JONESBORO - Little Rock Parkview beat rival Little Rock Hall for the fourth time this season Tuesday, and the Patriots’ 57-29 victory was an emphatic one.
Parkview (27-1) advanced to play Jonesboro for the Class 6A state title, and ended Hall’s four-year run as state champions in two different classifications.
Parkview, going for its third state title in four seasons, outscored Hall 47-18 after Hall (20-8) took the lead late in the first quarter.
Coach Al Flanigan’s Patriots outscored the Warriors 22-2, opening a 32-13 lead after a Ryan Pippins field goal, with 1:20 left in the first half, and Parkview led 34-16 at halftime.
Parkview came into the tournament having beaten 18 of 20 teams by 10 or more points, and more than kept up that pace in Jonesboro, winning three games by the average score of 67-36.
The Patriots started out beating Texarkana 65-31 last Thursday night, won 78-41 over Siloam Springs on Monday night and by 28 points on Tuesday against Hall.
Jaylen Franklin led a balanced Parvkiew offense with 14 points. Daryl Macon, who scored 33 points on Monday night against Siloam Springs, scored 13 and Braelon Walker adding 11.
Parkview made 18 field goals, including four three-pointers, and made 19 of 26 free throws.
Kaylon Tappin led Hall with 14 points. Anthony Black added nine for the Warriors, who came up short in their bid to play for a fifth consecutive state title.
Hall got off to a good start, scoring the game’s first four points and held an 11-10 lead before Parkview went on its game-breaking run.
Parkview pushed its lead to 38-18, with 3:50 left in the third quarter after a field goal by Walker and led 41-19, on a three-pointer from the right wing by Jaylen Franklin. Walker then added another field goal to put Parkview ahead 43-19 followed by a Macon’s three-point point play to give Parkview a 46-19 lead with 2:11 left in the third quarter.
Parkview led 53-21 early in the fourth quarter, starting the running clock, and the Patriots coasted to their 19th consecutive victory.
JONESBORO 63, BENTON 53
Jonesboro (28-3) is back in the Class 6A state championship game, but not against the team it lost to last season, after defeating Benton (23-7) in the semifinals on Jonesboro’s home court.
Kahron Ross and Marquise Pointer accounted for 44 of Jonesboro’s 63 points, with Ross scoring 24 and Pointer 20. Ross made 11 of 12 free throws for Jonesboro, which scored 13 points in each of the first three quarters.
The Hurricane led 13-12 after one quarter, 26-21 at the half and 39-33 heading into the fourth quarter.
Jonesboro outscored Benton 24-20 in the fourth quarter to seal the victory, earning their second consecutive appearance in the state finals.
“When you have players like Kahron and Marquise leading your team and then you have guys who are willing to follow and accept roles, this kind of stuff happens,” Jonesboro Coach Wes Swift said, pointing out that the Hurricane had to overcome a season-ending injury to Aaron Washington to make a repeat appearance in the championship game. “I think a lot of people wondered if we could get back this year, and I’m just so happy that our role players accepted their roles and let the leaders lead.”
Jonesboro fell 34-33 to Little Rock Hall, which won its fourth consecutive state title, on a last-second shot last season at Barton Coliseum. Jonesboro will play Parkview (27-1), which beat Hall in Tuesday’s other semifinal.
Jonesboro persevered Tuesday behind the scoring of Ross and Pointer and by making 19 of 27 free throws.
Five Benton players scored, led by Josh Bowling (21), Clay Anderson (15) and Cason Maerton (10).
Bowling scored the first points of the second half on a field goal with 6:51 left in the third quarter but Jonesboro scored nine consecutive, including five points from Pointer, to take a 35-23 lead.
Benton closed the gap to 39-33 after three quarters, outscoring Jonesboro 10-4 over the final 2:55 of the third quarter.
It was 42-37 early in the fourth when Jonesboro put the game away, outscoring Benton 9-0 too open a 51-37 lead with 3:43 to play after a field goal by Brad Sherrill.
Jonesboro led 11-7 late in the first quarter when Benton, sparked by Maerton’s three-pointer, scored five consecutive to take a 12-11 lead with 45 seconds remaining in the quarter. Two free throws by Pointer at 22.2 seconds gave Jonesboro a 13-12 lead to end the quarter.
The Hurricane built their lead to 20-14 with 4:23 to play in the second quarter after a three-point play by Ross. Five consecutive points from Benton trimmed the lead to 22-21, but Jonesboro scored the final four points of the first half to lead 26-21, with Ross scoring on a layup as time expired.
Tuesday’s scores
BOYS
CLASS 6A Jonesboro 63, Benton 53 LR Parkview 57, LR Hall 29
CLASS 5A Forrest City 65, Pulaski Academy 51 Jacksonville 52, Harrison 38
CLASS 3A Charleston 67, Benton Harm. Grove 59 Episcopal Collegiate 67, McGehee 55
CLASS 2A Cedar Ridge 65, England 50 Clarendon 61, Junction City 58
CLASS 1A Concord 50, Scranton 32 Wonderview 56, County Line 38
GIRLS
CLASS 6A Greenwood 86, Searcy 58 LR Parkview 68, LR Hall 58
CLASS 5A Huntsville 56, Hot Springs 40 Paragould 40, Vilonia 35
CLASS 3A eStem 56, Paris 54 Harding Academy 50, Riverview 47
CLASS 2A Mountainburg 46, Brinkley 36 Spring Hill 75, Marmaduke 47
CLASS 1A Nemo Vista 49, Kirby 33 Wonderview 65, Acorn 53
Sports, Pages 19 on 03/12/2014