HOT SPRINGS — When the final buzzer sounded Friday afternoon, the stands couldn’t contain the celebration as chants of “Zebras” filled the Bank OZK Arena.
The Pine Bluff High School boys basketball team won its second straight state championship, defeating Benton 68-63 in the Class 5A state finals.
Pine Bluff (24-6) secured its 15th state championship with this win, going back-to-back for the first time since winning three straight titles between 1933 and 1935. This game proved a tighter affair than last year’s title game, a 67-51 win against Lake Hamilton.
Pine Bluff Coach Billy Dixon walked into his postgame press conference drenched after receiving a water cooler bath in the locker room after the win. He thanked everyone from the players and school administrators to the community for their support.
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“To find yourself back [here] two years in a row, being able to give back, not only to these young men, but to our community, to our school, the whole Jefferson County, it’s a great feeling to be back here representing 5A as state champions,” Dixon said.
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Pine Bluff Zebras repeat as 5A state champions
Benton (29-5) led 54-52 entering the fourth quarter and kept its lead in the 2- to 4-point range until Pine Bluff senior Braylen Hall drew a foul in transition and hit two free throws to cut the Zebras’ deficit to 61-60 with 3:48 remaining. That score held until senior Courtney Crutchfield scored on a fastbreak while drawing a foul. He completed the 3-point play to give Pine Bluff a 63-61 lead.
Benton sophomore Harrison Pickett quickly answered with a shot on the other end to tie the game, but Pine Bluff senior Jamaal Hickman scored with 1:11 remaining to put Pine Bluff ahead for good. The Zebras hit three free throws in the final minute to ice it while holding Benton without a field goal for the final 5:28 of the game.
Dixon said the Zebras played more zone defense than they have all season, which helped them slow down the Panthers in the end.
“We made an effort to change up what we were going to do, because I didn’t think they would be prepared for that,” Dixon said. “No one playing Pine Bluff think we’re going to play that much of zone. Went to it in the second quarter based on personnel.”
Crutchfield led the Zebras with 24 points and 7 rebounds. Deriyon Graydon scored 14, while Hall and Hickman scored 12 each.
Benton junior Terrion Burgess led the Panthers with 27 points, while Pickett added 21.
Benton led by as much as 37-23 in the second quarter and seemed on pace to win its first state championship, but the momentum shifted when Burgess picked up his third foul 1:39 before halftime.
Pine Bluff had led 20-18 after the first quarter, but the shots quit falling in the second. Benton outscored the Zebras 17-2 over the first 7:25 of the quarter and seemed poised to run away with it before Burgess’s third foul.
The Benton star went to the bench, and Pine Bluff’s offense started getting back into rhythm. The Zebras finished the quarter on an 11-2 run with Burgess out of the game, cutting Benton’s lead to 37-32 at halftime.
Benton Coach Dexter Hendrix said he knew foul trouble could be a factor.
“They’re a very physical team,” Hendrix said. “That stretch there right before halftime, that definitely gave them some momentum. We were trying to get to the second half with some guys not in foul trouble.”
Pine Bluff carried its momentum into the second half, starting the third quarter on a 17-8 run to retake the lead. Benton got back into it thanks to Burgess and led 54-52 entering the fourth, but the Zebras outscored Benton 16-9 in the final quarter.
Crutchfield was named 5A state tournament MVP. In addition to his performance Friday, his buzzer-beating 3-pointer against Lake Hamilton in the state semifinals saved Pine Bluff’s season, sending that game into double overtime and allowing Pine Bluff to reach the finals.
He said he could have turned his focus to football after signing with Missouri in December but felt he had unfinished business with his basketball teammates.
“I been playing with them since I was young,” Crutchfield said. “I knew I could have went to college early and played, but I just felt like I just needed to come back and play one more time with my guys.”