Halftime chat sparks Parkview’s rout of PA

An inspirational halftime speech from Little Rock Parkview head Coach Al Flanigan got his team’s attention as it pulled away from host Pulaski Academy in the second half in route to a 59-36 6A/5A-4 conference victory at Alex Hugg Gymnasium on Friday.

Parkview (10-4, 2-0) was led by Curtis White and Arkansas commit Ethan Henderson with 15 points each. Pulaski Academy (7-3, 1-1) got 18 points from Tra Johnson and only trailed 25-20 at the break after Parkview hadn’t scored in the last four minutes of the second quarter.

“I got on them pretty good,” Flanigan said. “We were playing lackadaisical. The other night we were getting steals in the lane. We have to get some easy buckets, because we don’t shoot the ball well all the time. I reminded them defense is what we hang our hats on.”

Allen Flanigan got a dunk to start the momentum going for Parkview in the third quarter. Henderson followed with two more dunks and White was driving the lane for layups in an 11-2 run that put Parkview up 44-27.

Parkview increased its lead to 20 points, 49-29, with 5:40 left in the game on a shot from Henderson.

“Pulaski Academy is a well-coached team and you have to be ready because they can shoot the ball,” Flanigan said. “Our defense gave us our lead tonight, but we are still a little behind where I want us to be. We will be better, though.”

Pulaski Academy trailed 14-13 after one quarter on eight points from Johnson. Parkview led 25-18 with Arion Simmons scoring 10 points, but the scoring stopped with 4:02 to go in the first half. Pulaski Academy could only get as close as five points thanks to an aggressive press from Parkview.