LR Parkview making comebacks look routine
LR PARKVIEW 62, FARMINGTON 56
Little Rock Parkview had a flair for the dramatic in the opening round of the Class 5A girls state tournament, and the Lady Patriots followed the same script Friday.
Parkview overcame a 12-point, third-quarter deficit to take down Farmington 62-56 at Maumelle High School.
Senior guards Kania Lasker and Mikayla Alexander had 18 and 16 points, respectively, for Parkview (20-9), which battled back from an 11-point hole in the final quarter to beat Paragould on Wednesday. This time, the Lady Patriots completed their comeback a quarter early to earn a date with Hot Springs today at noon in the semifinals.
“All heart, all heart,” Parkview Coach Lahoma Howard said. “They played hard and dug down deep for me. We came out slow, missed some shots and turned it over some.
“Nerves may have had something to do with that, but I called a timeout, and they settled down. I couldn’t be any prouder right now.”
Junior forward Jaida Bangura added 12 points for Parkview, which went 22 of 52 from the floor, was outrebounded 31-23 and had three players foul out, yet still managed to put an end to Farmington’s season for the second year in a row.
Junior forward Alexis Roach had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Cardinals, who were 13-of-37 shooting but just 6 of 20 in the second half. Junior guard Madisyn Pense had 14 points, and junior guard Makenna Vanzant added 10.
Parkview held a 7-5 lead at the 1:46 mark of the first quarter, but Farmington put together a 7-0 run to finish the quarter. The Lady Patriots chopped their deficit to one on two occasions in the second quarter, the latter occurring after a three-pointer from Kaylan Larry with 3:55 left in the half, to pull within 20-19.
Farmington answered by scoring 10 of the final 14 points of the quarter to take a 30-23 lead at halftime.
Parkview was saddled with foul trouble for a large portion of the first half, with the biggest coming when Larry picked up her second foul midway through the second quarter. The junior guard, who scored 20 points in the Lady Patriots’ victory over Paragould, was just 1-of-7 shooting in the first two quarters, then had to sit for an extended length of time after picking up her third foul 41 seconds into the third quarter.
The Lady Cardinals pushed their advantage to 4129 after Pense’s three-pointer with 4:14 showing, but Parkview came back.
Alexander scored 11 points during a 22-2 run. Lasker’s steal and layup with 1:32 left in the third tied the game at 43-43, and Alexander added a steal and conversion of her own to give Parkview the lead.
The Lady Patriots wouldn’t trail again.
“We were struggling shooting a little in the third, but the intensity was there on defense,” Howard said. “We made a run, and it was all heart. They were gonna leave it all out there on the floor, and that’s all I asked them to do.
“They did that, and it got us the victory.”
NETTLETON 75, VILONIA 60
Nettleton closed the third quarter on an 8-2 run to slip away from Vilonia to win its 11th game in a row.
Junior guard Mya Love scored a team-high 19 points for Nettleton (302), which shot 15 of 25 in the second half to advance to today’s semifinals. Senior guard Jordan Elder had 18 points, junior forward Dasia Young had 10, and senior forward Bailey Booker also had 10 for the Lady Raiders.
Junior forward Paige Kelley scored 23 points for Vilonia (25-6), which was 12 of 21 after halftime but didn’t have enough to keep up. Freshman guard Lauren Patterson had 14 points, and freshman Laney Mears finished with 11.
WATSON CHAPEL 58, LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN 49
Guards Wyvette Mayberry and Taylor Whitted combined to hit 8 of 10 free throws over the final 1:09 to allow Watson Chapel (27-4) to beat Little Rock Christian for the second time this season.
Senior guard Jakhiyah Boston had 16 points, and senior forward Jerica Bell had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Wildcats, who went 18 of 42 from the floor and outrebounded the Lady Warriors 35-24. Whitted finished with 12 points and Mayberry had 9 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals.
Junior guard Reagan Bradley had 19 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals for Little Rock Christian (29-3). Freshman forward Wynter Rogers scored 13 points and pulled down 6 rebounds. The Lady Warriors finished the night 14-of-49 shooting, including 5 of 22 in the second half.