No. 3 Parkville storms past Hereford

Caron Smith lit the fuse that got Parkville High’s boys’ basketball team’s offense firing Friday night at Hereford.

The third-ranked Knights trailed by four midway through the second quarter when Smith went on a tear with three straight 3-pointers to give Parkville the lead. The Knights rode that momentum and dominated after halftime for a 64-40 victory against the 14th-ranked Bulls in a Baltimore County Division I contest.

“I just never lost confidence and kept shooting,” Smith said. “I got to my spots and my teammate found me. I got hot early and that lead to the blowout win.”

Hereford led 19-15 at the four-minute mark of the second quarter. when Smith knocked down a 3-pointer from the counter to trim the deficit to one. After a miss by the Bulls, the Parkville senior knocked in another trey from the top of the arc to put the Knights up.

Smith capped his run by hitting another three in transition after a Hereford turnover. Junior Josiah LeGree followed that with a dunk off a steal to force a Hereford timeout with the score at 26-19.

“We just turned the energy up and communicated better as a team [after a slow start],” LeGree said. “We rotated better and executed better throughout the game.”

Leading 30-24 at the half, Parkville (9-0 overall, 2-0 Division II) picked up the defensive intensity in the third quarter behind LeGree and senior Favor Okigweh. LeGree pressured the Hereford guards into difficult shots and Okigweh controlled the paint as the Knights seized control of the game with an 11-2 run to start the second half.

Parkville’s defense held Hereford to six points in the decisive third period and junior Sincere Barfield put the finishing touches on a dominant quarter with another 3-pointer and a layup in transition that put the Knights up by 20.

“We are still inexperienced and still learning how to play against pressure,” said Hereford coach Jim Rhoads, whose team fell to 7-2 (1-1 Division I). “We have trouble getting into our offense when they put that kind of pressure on us. We’re young and inexperienced. These games are good for us because we can’t replicate that kind of pressure in our practice.”

Smith led all scorers with 18 points, all coming on 3-pointers. LeGree had 16 points and three steals, while Barfield chipped in 14.

Hereford senior guard Jordan Ackerman had the hot hand early for the Bulls with all 8 of his points in the first quarter, while junior center Brady George also had 8. Senior forward Ike Nwadiogbu finished the game with 7 points and 5 rebounds.

Parkville coach Josh Czerski liked the way he team responded after being down on the road.

“Slow start, we had to speed them up,” Czerski said. “We were kind of sitting back. Being a Friday on the road, it was kind of a tough game for us. They are a good team – they move the ball well and coach Rhoads is a really good coach. They move the ball and run a solid flex offense and had our kids off a little bit to start the game. Once we started pressing and speeding [Hereford] up, that is when the game turned.”

NO. 3 PARKVILLE 64, NO. 14 HEREFORD 40

Parkville: Caron Smith 18, Josiah LeGree 16, Sincere Barfield 14, Cayne Woodland 6, Favor Okigweh 4, Chima Egeonu 3, Michael Wiggins 2, Tre Worsley 1.

Hereford: Jordan Ackerman 8, Brady George 8, Ike Nwadiogbu 7, Ryder Walter 6, Brenden Kittner 4, Colin Kurniawan 3, Sam Nicholson 2, Jack Kinsey 2.

Parkville 11 19 23 11 -- 64

Hereford 12 12 6 10 -- 40