Lady Blackhawks open arena in style

4A-1 GIRLS PEA RIDGE 69, PRAIRIE GROVE 33

PEA RIDGE — It didn’t take the Pea Ridge girls long to make themselves at home in their new arena, particularly the area outside the threepoint line.

The Lady Blackhawks hit five of their 10 shots from beyond the arc in the first quarter Friday night and celebrated their first game in the new Blackhawk Arena with a 69-33 victory over 4A-1 Conference foe Prairie Grove.

“It’s crazy — we’ve been shooting it pretty good ever since we moved in here,” Pea Ridge Coach Heath Neal said. “We’ve had 10 or 12 practices in here, and I’m not shocked about it. When it came to scheduling the last couple of years, we wanted to be road warriors and play in arenas similar to the one we were building.

“I’ve made some jokes to my staff that we’ve been shooting it better here than in the old gym. If we keep that up on a consistent basis, I’ll sure be proud of them.”

Blakelee Winn had 17 points to lead Pea Ridge (12-2, 3-0), including the first varsity points in the new arena less than a minute into the game. She positioned herself in the lane on the Lady Blackhawks’ opening possession, then took a pass from Ravin Cawthon and spun to her left for the bucket.

She also had a three-pointer from the right wing that gave Pea Ridge a 62-31 cushion with 5:03 remaining.

“It’s a big accomplishment for me,” Winn said on the milestone bucket. “But if it wasn’t for my teammates, it would have never happened. I really didn’t try to think about it much and get my hopes up. I wasn’t even thinking about it when it happened. I just caught the ball and shot.”

Prairie Grove (5-7, 0-3) tied the game on a pair of Arianna Harrell free throws before Pea Ridge’s outside shooting took effect. Lauren Wright hit back-to-back three-pointers, when Bella Cates, Aidan Dayberry and Leah Telgemeier each connected from beyond the arc to put the Lady Blackhawks up 19-9 after one quarter.

BOYS

PRAIRIE GROVE 37, PEA RIDGE 29

Prairie Grove hit seven free throws over the last 31/ minutes, and the Tigers ruined 2 Pea Ridge’s debut in the new arena.

Prairie Grove (5-6, 2-1) ran off 14 consecutive points in the first quarter after Pea Ridge’s Jared Brewer hit a three-pointer to start the scoring. Both teams struggled offensively throughout as the Tigers led 20-13 at halftime and 28-26 after three quarters.

The Blackhawks (3-7, 0-2) pulled within 30-29 on David Andrus’ three-pointer with 4:41 remaining, but they never scored again.

Blake Garner and Sloan Smith each had eight points for Prairie Grove, while Greydon Edwards led Pea Ridge with 14.