Lady Pioneers stumble, but still in chase

GENTRY — The momentum from the Feb. 2 huge one-point win against Gravette did not carry over Feb. 7 for the Gentry Lady Pioneers when they suffered a 37-30 loss to Greenland.

Gentry (16-7, 14-3) could have still earned a likely No. 2 seed in this week’s 4A-1 Conference tournament with a win at Shiloh Christian on Thursday night, but the Gentry girls lost that one too, by a single point, 35-34.

“We were just flat and I think we had a big letdown,” Gentry coach Toby Tevebaugh said of the Greenland game. “But Greenland did a lot of things that hurt us. We just didn’t have our best night.”

Gentry also lost leading scorer Hannah Boss to an ankle injury and she was not expected to play against Shiloh Christian. Tevebaugh said she should be OK for the conference tournament, which started this week at Lincoln.

Tevebaugh said the conference tournament would be a dogfight with most of the teams fairly even.

“Every first-round game could go either way,” he said. “Pea Ridge is a seven seed and Gravette is a two or three seed and it was a two-point game two weeks ago. There is not a bad team in our league.”

Berryville and Huntsville will jump from District 4 into the conference tournament, and Berryville is expected to be the No. 1 seed with just one loss this season.

“They are the real deal,” Tevebaugh said of Berryville. “They are a state championship caliber team, and Huntsville will be solid.”

Thursday’s Game

Freshman Anna McCredy had 15 points to lead Shiloh Christian to a 4A/3A District 1 victory over Gentry.

Carey Johnson added 10 points for the Lady Saints (12-12), while Chastery Fuamatu had 18 to lead Gentry (16-9), which closed out the regular season with two losses.

Wednesday’s Game Greenland 37, Gentry 30

Fiona Wilson had 19 points as Greenland upended Gentry in a rescheduled 4A/3A District 1 game on Wednesday, Feb. 7.

Myae Mason added 14 for the Lady Pirates, who closed out their regular season against Gravette. Chastery Fuamatu had 12 to lead Gentry (16-8).

The Gentry girls were scheduled to face Huntsville in the district tournament on Tuesday, after press time.