Overtime FTs just enough for Parkview
Little Rock Parkview’s lone two points in overtime were enough to hand Mills its second loss of the season Friday night.
Freshman guard Moses Moody hit two free throws with 4.8 seconds left in overtime and the Patriots held on to defeat the Comets 57-55 in front of a capacity crowd of more than 2,200 at Maumelle High School in the 5A-Central Conference boys championship game.
“He’s cool,” Parkview Coach Al Flanigan said of Moody, who moved up to the varsity team earlier this season from the ninth-grade team. “He’s got tough skin. He can shoot the ball. He can shoot it as good as anyone around.”
Parkview (25-5) earned the conference’s No. 1 seed at the Class 5A State Tournament in Magnolia. The Patriots will play the No. 4 seed from the 5A-South at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Mills (27-2), which had not lost before Friday since a setback to Little Rock Fair on Dec. 9, had an opportunity to tie the game, but Jeremiah Toney’s running layup did not fall as time expired.
Three Parkview players — Javon Franklin, Ethan Henderson and Caleb Stokes — fouled out in regulation, so with 3:22 remaining in overtime, Flanigan decided to stall with Khalil Garland in the backcourt.
“We were going to take the last shot and leave no time on the clock,” Flanigan said of his strategy. “We got all of our big guys over with me. We wouldn’t have had a chance [without the strategy].”
Moody, who had 10 points, isn’t as established as the two University of Arkansas at Fayetteville signees that were on the court in Parkview’s Garland and Mills’ Darious Hall. But he allowed the Patriots to advance to the state tournament as one of four top seeds, making the clinching free throws after a foul by Mills forward Kaevon Jones.
“It’s tremendous for the group of guys,” Moody said. “We’ve got a great coach. A legendary coach. He coaches us through everything. We’ve got a good group of seniors and our junior class is amazing.”
Franklin scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Patriots. Garland, Stokes and C.J. White each had eight points. White also added eight rebounds and six assists.
Quawn Marshall led the Comets with 13 points. Hall had 12 points for Mills, which went 21 of 37 (56.8 percent) at the free-throw line.