The Airline Vikings withstood a furious Parkway rally in the second half and pulled away late to defeat the Panthers 56-50 Saturday in the ‘Doc’ Edwards Invitational boys consolation finals at BPCC.
Quan Randle led Airline (11-8) with 14 points. Amir Wineglass added 11 and Devin Bilbo 8.
Gabe Larry paced Parkway (9-5) with 11 points. Chase Turner had 10 and Bryce Roberts nine. Turner and Roberts hit two 3-pointers each.
The Benton Lady Tigers (19-2) and Airline Lady Vikings (9-11) will face off in the girls third-place game at 4 p.m. Saturday at Airline.
In Saturday morning’s semifinals, Benton fell to Minden 50-44 at Benton and Airline lost to North Caddo 62-42 at Airline.
Minden (18-2) and North Caddo (15-1) will play at 7 in a rematch of last year’s championship game won by Minden 64-60 in overtime.
In the boys semifinals, Red River defeated Huntington 70-64 and Denham Springs downed Lakeview 68-62. The Bulldogs (17-2) will play the Yellow Jackets (14-8) at 8:30 at Airline for the title. Huntington (11-4) takes on Lakeview (19-4) in the third-place game at 5:30.
At BPCC, Airline led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter. But Parkway fought back, going on a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to tie it at 45 with 2:40 left.
Randle scored to put the Vikings back on top 47-45. Parkway’s Joey Wiggins scored inside to tie it with 1:30 left. He had a chance for a three-point play but missed the free throw.
Airline then went ahead for good on a basket inside the lane. The Vikings extended the lead to four before the Panthers cut it back to two, 51-49, with 33.7 seconds left.
Airline went up by four again and Parkway couldn’t answer.
Randle came up big down the stretch. He sank five of six free throws and scored seven points in the fourth quarter. Bilbo made a couple of baskets, and TJ Robinson sank a pair of free throws.
The Panthers hurt themselves at the free throw line in the fourth quarter, making just six of 13.
At Benton, the Lady Tigers rallied from a 19-point third-quarter deficit but couldn’t quite come all the way back.
Qua Chambers paced Benton with 16 points. Dana Wainwright added 11 and Emily Ward nine.
Derrica Gilbert led Minden with 19 points. Destini Powell had 13 and Janiya Reed 12.
Gilbert and Powell hit two 3-pointers each in the third quarter and Minden led 44-28 going into the fourth. Wainwright sparked Benton’s fourth-quarter rally with nine points.
Airline got 15 points from freshman Kayla Hampton against North Caddo. The Lady Rebels were led by Jadah Martin (28 points, six 3s) and Destiny Rice (17).
In Friday night’s boys consolation semifinals, Airline edged Benton 48-47 and Parkway crushed North Webster 83-40.
Randle led Airline with 11 points. Bilbo and Fred Lemons scored nine each.
Ethan Yarbrough and Jathen Ross topped Benton with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Joey Wiggins led Parkway against North Webster with 14 points.
In quarterfinal games earlier Friday, Parkway topped Northwood 75-60, Airline defeated Homer 68-46 and Benton slipped past Minden 65-62 in double overtime.
Larry poured in 21 to lead Parkway. Roberts added 14 and Wiggins 11.
Dylan Slaid scored 19 points to lead Benton past Minden. Ross chipped in with 12 and Yarbrough had nine.
The Tigers rallied from a 37-31 deficit after three quarters to send the game into the first overtime tied at 53. Each team scored six points in the first overtime, and Benton outscored Minden 6-3 in the second.
In Friday’s girls quarterfinal games, Benton downed Woodlawn 57-40 and Airline defeated Green Oaks 58-40.
Ward paced Benton with 22 points, including eight in the third quarter. Chambers scored 11 of her 16 points in the fourth. Jada Anderson added nine points.
Hampton tossed in 13 points and Toria Brocks 12 in Airline’s win.
In the other girls quarterfinal games, North Caddo topped Huntington 68-48 and Minden defeated Stanley 54-44.
In the boys quarterfinals Friday, Huntington knocked out defending champion St. Amant 52-50, Lakeview downed Booker T. Washington 81-68 and Denham Springs topped Many 46-34.
In a girls consolation quarterfinal game, Parkway fell to Southwood 54-37. Deidra Williams led the Lady Panthers with 11.
