Late flurry helps lift LR Christian
4A-5 BOYS LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN 67, JOE T. ROBINSON 53
A playoff type of game called for a playoff type of response from the defending Class 4A state champions Friday night.
Little Rock Christian zoomed back from an early fourth-quarter deficit by scoring 20 of the game’s final 25 points to beat Joe T. Robinson 67-53 in front of a large, boisterous crowd at Warrior Arena.
Landen Blocker finished with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals for Little Rock Christian (16-7, 9-1 4A-5), which played the way Coach Kyle Pennington said he hoped it would after suffering a 79-78 loss in overtime at Clinton on Tuesday night.
“That’s a really good basketball team,” Pennington said of the Yellowjackets, who handed the Warriors their first conference loss. “[Clinton] may be a quarterfinal team in the state tournament, and they’re a young team, too, and that’s what’s scary. But this was a huge win.
“We felt like everything that could’ve went wrong on Tuesday night for us went wrong. And so for us, the way we responded. … I can’t say enough about how proud I am of these guys.”
Pennington was certainly happy with the manner in which the Warriors closed because Robinson (9-13, 7-2) gave them all they could handle for 3 1/2 quarters.
Jameel Wesley finished with 14 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, while J.J. Andrews, who was recognized before the game for surpassing the 1,000-point mark for his career, had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Little Rock Christian. K.D. Hicks chimed in with nine points.
Micah Moore scored 14 points for the Senators, who stayed within reach of Little Rock Christian after trailing by as much as 14 points in the second half. Kaleb Burns ended with nine points, while Tristan Jahnke put in 9 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks. But the 20 turnovers Robinson committed didn’t do it any favors in its quest to move into the top spot in the conference.
Actually, both teams turned the ball over a high clip at the start, but the difference was that the Warriors were able to take advantage more often than the Senators. Little Rock Christian scored eight points off eight Robinson miscues in the first quarter, which allowed it to hold a 15-7 lead after one quarter.
But the Warriors weren’t quite able to shake their Highway 10 rivals. Bryce Chunn’s spinning layup with 2:44 left in the second quarter had Robinson within 19-17 before Little Rock Christian scored seven of the last 11 points of the quarter — highlighted by a driving baseline dunk from Blocker — to take a 26-21 into halftime.
“Without that late three, [Robinson] had 18 points,” Pennington said. “I said, ‘Man we’re guarding the heck out of these guys, but the ball is still not falling yet for us.’ We were still thinking just a little bit. The fun part about this, when you’re going against good coaches, is it’s like a chess match.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for that team and Coach [Anwar] Hardin because they’re really good.”
The Warriors opened the third quarter with a 13-4 run to build a 39-25 lead by the 3:18 mark, but a three-pointer by Burns started a blistering 15-1 rally that enabled Robinson to tie the game. Hicks later nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to put his team back out front.
Blocker scored on consecutive baskets inside to start the fourth quarter until Cairon Allen ran off six points during an 8-0 run that gave the Senators a 48-47 lead — their first advantage of the game — with 5:07 remaining.
However, Andrews’ threepoint play on the ensuing possession ignited Little Rock Christian’s closing flurry. That bucket began a 7-0 run. After a free throw from Jahnke stopped the Warriors’ charge, Wesley ripped off nine points in a 13-4 blitz to help ice the game.
“I told them it’s winning time,” Pennington said of his team’s late burst. “This type of game is what we want to be in. This type of game is what a regional tournament feels like, what a state tournament feels like.
“We’ve been in these moments before. I told them to believe in each other, and that we could do this together. So I was very proud of our response.”