Parkview girls survive scare vs. Milton

The No. 1 Parkview girls survived a scare, but held on to defeat Milton 59-47 in the second round of the Class AAAAA playoffs on Tuesday night.

Parkview (29-1) remained undefeated at home, but didn’t earn any style points with the narrow victory. But the Panthers were happy to win after not being able to practice for several days before the game.

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Johnny Crawford/jcrawford@ajc.com

Parkview’s Maggie Smith reaches for a loose ball. Smith had 11 points in the 59-47 win over Milton.

• Photos: Parkiew wins at home




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“It was not a pretty win. Obviously, there was some rust from not being able to practice since last Thursday,” Parkview coach Mike McCoy said. “To the credit of the girls, they maintained their composure. We kept things pretty simple and maintained.”

Milton cut the lead to 41-38 with 4:42 left in the game after Kris King was fouled while banking in a circus shot. King, who led the Eagles with 19 points, made the free throw to complete the three-point play. But Parkview broke it open with a 8-0 run in the next few minutes.

“Defensively, Parkview is second to none,” Milton coach Craig Bennett said. “We play other teams that are just as aggressive. Parkview does all the little things that get you to the No. 1 ranking.”

Parkview’s Lauren Coleman scored 20, and Maggie Smith added 11. The Panthers played in the postseason opener last Friday, and were given Saturday off. The team had practices canceled on Sunday and Monday because of the snow storm.

McCoy requested that the game be moved back one day, but the request was denied.

“When you can’t prepare, you have to do it on the fly,” McCoy said. “We just dealt with the situation given us, and did the best we could. We’re very happy with the win.”