By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
It took an extra period to decide the winner between rivals North Pulaski and Sylvan Hills in Friday’s 5A-Central Conference matchup at the Falcons’ Nest, and even though the Bears trailed most of the game, they stayed within striking distance of the Falcons and made just enough plays in overtime to leave Jacksonville with a 67-66 win.
North Pulaski led 18-16 at the end of the first quarter, and looked as if it might run away with the game in the second as it began the period with a 10-0 run.
The run was capped with a crowd-pleasing dunk by RaShawn Langston that was the result of a Steven Farrior steal at half court. Langston’s dunk gave the Falcons their largest lead of the night at 28-16 with 4:12 remaining in the first half.
Sylvan Hills coach Kevin Davis called timeout after Langston’s thunderous dunk, and what Davis said during the timeout worked as the Bears finished the half with 13-4 run that cut the Falcons’ lead to 32-29 at halftime.
“It’s taken a little time to get everybody on the same page, so my plan was to play through it,” said Davis of his team’s first-half comeback. “Stick to the game plan, keep trusting each other, and it’ll break through for you, but you just have to stay with it.
“We took some quick shots. We took some rushed shots, but we never really seemed to panic. We kind of just kept playing.”
Each team scored 16 points in the third quarter, so the Falcons maintained their three-point lead by the start of the fourth, leading 48-45. The fourth quarter was neck-and-neck the whole way.
With 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, Bears’ shooting guard Ronnie Hinton put Sylvan Hills up 60-59 with a three-pointer. Farrior made 1 of 2 free throws on the following possession to tie the game at 60 apiece, and with 13 seconds to play, Langston was able to penetrate the lane and finish with a right-handed floater that gave the Falcons a 62-60 lead.
Davis immediately called timeout to set up one final play, and on the Bears’ final possession of regulation, sophomore point guard Cordy Winston drove to the right side of the basket and put up a highly-contested shot that fell short.
Aumonie Armond went up for the putback, but missed, and North Pulaski got the rebound with one second remaining. However, goal tending was called on the Falcons after Winston’s shot attempt, which gave Winston credit for the basket and eventually sent the game to overtime with the score tied at 62-62.
The Falcons once again took the lead at the start of the overtime period on a pair of free throws by senior Arren Scruggs, but Sylvan Hills eventually battled back as it did before and tied the game at 66-66, this time on a successful putback by Armond after a Winston miss.
Armond’s putback came with 47 seconds to play in overtime, and the Bears’ defense held the Falcons scoreless on the next possession. Winston once again got the call on the Bears’ final possession, and as he did at the end of the fourth period, he drove to the basket. This time though, for the go-ahead shot attempt.
Winston’s shot came up short as he penetrated the lane, but he was fouled on the play, and with 1.2 seconds remaining, he made the first of two free-throw attempts to set the final score.
After the game, North Pulaski coach Roy Jackson couldn’t help but recall his team’s sudden collapse at the end of the second quarter.
“When we went up 12, we were at that point where we could put them away, but then we started playing not to lose,” said Jackson. “We took our foot off the pedal a little bit when we should’ve kept going, but we fought back.
“Once again, we had crucial times in the ball game where we didn’t take care of the basketball. We didn’t hit free throws when we needed to knock them down, and (Sylvan Hills) found a way to pull it out. They got the ball to their point guard and he made something happen. You tell any kid when it’s like that, you got to get to the basket and make a play.”
Friday’s game was the Bears’ third-straight that ended in overtime, but the first in that span that resulted in a win for Davis’ team.
“If nothing else, we’re getting some extra minutes,” Davis said. “For us, we just have to keep playing through. We have to play through contact. We have to play through adversity. We have to play through misses.
“It made me a little nervous because this is the third one and I’ve told them to play through, play through, and it broke through for them. I told them ‘I’m going to sit back over here (the bench) and watch you guys go play a basketball game, and you’ve got to figure it out.’ And to their credit, they stepped up and made plays at the end.”
North Pulaski made 26 of 54 shots from the floor for 48 percent. Sylvan Hills made 20 of 46 shots for 43 percent. The Falcons also outrebounded the Bears 30-25, but the host team had 13 turnovers in the second half alone, equaling the total number of turnovers the Bears committed in the five periods played.
Sylvan Hills was also the better team at the free-throw and three-point lines. The Bears made 75 percent of their free throws on 21 of 28 shooting, and 33 percent of their threes on 6 of 18 shooting.
North Pulaski made 13 of 23 attempts at the line for 57 percent, and just 1 of 11 three-point attempts for 9 percent.
Winston led all scorers with 22 points. Hinton had 18. Armond had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Tre West finished with eight.
For the Falcons, Langston led the way with 20 points. Farrior had 12 points and seven rebounds, and Scruggs scored nine.
The Falcons (8-9, 1-5) played at McClellan last night after deadlines, and will play another 5A-Central road game Friday at Helena-West Helena Central.
Sylvan Hills (8-8, 2-4) played host to Jacksonville last night in more 5A-Central action, and will travel to McClellan on Friday for its next conference game.
Both games are set to tip-off at approximately 7:30 p.m.
