5A-CENTRAL BOYS

Mills turns to Greene in comeback victory

Mills got another huge effort from one of its senior guards to pull out its second come-from-behind victory in as many days during the 5A-Central Conference boys tournament final.

Patrick Greene scored 16 of his 28 points in the first half to help top-ranked Mills overcome an early deficit and pull away from Little Rock Christian 62-45 on Friday night at Maumelle High School.

Junior forward Kevin Cross added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Mills (26-2), which has won 25 consecutive games. The Comets also got 11 points from junior guard Orion Virden.

"This time of the year, it's all about battling," Mills Coach Raymond Cooper said. "Little Rock Christian played us tough, but we stayed gritty. [Greene] came up really, really big for us.

"He made some timely shots and was able to get to the basket, really on a bad ankle."

The Comets also benefited from a rare off night by Little Rock Christian guard Justice Hill. The junior scored the first five points from the Warriors, but the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville commit didn't hit another field goal until 1:11 remained in the game. He finished with nine points. Junior guard Mykal Moore had a team-high 15 points and senior guard Will Strickland added 11 for the Warriors (20-8).

But things didn't go as planned at the beginning for the Comets.

Mills got off to slow start for the second day in a row. The Comets missed their first nine shots and was guilty of five turnovers over the first six minutes. But Mills was able to control the tempo and force the Warriors to play at a rapid pace, which caused a number of rushed shots and unforced errors.

"[Mills] beat us to a lot of the 50-50 balls," Little Rock Christian Coach Clarence Finley said. "We weren't strong enough with the ball, and we tried to dribble through some traps and things. We took some bad shots at times, but we continued to fight.

"We know we can play with them, but [Friday], we just didn't do enough."

Little Rock Christian led 10-6 in the first quarter before back-to-back three pointers by Greene and Virden in the final minute put Mills ahead 12-10. Greene then scored 13 points in the second quarter, including 3 three-pointers, as the Comets held a 31-23 lead at halftime.

Mills pushed its lead out to 38-25 midway through the third quarter. Little Rock Christian did get timely shots from Moore and Strickland to hang around in the fourth quarter until another three-pointer by Greene keyed a 10-0 run for Mills that locked up the victory.

LR CHRISTIAN (45)

Hill 3 2-2 9, Strickland 4 0-0 11, Bennett 3 1-2 7, Moore 7 0-1 15, Chapple 0 3-6 3, Hightower 0 0-0 0, Finley 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 6-11 45.

MILLS (62)

Cross 3 7-8 13, Easter 1 3-5 5, Peaster 2 0-6 4, Greene 10 2-2 28, Virden 4 0-0 11, Jones 0 1-2 1, Clark 0 0-0 0, Jefferson 0 0-0 0, Shelton 0 0-0 0, Wright 0 0-0 0, Ford 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 13-23 62.

LR Christian (20-8);10 13 13 9 -- 45

Mills (25-2);12 19 12 19 -- 62

Three-point goals -- Little Rock Christian 5 (Strickland 3, Moore, Hill), Mills 9 (Greene 6, Virden 3). Team fouls -- Little Rock Christian 18, Mills 17.

Sports on 02/24/2018

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