Blackhawks take out Gentry
FARMINGTON — Pea Ridge eliminated the Gentry boys, 41-33, in the first-round of the District boys basketball tournament held at Farmington on Feb. 19.
Gentry played tough early with Wally Dane feed Dusty Haag for an inside bucket. Brent Barker then scored in the paint and freshman Austin Morris added a freethrow followed by Barker’s freethrow tying the game at 6-6.
Pea Ridge went ahead on Tristan Trundle’s free throw before Gentry captured an 8-7 lead on Morris’ pull-up. The Blackhawks went back in front 9-8 on Trundle’s jump hook in the lane with two seconds left in the first quarter.
Morris again gave Gentry the lead briefly taking a pass from the right corner and scoring a lay-up but Pea Ridge outscored Gentry, 16-10, in the second frame to take a 25-18 halftime lead. The Blackhawks pulled away from a 16-16 tie with Nick Hardy’s 15-foot jumper and finished the quarter on a 7-2 spurt.
Logan Rose scored on the low block on an assist from Wyatt Holtgrewe to push the Blackhawks to a 29-21 lead with just under three minutes to go in the third and maintained an 8-point advantage of 33-25 when Zach Davis came down the lane to bank in a bucket with two seconds remaining in the stanza.
Barker hit a 3-pointer from the wing and took a steal all the way for score to keep Gentry within 5 points, at 35-30, at the 4:40 mark of the fourth. After Blake Sheppard’s free throws, Haag found Morris for a 3-point play in the paint and the Pioneers hung around, at 37-33, with 3:54 showing.
“Foul,” yelled Gentry coach Sean Price emphatically as Pea Ridge burned the clock after a steal by Sheppard with 2:15 remaining.
Gentry finally forced a 1-and-1 situation with 37 seconds on the clock but Davis sank both and Gage Kelso added two more and Pea Ridge won, 41-33.
“These guys just every day have a good attitude. They show up at practice willing and eager to get better,” said Pea Ridge coach Trent Lloyd. “Their attitude and intensity is great. I can’t do anything but praise them.”
With the victory, Pea Ridge advanced to a quarterfinal matchup against Prairie Grove.