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By Kary Booher
Springfield, MO – Earlier this past week, a few members of Parkview High School’s fabled “Jolly Green Giants” stopped by to hand off grants to teachers, only to learn that the boys basketball team was a win away from the program’s 1,000th win.
For Parkview’s Lencorya Grady, the current Vikings had no choice but to deliver.
“That gave us some encouragement,” Grady said. “We knew they were watching, so we had to put on a show for them.”
Did they ever. The Vikings roared back in the second half to beat the Central Bulldogs 78-62 on Friday night at Jim Ball Gymnasium, doing so by rallying from an early 21-8 deficit and seizing momentum thanks to a wild end to the third quarter.
Grady finished with a career-high 28 points, but his stats paled in comparison to the talk of the night – freshman Dontae Taylor’s steal and go-ahead 3-pointer that beat the buzzer to end the third.
It was a whirlwind sequence in those final 10 seconds. Central’s Ian Holyfield’s steal gave the Bulldogs a 50-47 lead, but Grady scored on a runner and then came the steal by Taylor.
That was part of a stretch in which Parkview blitzed its way to a 26-point stretch – Central scored only 13 points – between the 1:40 mark of the third quarter and the 3:22 mark of the fourth, when the Vikings led 66-56.
“Just great anticipation on Dante’s part, to be a freshman and that headsy to think about stepping in and stealing the ball as the quarter is about to end,” said Parkview coach Landon Cornish, whose team is now 5-1. “Giving us the lead going into the fourth quarter was huge.”
The 1,000th victory comes for a program that enjoyed great success in the mid-1960s with the “Jolly Green Giants” and then bouts of success in the past three decades. It was Cornish who told some of the Giants this past week about the approaching milestone.
“We didn’t know it’d come quite this early. To do it before Christmas, it’s pretty special for our program,” Cornish said. “I think the Giants donated over $2,000 to the teachers – it’s not just athletics – and they were shocked, too. They didn’t know that. We’re also celebrating the 60th year of the school being open, so to get it is pretty special.”
Taylor finished with 18 points and Demarcus Mason added 16 points for Parkview, which had beaten Central 85-68 on Dec. 2.
This time, Central played the part of aggressor early by jumping out to a 21-8 advantage. However, Parkview tightened its off-the-ball defense, with Central committing 11 first-half turnovers. The empty possessions allowed the Vikings to pull within 33-28 at halftime.
Unfortunately for Central, the Bulldogs couldn’t maintain the advantage. But that may have been expected. Coach Armando Johnson’s team has only a six-player rotation – a starter quit recently – and tried to soldier through down the stretch.
However, Parkview overwhelmed them late in the third.
“We played a lot better this time,” Johnson said. “I think we played a much better game. We just don’t have enough people. We’re good, but we’re not deep once you get past that first six.”
Central is now 0-6 in a season when it has lost three games by five points. Dante Reese finished with 20 points, Holyfield 15 and Bryson Dankert 13 points.
“If you’re playing six guys for an entire game, nobody was really in was really no foul trouble,” Johnson added. “When guys get fatigued, you start making little mistakes. They’re legs are tired. They aren’t hitting threes. We missed three point-blank layups. That’s just something we have to weather as a team. I’m not mad at them.”
