After leading the entire first half with a chance to clinch a 5A boys basketball playoff spot, Pine Bluff High School saw a rough third quarter ultimately cost it a win on senior night.
Texarkana defeated Pine Bluff 71-63 in its final game at the former Jack Robey Junior High School campus Friday night. Texarkana (13-8, 7-7 in 5A-South) never led in the first half but outscored the Zebras 28-12 in the third quarter to take the lead and steal a road win.
Pine Bluff (8-16, 7-8) led 34-25 at halftime. The Razorbacks tied the game at 36, then at 40 over the first 4 minutes of the third quarter. After Pine Bluff restored its lead to 43-40 with 2:42 remaining in the third, Texarkana fired off an 11-1 run.
Trey Rhodes gave the Razorbacks their first lead with 2:18 remaining in the quarter, and Rondarius Lott followed with a big dunk to fire up his team. Texarkana led the rest of the way.
Pine Bluff Coach Billy Dixon said the Zebras had the momentum in the first half but slowed up, giving the Razorbacks a chance to make a run.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“You gotta keep playing and keep doing the things that you were doing to be successful,” Dixon said. “You gotta keep doing those things, and sometimes, you have to do things differently. They just had two guys tonight that we could not contain. Could not stay in front of them. They played downhill a lot, made a lot of baskets.”
Texarkana senior M.J. Ward scored a game-high 26 points, with Rhodes adding 23. Pine Bluff junior Quentin Adams led the Zebras with 20, followed by senior Malik Terry with 18.
Free throws played a major role as fouls mounted against both teams. Pine Bluff made 21 of 36 at the line, while Texarkana made 18 of 31.
Terry got much of his offense at the line. He scored his first seven points from the field in the second quarter before making 11 of 16 free throws in the second half.
Dixon said Terry does so much for the Zebras, he finishes every game exhausted.
“I think Malik is probably playing as well as he could play at this particular point,” Dixon said. “He needs some help. Right now, we don’t have that second guard that can come in and relieve some of his duties. He’s the best on-ball defender we got. He’s the best offensive playmaker that we have, and he’s been able to score the ball with a lot of confidence lately.”
Pine Bluff would have clinched a spot in the Class 5A state tournament with a win. Instead, the Zebras slip half a game behind Texarkana for fourth place.
The Zebras still have a chance to reach the postseason but must now win on Tuesday at Hot Springs. Pine Bluff defeated the Trojans 69-67 at home earlier in the season. Jefferson County rival White Hall helped the Zebras on Friday by upsetting Hot Springs 69-66.
GIRLS: Texarkana 51, Pine Bluff 27
A second quarter push temporarily got the Pine Bluff girls back into their final home game of the season, but Texarkana pulled away in the second half.
Pine Bluff (1-24, 0-15) trailed 15-3 after a rough first quarter, and the Lady Razorbacks (16-12, 7-7) grew their lead to 20-3 over the first 1:11 of the second period before Pine Bluff senior Adrianna McAfee hit two shots to start an 8-0 Fillies run. Kennedy Sanders, a junior, and senior Immeri Butler also scored on the run.
Junior guard Kaliah Parks later hit a three-pointer, cutting the Texarkana lead to 22-14. Pine Bluff went on to trail 24-16 at halftime after outscoring the Lady Razorbacks 13-9 in the second.
Pine Bluff junior Andriyah Beverly scored the first points of the second half to cut the deficit to 24-18, but the Fillies didn’t score from the field again in the third quarter as Texarkana rebuilt its lead, ultimately outscoring Pine Bluff 27-11 in the second half.
Harmonie Williams led Texarkana with 14 points, while McAfee led Pine Bluff with 12.
