Just before halftime of Pulaski Academy's 71-52 victory over Mills at the Galaxy on Tuesday night, a game official stopped at the scorers table during a pause in play and asked how many points a player had.
Everyone knew who he was talking about.
Senior guard Lawson Korita led Pulaski Academy with 34 points, raising his average to 22.7 a game. He hit five three-pointers and a handful of pinpoint passes that drew equal raves, including a no-look baseline pass to wide-open senior center Robert Ator for five-foot jumper to end the first quarter, and a one-hand fastball from 25 feet for a layup by sophomore guard Tra Johnson that gave the Bruins a 42-24 lead midway through the third quarter.
"Everyone knows he's a great scorer, but what they don't realize is the vision he has," Pulaski Academy Coach Roger Franks said. "He finds people when they're open. Some of our guys who haven't played as much are just now catching on that when he gives them the no-look pass to think, 'Hey, when I'm open I better get ready because I may get it.' ''
"Lawson was clearly the best player on the floor," Mills Coach Raymond Cooper said. "He dominated the game even when he wasn't scoring, and then when he decided to score, he took it personally, and he took it at our guys, and our guys didn't respond. He literally dominated the game."
Johnson, a reserve, scored 17 points for Pulaski Academy (11-3, 5-1 5A-Central).
"Tra really gave us a spark off the bench," Franks said.
Junior guard Quawn Marshall scored 12 points to lead Mills (14-6, 4-2) in a losing battle for first place in the 5A-Central Conference.
"This was a great win for us on the road against a really good basketball team," Franks said. "This is a tough place to win."
Korita completed his 22-point first half with a driving layup at the buzzer, a score highlighted by his glance at the clock just before he crossed the three-point line. "I was just looking to see how much time we had to determine if I needed to stop for a three-pointer or if I had time to get to the hoop," he said.
Less than two seconds apparently was enough, and Korita scored to give Pulaski Academy a 36-21 halftime lead.
"Lawson's a great player, and we knew that going into the game, and then he still hits us for 22 points in the first half," Cooper said. "I'll tell you, we were simply out-coached, out-played, out-hustled, out-toughed, out-smarted, and any other out that you can possibly think of. We got thoroughly beat from buzzer to buzzer."
Pulaski Academy (71)
Lynch 1 1-2 3, Korita 10 5-6 34, Johnson 7 3-5 17, Woods 0 0-0 0, Lindsey 1 3-5 6, Parr 3 1-2 7, Ator 2 0-0 4. Totals 27 14-22 71
Little Rock Mills (52)
Marshall 5 1-2 12, Toney 4 0-1 8, C. Easter 1 0-0 2, G. Easter 2 0-0 5, Virden 2 2-2 7, Hall 3 2-3 8, McCrary 3 0-0 7, Ware 1 0-0 2, Jones 0 1-2 1. Totals 21 6-11 52
Pulaski Academy;21 15 12 23 -- 71
Little Rock Mills;13 8 11 20 -- 52
Three-point shots -- Pulaski Academy 5 (Korita 5); Mills -- 4 (G. Easter 1, Virden 1, Marshall 1, McCrary 1). Total fouls -- Pulaski Academy 14, Little Rock Mills 18. Fouled out -- Marshall, Little Rock Mills)
Sports on 01/27/2016