Trojans fall short in fourth straight semifinals
MAUMELLE — Hot Springs gave their all in the third quarter, but it was not enough as Little Rock Parkview rolled to a 52-39 win to advance to the Class 5A state basketball final in Hot Springs this weekend.
Trailing 29-16 at the break, the Trojans
(24-12) opened the second half on an 11-3 run to pull within 32-27 at the 4:14 mark.
“We just made adjustments and let them know they are human just like us,” Echols said. “They put their pants on one leg at a time, like us. We finally made a couple of outside shots, and we got to the rim and started making baskets.
“When we did that, it caused some problems with them. We got C.J. White in foul trouble, and (Allen) Flanigan didn’t get going the way he wanted to and caused them some problems early on. That’s the start. If you give us that start in the first quarter, you’ve got a different ball game.”
The Patriots (24-8) recovered to take a 37-28 lead with 1:26 remaining, but the Trojans would not lay down, pulling within 37-30 with 1:11 to go and holding on for a 39-32 deficit entering the final period.
“We started getting out of our mode,” Parkview head coach Al Flanigan said. “We started taking bad shots and wanted to be a hero. If you’re a point guard, I want you to be getting things going, not shooting those bad jump shots and you know you can’t shoot. If we just do what we do, we’ll be fine.”
Deante Sanders hit a bucket with 24 seconds off the clock in the fourth quarter to pull Hot Springs within 39-34, but it was as close as it would get as the Patriots rolled on an 6-0 run to stretch their lead out to 45-34 at the 3:46 mark.
Parkview pulled to a 47-35 lead with
2:09 remaining, but J.J. Walker hit a pair of free throws to bring the Trojans back within 10 before the Patriots put the game away on a 5-0 run for a 52-27 lead with 20.3 seconds remaining.
Kaleb Hughley was fouled with six seconds remaining, making both free throws to set the final.
The win puts Parkview in its third consecutive state final and their second in Class 5A.
“We’ve just got to go finish this sucker this time,” Flanigan said. “This is just what I wanted.”
Parkview jumped on the Trojans early, rolling to a 10-0 lead by the 4:07 mark.
“We ran into a blitz,” said Hot Springs head coach Rodney Echols. “Parkview is a good team. They got off to a great start, and I could see us being nervous. They’ve got a good group of kids and a good group of seniors. There’s a lot of college players on their team, and their size caused us a lot of problems. Attribute that to me having a lot of young guys on the floor, and they haven’t been in this moment.
“They jumped on us, and for the rest of the ball game, I think it was pretty even. I told them that I felt that if we got off to a good start in the first quarter, we’d be fine, but we didn’t.”
Hot Springs could not find its rhythm in the opening quarter, hitting just one field goal. The Trojans shot just 2 of 6 at the free throw line to end the quarter back 19-4.
“We started out like we wanted to,” said Flanigan. “Then we calmed down. There’s just something about these guys; they don’t have that killer instinct yet. We played good enough on defense to stay in the game. Like old coaches say, ‘Defense travels,’ and that’s what I hang my hat on, defense.”
Ramello Cason had a rebound and putback on a missed shot with 32 seconds off the clock in the second quarter, but the Patriots hit two back-to-back buckets to increase the advantage to 23-6 at the
6:20 mark.
Neither team scored again until Curtis Frierson had a rebound and putback on a missed 3-point attempt by Hughley to pull within 23-8 with 5:11 remaining. Santiair Thomas added a shot in the paint at the 3:39 mark to make it 23-10.
Parkview hit a pair of 3-pointers split by a free throw by Thomas to stretch to a 29-11 lead, but the Trojans found their stride, putting up five unanswered points in the final two minutes to trail 29-16 at the break.
Echols said he was proud to see his team reach the semifinal game.
“This is a big moment,” Echols said. “To be in this position, to have a chance of getting to finals is a big plus for us. They came out and played very well tonight.”
Walker paced the Trojans with 10 points, three assists and two rebounds, and Thomas added nine points with five rebounds. Cason led Hot Springs with six rebounds.
White led all scorers with 20 points, four steals and three rebounds, Ethan Henderson added 16 with four rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots and Allen Flanigan finished with a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The Patriots outrebounded the Trojans 26-21. Hot Springs shot for 24 percent from the field, hitting just 8 of 36 from inside the arc, 22 percent, while sinking
33 percent, 3 of 9, from distance.
The Patriots will face the winner of Saturday’s late game between Little Rock Fair (24-6) and Little Rock Mills (28-2). The schedule for this weekend’s finals will be determined by the Arkansas Activities Association in a meeting this afternoon in Little Rock and released later today.