Blackhawks fall in first round of regional tournament
Close season with 22-5 record
BERRYVILLE — The Blackhawks played well defensively but could not get untracked on offense as they suffered a low scoring 33-30 set back to the Dardanelle Sand Lizards last week in the first round of the 4A North Regional Wednesday, Feb. 26, in Bobcat Gym.
Both teams were lights out on defense and the Lizards’ five offensive 3-pointers to the Hawks’ two treys proved to be a major difference.
The game got underway on a good note with senior Wes Wales sliding underneath to lay a shot off the glass for an early 2-0 lead. Dardanelle’s Taylor then dropped in a trey to take the lead at 3-2. Senior Blackhawk Hunter Rains canned two of two free throws moments later to retake the lead with senior Brandon Whatley’s layup midway in the quarter pushing Pea Ridge ahead 6-3. However, the Hawks would then be tagged with a series of turnovers to prevent them from scoring for the rest of the quarter while the Lizards’ Marteez Jackson would knock down two short range jump shots and a free throw to send Dardanelle ahead at the buzzer 8-6.
The second quarter started badly for the Hawks with the Lizards’ Chris Martin hitting a trey, followed by the Hawks missing two dunk shots, with the second one resulting in a technical foul. Dardanelle made both shots and were suddenly leading 13-6. With the game about to get away from them, Rains exploded for the Hawks as he hit two short range jumpers and a trey to tie it up at 13-13.
Jackson then drove the floor for a layup to break the tie, then the Hawks’ senior Noah Peterson finally shook his defenders to get loose for a trey attempt which he made, putting the Hawks on top 16-15. Lizard Robert Millard would respond with a 3-pointer to retake the lead at 18-16 then Whatley would score with 40 seconds left in the half to retie the game at 18-18. The Hawks then put on a furious defensive stand, not allowing the Lizards to even get off a shot before the halftime buzzer sounded.
As low scoring as the first half was, the last two periods would just see single digit scoring. The third quarter began with Jackson hitting a layup to give Dardanelle an early lead though Peterson would retie at 20-20 with a long jump shot. Both teams then went through a series of turnovers due to heavy pressure from the other team’s defense. The Hawk defense finally disrupted Dardanelle’s offense enough to get the ball knocked loose which led to a Greydon Edwards’ layup and a 22-20 lead.
After Jackson knifed through for a layup and subsequent free throw to retake the lead, Peterson drove in with seconds to go to add his own layup and a 24-23
Hawk advantage. Jackson, however, beat the clock with another athletic layup before the buzzer and Dardanelle headed into the final quarter with a 25-24 lead.
Wales opened the quarter by ripping two of two free throws for a 2625 lead. In what proved to be the game decider, two Lizards who had not previously scored drilled 3-pointers. Jordan Metcalf knocked down a trey and then when the Hawks turned the ball over again, Williams hit another trey to give the Lizards a very big 5-point lead with only 3 minutes left in the game. Rains would drive in for a layup to close the gap to 31-28, but each team would score one more goal, keeping Dardanelle’s 3 point intact at the final buzzer.
Rains was the scorer in double figures for the Hawks at 11, with Peterson scoring 7, Whatley 4, Wales 4 and Edwards 2.
All four teams from the 4A-1 district were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round. The regional was won by Ozark with Pottsville taking second, Morillton third and Dardanelle fourth.