SAPPINGTON • The Parkway South basketball team picked up two key victories on Thursday night, one on the court and one away from it.
Before the Patriots took the court at Lindbergh, they were selected as the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Class 5 District 3 tournament. Then the team took care of business against the host Flyers with a 49-33 win that kept them unbeaten in Suburban West Conference play.
"We were hoping not to have a letdown after a good win over Marquette," Parkway South coach Mitch Stevens said. "We just want to play good, tough defense. We had a little bit of both worlds tonight -- good defense and the kids were hitting some shots."
Parkway South (18-6 overall, 6-0 in league play) has won six of its last seven games, including a 59-48 victory against Lafayette in the third-place game of the Ameritime Classic on Jan. 27 at Missouri Baptist that helped the Patriots get the No. 1 seed over the Lancers in the district.
After a 53-38 win against visiting Marquette on Tuesday, which avenged a loss in last year's district championship, there was some concern about whether the Patriots would be ready to play from the start on Thursday -- especially with nine Lindbergh players taking a pregame bow on Senior Night.
"We were definitely nervous about Coach (Jason) Wolfard's team, and the kids responded again tonight," Stevens said.
Parkway South got off to a bit of a slow start on Thursday, building a 12-7 lead by the end of the first quarter, but then the visitors took control with a dominating second quarter.
The Patriots outscored the Flyers 17-5 in the period, getting points inside on high-percentage shots and at the free throw line (seven of nine attempts) as struggling Lindbergh connected on just one of six field goal attempts.
"Our main goal is just to come out defensively and really set the tone," point guard Ryan McArthy said. "Just focus and really play our game and stick to what we've been focusing on in practice."
Parkway South led 29-12 at halftime, 40-21 after three quarters and by as many as 25 points early in the fourth quarter before Lindbergh trimmed the deficit late after both teams went to their bench players.
McArthy scored 11 points to lead a balanced attack for Parkway South. Sam Jaouni added 10, Charlie Bakula scored seven and Eric Laurent, Mark Waller and Jeremy Verges had six points apiece.
Lindbergh (12-11, 4-2), which has lost five of its last six games, was led by Blake Welch's eight-point effort.
