT
Junior forward Andre Jones scored eight of his 20 points in the extra period as the Crimson Lions (6-3) held off the Wildcats in the third-place game. Kelvin Robinson, who led Episcopal with 26 points, hit a three-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime. The Wildcats (3-2) connected on 13 three-pointers, including seven by Mahlon Martin. Jones scored the Lions’ first six points of the extra period and he assisted on McClellan’s final field goal that gave the Lions a 76-71 lead.
Robinson hit his final three-point attempt with :02 left in overtime. After an Episcopal timeout, Robinson stole the ball at midcourt but could not control the ball before being called for traveling as time expired. Robinson wound up with eight rebounds and four assists.
Martin finished with 25 points and four assists. Wildcats center Justin Gooseberry scored 10 points and grabbed 19 rebounds. Senior Keith Hayes led the Lions with 22 points, including a 10-of-10 effort from the free-throw line. Two of those free throws came with :07 left in regulation that gave the Lions a 64-61 lead.
Raymond Harris scored 13 points and Carson Hayes added 10 points for Mc-Clellan.
LITTLE ROCK HALL 64,
MILLS 56
Antonio Edwards scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds as the Warriors (6-4) held off the Comets (6-2) and sophmore Darius Hall for the fifthplace trophy.
Darius Hall, held to three points in the first half, finished with a game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds. The Comets trailed 26-21 at the half and were still within four points in the final 26 seconds. Edwards was one of five Warriors with 10 or more points. Daylon Artis scored 12 points, Antonio Smith and Robert Verges scored 11 each and Grant Jackson had 10 points. The Comets picked up 14 points from Cameron Ricks and 11 points from Jeremiah Toney.
LITTLE ROCK FAIR 61,
LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 47
Junior guard Jerrick Cole scored 30 points as the War Eagles (5-3) overcame an early deficit to defeat the Tigers in the seventh-place game.
Brothers Damareon and Kris Bankston scored 11 points each for Fair. Damareon also grabbed 11 rebounds, and Kris collected seven rebounds and blocked three shots.
Matthew Means led Central with 11 points.
Sports on 12/14/2014