Basketball has long history in Pea Ridge

Heath Neal’s Lady Blackhawks swept a pair of games last week with Trent Loyd’s boys also taking a pair of victories though they lost one contest by a free throw in the final seconds.

The girls whipped Mountainburg 50-28 and Alma 63-41. After losing a heart breaking battle to Alma 4342, the boys came back to crush Northwest Arkansas 59-20 then edged Mountainburg 58-56 in overtime.

The basketball boys squad were to host McDonald County Tuesday night and are on tap to play Clarksville along with the girls Friday on the Ridge. The girls were on the road Tuesday night to take on Siloam Springs while the boys were home against the Mustangs.

Game capsules are as follows:

Lady Blackhawks 50, Mountainburg 28

The Blackhawks threw down an impressive defense last week, holding the Dragons to no field goals in the first half where the hosts had built up an imposing lead at the break, 30-6.

Four Hawks got into the scoring column in the first period with Aidan Dayberry knocking down a trey and a pair of free throws to lead the charge. Bella Cates ripped a trey, with Lauren Wright and Blakelee Winn dropping in buckets as Pea Ridge was ahead at the first buzzer, 12-3.

The Dragons made four free throws in the second period but the Hawks countered with six players scoring 18 points together to put their opposition in a very deep hole. Cates had a trey and field goal, Dayberry had two field goals, with Wright adding a charity toss and field goal. Ravin Cawthon hit one from the field as did Winn with Sydney Spears canning a pair of free throws.

Mountainburg finally got their shooting going, making four field goals along with two free shots to double their school. Pea Ridge more than matched that 3-pointers from Cates and Winn with the latter also converting two free chances. Wright had a double field goal effort with Cawthon adding another as Pea Ridge added to their lead, cruising ahead 44-20 headed into the last quarter

Neal cleared his bench in the final period, with King, Spivey and Brown all scoring two points each with Pea Ridge posting the final 50-28 victory.

The balanced scoring attack saw Cates lead the way with 11 points, with Winn, Dayberry and Wright all scoring 9 points each. Cawthon finished with 4, Spears 2, Brown 2, King 2, and Spivey 2.

Lady Blackhawks 63, Alma 41

The Lady Hawks got off to a narrow lead in the early going, had a 3-point lead at the break but blew in open in a fast paced offensive explosion in the third quarter to blow the game open.

Blakelee Winn and Bella Cates dropped one in from deep to spark the offense, with Aidan Dayberry hitting a goal and three free throws along with Ravin Cawthon’s goal and two free throws as Pea Ridge emerged from first quarter action with a narrow 15-14 lead.

Dayberry went off for three field goals in the second quarter with Cates knocking down another trey, Lauren Wright scoring from the floor with Winn ripping a pair of free throws. The defense held the Airedales to just 11 points in the quarter as Pea Ridge went into intermission nursing a narrow 28-25 lead.

The third quarter spelled doom for Alma as the Lady Hawks exploded for 24 points while holding their opposition to a paltry 9 points to take control of the contest, 52-34 heading into the last eight minutes. Dayberry was on fire, hitting a pair from behind the 3-point line along with two regular goals. Cates bombed in two shots from downtown, with Cawthon hitting a pair of close in shots. Josey Goldbery added a field goal with Winn converting two free throws.

The defense was even tougher in the final going, allowing Alma just 7 points in the last period. Pea Ridge raked up 13, led by 4 points from Sydney Spears, and 3 from Winn, Dayberry, Cates, and Goldberg also tossed in the field goals as Pea Ridge posted the final 63-41 victory.

Dayberry led the scoring with 23, followed by Cates 14, Winn 10, Cawthon 8, Spears 4, Goldberg 4, and Wright 2.

Blackhawk Boys 58, Mountainburg 56

The boys trailed for most of the game, but made a good run in the second half to catch the Dragons and force an overtime which the Hawks outscored their opponents 9-7 to win the final victory 58-56.

The Hawks had a hard time getting the offence going early on, with just a bucket from Malik Bagsby and a bucket and free throw from Mike Ericson as Pea Ridge trailed 7-5 after one period.

The Hawks doubled their output in the second quarter with six players scoring in the time frame. Bric Cates, Greydon Edwards, Mike Ericson and Joe Adams all hit field goals with Bagsby ripping a trey. However, the Dragons were stroking it, adding to their lead as the Hawks faced a 25-16 deficit at the break.

Cates had a break out in the third, scoring four free throws along with sinking a pair of goals as Pea Ridge came within a point of their opposition, 37-36 with a quarter left. Mac Bowen contributed heavily with a pair of treys with Trey Reed, Edwards, and Ericson dropping in goals in the comeback.

The teams battled on even terms in the last regular period but they managed to tie the score to send the contest into overtime. Bowen hit a big trey, with Bagsby throwing in a pair of goals, Edwards, Ericson and Adams each scored 2 points to help in the cause.

Bowen came up big in OT, hitting a trey and field goal to score five of the teams 9 overtime points that would win the game. Bagsby had two free shots go in with Edwards and

Reed hitting one each as Pea Ridge hung on to win by 2, 58-56.

Bowen led the scoring with 14, followed by Bagsby 11, Cates 10, Ericson 9, Edwards 7, Adams 4, and Reed 3.

Blackhawks 59, Northwest Arkansas 20

The Hawks held the visitors to just a pair of treys while they shot through 16 points in the first as they jumped ahead and never looked back in the relatively easy victory.

Big Mike Ericson led the way in the first period, scoring three buckets in the paint to set the pace. Jared Brewer and Malik Bagsby scored a pair of field goals each with Andrus adding another.

The second quarter told the tale as the Hawks exploded for 24 points while holding Northwest Arkansas to just 3 and the hosts barged into the break with an almost insurmountable 40-9 lead. Ericson kept his hot hand, dropping in three field goals along with three free throws for nine markers. Will Anderson and Brewer shot through treys with Joe Adams having a good quarter with two field goals and a free toss. Mac Bowen and Greydon Edwards hit a 2-pointer each.

The reserves were activated for the rest of the game and while the offense slowed down a bit, the defense was still tough as NWA still had difficulty scoring. In the third quarter, Cooper Tillman had a goal, Anderson has a trey, and Samual Tillman racked up three field goals along with a free throw as the Hawks went into the final quarter with a daunting 5216 lead.

Jake Ingram had a 3-pointer in the final period with Cooper and Samual Tillman registering a field goal each to put the finishing touches on a 59-20 victory.

Ericson led the scoring with 15, with Samual Tillman having 9, Brewer hitting 7, Anderson 6, Adams 5, Bagsby 4, Cooper Tillman 4, Ingram 3, Bowen 2, Edwards 2, and Andrus 2.