Little Rock Parkview Coach Scotty Thurman had enough of Tuesday's 5A-Central Conference opener against Sylvan Hills in Sherwood.
The former University of Arkansas basketball star, in his first season as Parkview's head coach, received a technical foul with 2:25 left to play, then had his team leave the bench. The officiating crew ended the contest with Sylvan Hills winning 65-51 at the Bears' Den.
Parkview senior forward Ryan Gordon fouled Sylvan Hills senior guard DeShaun Fowlkes with 2:25 left. Thurman threw the basketball from Parkview's bench in the direction of the officials on the other end as they were getting set up to have Fowlkes shoot two free throws.
Thurman received a technical foul for throwing the basketball and was asked to sit down, but he stood by his chair with his arms crossed. He didn't receive a second technical, but he had his team leave the court.
Thurman said he's been frustrated with officiating throughout Parkview's season. It boiled over Tuesday for Thurman, 45, who hit the game-winning three-pointer against Duke in 1994 to give Arkansas its only national championship.
"My kids get a disservice each and every night," said Thurman, who took over for Al Flanigan in July. "Everybody's all braggadocious about a former Razorback being the coach at Parkview. I get shafted every night.
"My kids play hard. They play the right way. We get shafted. Every night. It doesn't matter who the officiating crew is. It's never equal. It shouldn't be that way.
"I don't mind us getting bad calls here and there. But when I throw the ball back to the ref and it didn't make it to him, so I get a technical foul and you want to throw me out of the game for something, we don't stand for that."
Parkview was called for 25 fouls to Sylvan Hills' 21.
Thurman said there's a personal vendetta against him and Parkview.
"I know there are certain people in the [Little Rock School] District that aren't happy that I'm Parkview's head coach. So what?" Thurman said. "There's certain people in the district that aren't happy that my kids are playing hard for me. So what? Don't cheat the kids, man. That's all I ask."
Sylvan Hills Coach Kevin Davis was surprised by the game-ending events.
"This has never happened in my 25 years of coaching," Davis said. "Not to me or the teams I've been associated with. I've just never seen it."
The Bears led 18-8 at the end of the first quarter and went into halftime with a 27-20 advantage.
Parkview cut the lead to 39-34 with 3:00 left in the third quarter on junior guard Christian Winkler's layup. But the Bears closed the quarter on a 7-1 run with sophomore guard Nick Smith's jumper and junior guard Jayden Smith's three-pointer highlighting the spurt.
Sylvan Hills extended its lead to 54-37 with 7:04 remaining on Smith's three-point play. The Bears' largest lead was 61-43 with less than four minutes to play.
Smith led the Bears (10-3, 1-0 5A-Central) with 18 points. Classmate Corey Washington, a forward, scored 12 points. Smith added 11 points.
Davis said he appreciated his team's poise.
"We were just trying to do what the Bears do," Davis said. "We had the ball go into the basket tonight, and that's always a big help."
The Patriots (5-8, 0-1) were led by senior forward Ryan Gordon's 20 points. Winkler chipped in with 11 points.
Parkview has played one of the state's toughest schedules, facing Little Rock Central, Bryant and Jonesboro, along with several teams from Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee. Thurman said the Patriots will be fine, but he hopes for betting officiating.
"We have to keep working to get better, that's it," Thurman said. "It's one game. It's not the season. But if games are going to be officiated like this each and every night, it does a disservice to the kids."
Sports on 01/15/2020