Pioneers swept by Hawks at Pea Ridge
PEA RIDGE — With Gentry players Brayden Feathers, Garrison Jackson, Isaiah Lemke and Emily Toland all out with injuries on Friday, the Blackhawks swept the Gentry Pioneers during colors day festivities at Pea Ridge, with Pea Ridge beating its cross-county rivals, 58-25, and the girls with a 54-45 victory over the Lady Pioneers.
The boys, still feeding off the energy of their dramatic come from behind victory over conference leader Farmington last week, jumped on Gentry, 9-0, and were never threatened. They cruised into the halftime break with a huge 37-10 lead. The girls, who had built up a 20-point lead midway in the third quarter, had to withstand a 3-point shot barrage by the visitors in the final going to make off with the final victory.
BOYS
Pea Ridge 58, Gentry 23
The Blackhawks shut out the Pioneers in the first half of the first quarter while getting two buckets from sophomore Bric Cates, a basket and free throw from senior Greydon Edwards, and a score from the field by senior Malik Bagsby in the 9-0 run out.
After the Pioneers stopped the bleeding with a bucket and 3-pointer by Seiren Reding and Andrew Godfrey, Pea Ridge senior Joe Adams took a pass from Edwards to sink a layup with Bagsby cleaning the glass for two offensive rebounds to score twice and send the Hawks into the second quarter with a solid 15-5 lead.
With 3:15 left in the half, the Hawks had amassed an imposing lead that became nearly insurmountable when Edwards passed to a sprinting Bagsby who laid it off the glass for a score, Jared Brewer ripping his third trey, Bagsby bagging a free throw while Korbyn Moberly scored off a rebound, with Adams getting an assist from junior Will Anderson to put the hurt on the Pioneers as Pea Ridge led at the break, 37-10.
The Pioneers scored but two goals and a lone free throw in the face of a scrambling Hawk defense. The pressure Pea Ridge exerted led to the Pioneers suffering six turnovers the last 6:40 of the quarter.
Cates led off the third quarter with a steal and layup with Bagsby banking back in a rebound shot to put Pea Ridge even further ahead. Junior Trey Reed then drained a trey with Adams fighting for an offensive rebound that he converted for a score as the Hawks were still surging, leading 46-10.
With the defenses easing up on their guests, Gentry’s Andrew Godfrey knocked down a pair of 3s and Reding added two free throws for the Pioneers, but a Moberly shot from behind the arc and an Adams’ rebound score pushed the score to 51-18, Pea Ridge, heading into the fourth quarter and igniting the mercy rule, shortening the quarter.
Gentry managed to score a trey by Hayden Henry and pair of free throws in the fast-moving fourth period, but Pea Ridge senior Cooper Tillman scored twice, once on an offensive rebound, and once on an assist from his brother, senior Samual Tillman, to blunt the mini-rally. Sophomore Josh Walker hit a final trey for the Hawks, with the Pioneers’ Quang Tran scoring the last basket of the game to set the final score at 58-25, a lopsided victory.
Andrew Godfrey led the Pioneers in scoring with 14 points. He put in three treys in the game. Hayden Henry and Seiren Reding each had 4 points, Quang Tran had 2, and Jonathan Corter 1.
Ten Hawks scored in the attack, with Bagsby leading the way with 11 points. Brewer had 9, with Adams getting 8, Moberly 7, Cates 6, Andrus 4, C. Tillman 4, Reed 3, Walker 3 and Edwards 3.
(Editor’s Note: There were discrepancies in the scoring of the boys’ game reported to the Eagle Observer, with some reports also showing a final score of 58-21 or 56-25.)
GIRLS
Pea Ridge 54, Gentry 45
The Lady Hawks ran their league mark to 5-0, best in the 4A-1 District, with their tightly-fought 54-45 win over the Lady Pioneers.
Coming off a monumental win over defending state champion Farmington earlier in the week, the Blackhawks were a bit slow out of the gate offensively. However, their defense was solid in a game in which they threatened to blow open several times before settling for the final win.
