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By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
Parkview’s Xzavia McArthur and Elijah Whitley kept their faith in themselves and were rewarded with a 47-44 Vikings victory in overtime versus New Madrid County Central on Friday.
McArthur made his first 3-pointer of at the Tournament Of Champions a memorable one by swishing a trey with :03 remaining.
McArthur had missed both of his attempts from 3-point land Thursday and also misfired on his only 3-point shot in regulation Friday.
“Like coach (Landon Cornish) says, ‘You stay in the gym enough, you’ll trust your shot,’” McArthur said. “I trusted my shot and knocked it down.”
Whitley set McArthur up for his game-winner by feeding him the ball after drawing a double-team from New Madrid.
“I trusted my teammate,” Whitley said. “I knew they were going to close out on me. I trusted ‘Xsa’ and he knocked it down.”
Whitley had a memorable 3-pointer of his own. He forced overtime by drilling a trey over a New Madrid defender at the end of regulation.
“Sometimes, big-time guys have got to step up in big-time situations,” Cornish said. “We had guys step up and make plays at the very end when we needed it.
“I didn’t call my last timeout at the end of overtime because it was like, ‘Get the ball to (Whitley) and get out of the way, don’t overthink it,’” Cornish added. ”He drove, got doubled and trusted his teammate and ‘Xza’ stepped up.”
New Madrid coach Lennies McFerren couldn’t find fault in his team’s defense, noting the Eagles made Whitley make a shot and a pass with defenders all over him.
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“We played very good defense on both of those (plays). I can’t complain about none of it,” McFerren said.
Whitley closed regulation by making four of his final six 3-point attempts, including a tying trey with :03 remaining, after starting 1-of-7 from the field.
“I kept my head and tried to stay positive and (believe) that they would fall eventually,” Whitley said.
Whitley started to get on track by hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the final minutes of the third quarter. He carried his hot hand into the fourth quarter by swishing a jumper to knot the score at 31-all.
At that juncture, even a Whitley miss turned out good for Parkview. Whitley missed a dunk in traffic, but TJ Hill got the rebound and his putback gave the Vikings the lead, 34-33.
On Parkview’s next trip downcourt, Shane Glass dunked and Parkview was up 36-33.
New Madrid answered with seven straight points to take a 40-36 lead. But the Vikings weren’t done.
“Even when things weren’t going our way, the toughness to continue to play was huge for us,” Cornish said. “That’s not always something that happens. I was really proud that we continued to stick with it.”
Whitley stopped New Madrid’s 7-0 streak with a 3-pointer at the 1:50 mark.
It stayed at 40-39 for a while. No one scored until New Madrid’s Jadis Jones made two free throws with :19 remaining for a 42-39 Eagles lead.
In overtime, Parkview held the upper hand, thanks to a bucket by Marcus Price.
New Madrid didn’t score in the extra period until Marcelous Phillips banked in a layup with :43 left to tie things up at 44.
It was the Eagles’ only bucket in overtime.
“We talked at the beginning of the year that we should be one of the best defensive teams around,” Cornish said. “As long as we play defense, we will be in games. We continued to guard and kept it within a possession or two tonight. We kept it close, kept working and kept trusting that we would make shots when we needed them.
“This is obviously a big milestone for us,” Cornish added. “To go out and play two nights in a row with pride and get a win is going to be big for us moving forward.”
Jones finished with 17 points and 19 rebounds. Those 19 rebounds are tied for the sixth most Tournament Of Champions’ single-game history. Among the players he shares that mark with is former NBA star Lamar Odom.
“I was young when he played, I don’t know much about him,” Jones said. “But that record means a lot to me. That’s big. I tried to get every rebound I could for my team. You’ve got to work and I did.”
“That’s not something I’m surprised about, he’s a heck of a player,” McFerren said. “It would have been a lot sweeter if we had got the victory. But for him, it’s great and he deserves everything he gets.”
New Madrid will meet Springfield Catholic in a seventh-place game today, while Parkview will play Nixa for fifth place.
Parkview 47, New Madrid 44
PARKVIEW (47) — Whitley 6-17 2-3 19, Glass 4-6 0-0 8, McArthur 2-6 1-2 6, Corley 0-3 0-0 0, Price 2-7 0-2 4, Clark 1-1 0-0 3, Parker 0-1 0-0 0, Hill 3-5 0-0 7. Totals 18-46 3-7 47.
NEW MADRD (44) – Jones 7-14 3-4 17, Smith 3-4 0-0 6, Williamson 3-9 1-4 7, Phillips 3-4 2-4 8, King 0-7 2-2 2, Ruff 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 18-42 8-14 44.
Parkview 7 14 8 13 5 – 47
New Madrid 11 12 8 11 2 – 44
3-point goals – Whitley 5, McArthur, Clark, Hill.
