The Airline Vikings clinched at least a share of their second straight District 1-5A championship with a 73-67 victory over the Parkway Panthers on Tuesday night at Parkway.
Airline (20-10, 9-0) has a three-game lead on Evangel (13-13, 7-3) and Southwood (14-13, 6-3) in the loss column with three to play.
In the other District 1-5A games Tuesday, Evangel downed Haughton 47-25 at Evangel and Southwood defeated Byrd 51-37 at Byrd.
Airline hosts Evangel on Friday.
In District 1-4A, co-leader Bossier knocked off Huntington 60-44 at Bossier, and Benton edged Minden 46-44 at Benton.
In District 1-1A, Plain Dealing fell to Lincoln Prep 61-45 on the road.
At Parkway, the Vikings led 40-35 at the half and then stretched the lead to 16 going into the fourth quarter. The Panthers didn’t go quietly, though, cutting the lead to six with about four minutes to play.
The closest Parkway got was five with 8.9 seconds left.
Trent Ivy led four Airline players in double figures with 19 points. TJ Robinson chipped in with 16. Jon Jenkins added 12 and Fred Lemons 11.
Ivy scored 10 in the first quarter. Airline led by as many as 12 before Parkway rallied within six going into the second quarter.
Robinson scored eight in the fourth quarter, including a six-for-six effort from the free throw line.
Ty Hubbard led Parkway (11-12, 4-6) with 17 points. Sheldon Dudley and Bryce Roberts each scored nine. Chase Turner added eight.
Hubbard scored nine in the first quarter and eight in the fourth. Roberts hit two 3-pointers in the fourth. Dudley sank two 3s in the second.
At Bossier, Dante Bell and Kaalas Roots led Bossier with 19 and 18 points, respectively. Jacoby Decker added 12.
The Bearkats got off to a slow start, trailing 27-23 at the half.
Bossier got going in the third quarter. Bell and Roots both scored seven in a 21-7 run that gave the Bearkats a 44-34 lead heading into the final period.
Bossier extended its winning streak to 14. The Bearkats (23-6, 10-1) are tied with Woodlawn (24-5, 10-1), which defeated Northwood 83-47, for first.
At Benton, the Tigers raised their record to 15-13 overall and 6-5 in district with the victory.
At Lincoln Prep, Plain Dealing dropped to 12-15 and 6-5 with the loss.
— Russell Hedges, rhedges@bossierpress.com
