Lady Hawks take down Heritage 51-42
The Lady Blackhawks survived a nearly quarter length scoring drought to score a solid upset over 6A Rogers Heritage last week by a 51-42 count.
The two teams fought to a 10-10 tie after one period, then after the Hawks jumped out to a 26-16 lead in the second quarter. The roof fell in with 13 straight turnovers over two quarters helping Heritage gain a 27-26 lead with 4 minutes left in the third quarter. The Hawks then righted their ship in time for a second half free throw fest, outscoring Heritage 24-16 the rest of the way for the win.
Officiating became a big part of the game as the teams combined to shoot more than 80 free throws.
The first quarter was fought to a draw with play getting physical at times. After trading buckets to start the second period, senior Alissa Short hit a layup to put the Hawks on top 14-12. Rogers countered with a layup and free throw to grab the lead, 15-14, which lasted about 10 seconds when junior Blakelee Winn swished two free tosses to regain the lead at 16-15.
A great in/out pass from Winn to Short enabled the senior Hawk drain a threeball to give Pea Ridge a 1915 lead. Another heady pass from Winn moments later found junior Aidan Dayberry open on the perimeter who launched another trey to push the lead to 2215 with 2:10 left in the half. After regaining possession, Winn stroked a pair of free throws, followed by one free toss by an Eagle guard as Pea Ridge built a 24-16 advantage.
At this point the game went off the rails after rough play saw a Heritage player hit the floor after a spirited fight for a rebound.
The three referees had at this point been reticent to blow their whistles but when the Rogers coach saw what he thought was a terrible non-call, he jumped and shouted that the refs were giving the game to Pea Ridge.
Of course, the coach was assessed a technical foul with Winn converting both shots, but it would be the last points scored by the Hawks until there were three minutes to go in the next quarter. Pea Ridge was assessed three turnovers for the rest of the half with a late 3-pointer by the Eagles shaving the Hawk lead to 26-19 at the buzzer.
After the break, the Hawks inexplicably made seven errant passes which the Eagles took. Along with three suspect charging calls made against Pea Ridge, the 10 turnovers in the quarter kept the Hawks stuck at 26 on the scoreboard with Heritage scoring three layups and a free throw to forge ahead 27-26 with 4 minutes left in the half. Winn finally broke the scoring drought with a free throw to knot the score at 27-27, following that up with another free shot on a subsequent possession to retake the lead.
Winn would go on to sink two more from the stripe with a free throw and rebound goal by Short putting the Hawks up 3427. Winn scored one more free throw but Rogers countered with a trey and free shot to trim the lead to 35-31 headed into the fourth quarter.
A Winn steal and pass to junior Raven Cawthon led to a score and a 37-31 lead. Heritage would not go away, popping in a trey to cut the lead in half with 3:44 left in the game. The ever active referee assessed five fouls against the two teams with Rogers shooting five times and the Hawks shooting four. Winn and sophomore
Lauren Wright made both their shots with Rogers missing all five of their shots as Pea Ridge had some breathing room leading 41-34 with 2:42 left.
Fearing the Hawks might try to just melt the clock away to win the game, the Rogers coach started sending in players who tasked to immediately foul the Hawks after throw ins. This sent the Hawks to the free line 20 times in less than 2 minutes. The Hawks made only half the shots but it was enough to keep the Eagles at bay. Wright made six of the shots with juniors Hayley West canning 2, Samantha Yeagar 1 and Josey Golberg 1.
Rogers made five free shots of their own and a trey but it was not enough to overcome the Blackhawks.
The 4A state sixthranked team played Providence Academy also last week, whipping the Rogers private school 54-38.