Defending Class 6A champion Pine Buff hung around long enough to put on an impressive fourth quarter, upending Little Rock Hall 46-43 on the Warriors' home floor Tuesday night.
Pine Bluff (10-5, 3-1 6A-South) trailed 31-29 going into the final period and was down 32-29 with seven minutes left. A 5-0 run turned the game around as the Zebras steadily built a 38-34 lead, which grew to as much as six.
Hall got to within two and missed a three-pointer at the buzzer, which would have forced overtime.
"We had to steal a quality win on the road,'' Pine Bluff Coach Clarence Finley said. "We lost one at home against Parkview and had to get one back, and this is a quality win against Hall."
In the final quarter, the Zebras hit 4 of 6 field goals, 7 of 10 free throws, had just 2 turnovers under heavy pressure from the Warriors and kept possessions alive with two offensive rebounds. Hall (8-8, 2-2) hit just 3 of 11 field goals and had four turnovers.
"I thought Marcus (Thomas) came in and made some big plays for us, and (Cadarisu) Badgett had a big three down the stretch,'' Finley said. "We made a little adjustment and went to zone because we could not contain the dribbler, and it kind of threw them off track a little bit. If they had just kept playing, I don't know if we could have beat them.
"We made the free throws when we had to, but we should have made them earlier or we wouldn't have been in that situation."
Thomas and Caleb Parker had 16 points each for the Zebras. Hall was paced by Dayton Artis with 15 and Issac Beal with 11.
After an 8-8 first quarter, Hall took a 22-14 lead at the half, largely because the Warriors were 6 of 6 on free throws, and Pine Buff was hampered by six turnovers.
The third quarter was streaky, with Pine Bluff having runs of 11-0 and 4-0 and Hall scoring seven consecutive points. The Warriors led 31-29 going into the final quarter.
Sports on 01/20/2016