Little Rock Parkview's 47-39 victory at Little Rock Hall on Tuesday night wasn't the prettiest game between the two capital city rivals, but that's fine with Patriots Coach Al Flanigan.
"That's all that counts," Flanigan said of the final score. "We didn't play good, but we played good enough to win."
Both teams combined for 34 turnovers, with Parkview committing 19. But in the fourth quarter, Parkview was able to pull away from Hall, outscoring the Warriors 17-9 in the final eight minutes.
Arkansas signee Khalil Garland scored 15 points for Parkview. Ethan Henderson finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds, and Javon Franklin added 9 points.
It was the conference opener for Hall and Parkview in the 6A/5A-4 Conference. Hall is a Class 6A school, while Parkview is in Class 5A.
Parkview (11-3, 1-0 6A/5A-4) trailed Hall (9-5, 0-1) 8-7 at the end of the first quarter, but took a 19-18 lead at halftime despite committing 11 of its 19 turnovers in the first 16 minutes.
Henderson's slam dunk gave Parkview its largest lead, 29-22 with 3:00 left in the third quarter. Hall pulled within 32-30 before the end of the quarter with Tyre Tillman's jumper.
The Warriors tied the game 34-34 with 6:05 left on Tillman's two free throws. But Parkview regained the lead at 37-34 on Franklin's layup and a free throw by Ahmarri Farr.
Parkview led 38-36 with less than three minutes remaining. Hall turned it over, then Garland scored and was fouled by Isaac Beal on the play. Garland completed the three-point play to give the Patriots a 41-36 lead with 2:25 left.
Cameron Dismuke made one of two free throws with 26.2 seconds left to cut the lead to 43-39, but Parkview punctuated its victory with two slam dunks from Henderson and Franklin.
Tuesday's victory was sweet for Flanigan, whose team was playing in its first non-tournament game of the season.
"No matter what the record is with Hall, they'll always come after us," Flanigan said. "They play us tougher than anybody, besides Jonesboro."
Hall visits Pulaski Academy on Friday and Coach Jon Coleman hopes Tuesday's loss doesn't linger into that game because of a loss to its biggest rival.
"Our objective is to not let one loss turn into another loss because we're flat," Coleman said. "Hopefully, as far as Hall High School players are concerned, this game is over."
LR PARKVIEW (47)
Garland 6 2-4 15, Farr 0 1-2 1, Franklin 4 1-2 9, White 0 4-4 4, Henderson 4 4-6 12, Cooper 1 0-0 2, Simmons 1 0-0 2, Moody 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 12-18 47
LR HALL (39)
Smith 2 1-2 5, Juniel 1 2-3 4, Nichols 0 1-2 1, Goggins 2 6-6 10, Tillman 1 4-4 6, Coleman 1 0-0 3, Beal 3 3-4 9, Dismuke 0 1-2 1. Totals 10 18-22 39
LR Parkview (11-3) 7 12 13 15 -- 47
LR Hall (9-5) 8 10 12 9 -- 39
Three-point goals -- Parkview 1 (Garland); Hall 1 (Coleman). Team fouls -- Parkview 18, Hall 20. Fouled out -- Smith.
Sports on 01/04/2017