Gentry boys, girls fall to Pea Ridge
RANDY MOLL rmoll@nwadg.com
GENTRY — It looked like another win was in the making for the Lady Pioneers when the Lady Hawks from Pea Ridge came to Gentry for the challenge, but the Gentry girls let their lead slip away in the final quarter for a 5240 loss on Friday night.
Alyssa McCarty and Randi Jo Bolinger hit threepointers in the opening quarter, with Jaiden Wilmoth hitting one from under the basket and Bolinger hitting one from the freethrow line for a 9-7 lead going into the second round of play.
Though Shelby Still put in a trey, McCarty hit a pair of baskets, Emily Toland hit one and Wilmoth hit one of two free throws, the Pea Ridge opponents had slipped ahead, 21-19, at the break.
Gentry took back the lead in the third quarter, 34-31, on treys by Bolinger (two of them) and McCarty and two buckets and two free-throws by Jaiden Wilmoth. But the Hawks were far from done. They outscored the Lady Pioneers 21-6 in the final quarter to take the game, 52-40.
Gentry’s fourth-quarter points came from a threepointer by McCarty, two free throws by Wilmoth and another by Toland.
McCarty led the Lady Pioneers in points with 13. She was followed by Wilmoth with 11 and Bolinger with 10.
BOYS Pea Ridge 57, Gentry 26
The Pioneers had a hard time keeping up with the visiting Blackhawks from Pea Ridge at Gentry High School on Friday night. When the final buzzer sounded, the Hawks were in the win column, 57-26.
Gentry fell behind in the first quarter with Pea Ridge scoring 12 to Gentry’s five on a bucket and two free throws by Seiren Reding and a free throw by Andrew Godfrey.
Hayden Henry made a basket in the second. Godfrey added a bucket and two free throws for Gentry’s pace-keeping six points, finishing the half still down by seven, 18-11.
After the break, the Pioneers hit two threepointers, by Isaiah Lemke and Godfrey, with Reding adding a point at the free-throw line. But the Blackhawks sealed their win with 29 points and a 47-18 lead going into the final quarter of play.
Jonathan Chapman and Addi Taylor each hit a basket from behind the three-point line in the final quarter and Godfrey put one in from below the basket for two, but the Prairie Grove boys expanded their lead by two more to finish the game ahead of Gentry, 57-26.
Godfrey led the Pioneers in scoring on Friday with 10. Seiren Reding had five.