The Hawks got off to a good start with senior Blakelee Winn forgoing a shot to pass in to senior Ravin Cawthon who dropped it in for a 2-0 lead. The Pioneers came right back with a score by Lexie Fowler to tie it up, but Winn scored underneath to regain the lead at 4-2. Gentry responded with an Alyssa McCarty free throw but Winn sailed through the paint to bank in a layup and increase the lead to 6-3, which went to 7-3 after a senior Aidan Dayberry free throw with 3:59 left in the first period.
The heavy underdog Pioneers got a big shot in the arm when McCarty shot through two treys in succession to give the guests a 9-7 lead with just over a minute left in the quarter. Senior Hayley West, who had just come into the game, erased the Pioneers’ good fortune and lead 15 seconds later when she drained her own trey to put the Hawks back ahead at the buzzer, 10-9.
Cawthon started a rally with a 7-footer to start the second period, with Dayberry and Winn rolling in layups to put the Hawks on top 16-9 with 4:40 left in the half. A Dayberry shot from behind the arc a minute later gave the Hawks a double-digit lead at 19-9 with 3 minutes left. Gentry somewhat blunted the charge with another trey by McCarty, but it would be Gentry’s only score of the quarter.
Junior Lauren Wright and sophomore Sydney Spears scored on rebound shots, with Winn ripping a free throw, then dropping in a layup just before the halftime buzzer as the Colors Day crowd roared their approval of a 26-12 halftime advantage.
Winn pitched out to Dayberry to start the third quarter with the senior athlete nailing a trey. Junior Bella Cates delivered on a high arching layup over taller Pioneers with Wright and West throwing in shots from downtown to offset a Pioneer trey and free throws as the Hawks had built up a 20-point lead, 37-17, with 4:00 left in the third. Spears would score moments later to raise the lead to 39-17, the Blackhawks’ high watermark.
At this point, the Pioneer coach decided to concentrate on shooting 3s and driving the goal to reap some free throws and it worked to shrink the Hawk advantage. Gentry hit three goals, a trey and two free throws, to more than offset a goal by Dayberry as Pea Ridge saw its lead drop to 41-28 heading into the final quarter.
Winn led off the fourth quarter with a layup to increase the lead to 15 at 43-28, but the Pioneers came back with a trey and two free throws to shrink the Blackhawk lead to 43-33 with a little over 6 minutes left. Winn then a shot from downtown to boost the lead to 13, but the Pioneers had an answer, hitting their own trey to get back within 10 at 46-36 with a little over four minutes left in the game.
A minute passed with neither team scoring until Wright swished two of two free throws for a 48-36 advantage with 3:28 left. Gentry was determined to make a game of it, knocking down another trey with 3 minutes left, immediately fouling Wright afterward to get a chance to regain possession. Wright was cool at the line, frustrating Gentry’s strategy by stroking two of two to keep the Hawks safely ahead 50-39.
Gentry then hit their fourth straight 3-pointer and, after the Hawks misfired on a trey, a Pioneer free throw closed the game to within 7 at 50-43 with just over two minutes left in the contest. The guests then fouled Winn who kept the pressure on Gentry by sinking both attempts to get the lead to 9 with 1:43 showing.
Gentry went to the line with a minute left, hit the first but missed the second to cut the lead to 8, but Winn made a great assist to Dayberry who scored in close to restore the lead to 10 at 54-44 and end any doubt as to the final outcome with just 48 seconds left in the game. Gentry made a free throw and a layup just before the buzzer but it was merely academic as the Hawks secured the victory and kept their No. 1 seed hopes alive for the district tournament.
Leading in the scoring for Gentry were Alyssa McCarty with 16, four of her shots being 3-pointers. Jaiden Wilmoth scored 12 in the second quarter, making seven of eight attempts at the free-throw line. Randi Jo Bolinger hit two 3s and a free throw in picking up 9 points in the game. Ashlyn Little hit a pair of treys in the final quarter for 6 and Lexie Fowler had 2.
Winn led the scoring with 16 points, with Dayberry also in double figures with 13. Wright scored 9, West 6, Spears 4, Cawthon 4 and Cates 2.