Pea Ridge capitalizes on Lincoln’s flurry of miscues
LINCOLN — Point guard Roni Castaneda fouled out late in the game and wasn’t available when Lincoln needed him to set up a potential game-tying last-second shot.
In the end, Lincoln made more mistakes than Pea Ridge, although both teams struggled to finish the game. The Blackhawk boys defeated Lincoln, 48-45 on Dec. 19 to gain a key conference win in 4A-1 play, but the issue wasn’t settled until Lincoln’s final possession ended with a miscue.
Shooting a 1 and 1 with 6.8 seconds remaining in the game, Pea Ridge’s Zach Davis’ first free throw was nothing but net, extending the Blackhawks lead to three. He could have put the game away from the line but missed the second charity shot, allowing Lincoln’s Shandon Gold- man to rebound and immediately call timeout with 6.3 seconds showing.
The Wolves threw the ball towards the 6’9” Goldman across the time line well within his range on the right wing — but he lost control and by the time he secured the basketball had no choice but to haphazardly throw up a wild shot from near mid-court which was well off target as time expired.
The spell-binding ending concluded a wild last 4:12 of the fourth quarter which began with a 46-39 Pea Ridge lead when Tristan Trundle put back Blake Sheppard’s missed lay-in after a steal. Garrett Blankenship made one of two foul shots to pull Lincoln within, 46-40, at the 2:48 mark. Pea Ridge burned the clock down to 1:46 before Goldman blocked a shot out of bounds.
Lincoln had not committed enough fouls to put them in the bonus, but they didn’t have to foul because Pea Ridge missed a bunny and Dalton Barnum rebounded. The missed shot was compounded by a foul on the Blackhawks sending Lincoln to the free-throw line but the Wolves returned the favor by misfiring on the front end of a 1 and 1. Pea Ridge underestimated Goldman’s wingspan and he stole the outlet leading to Castaneda’s dribble penetration and conversion of a pair of foul shots.
The points kept Lincoln in the contest with 1:13 left and Pea Ridge ran into a world of trouble on the ensuing in-bounds play. Nursing a 46-42 lead with 1:02 to go and his ball-handler laying on his back surrounded in the backcourt, Pea Ridge coach Trent Lloyd got an official’s attention calling timeout.
“It was just one of those where we make sure we maintain possession, just calm everybody down and secure the ball,” Lloyd said. “It was a good time to use one of those timeouts.”
But Davis took his eyes off the ball and lost the in-bounds pass off his fingertips out of bounds to Lincoln. The Wolves capitalized with Goldman controlling the dribble at the top of the key and using good footwork to get off and swish a 3-pointer — cutting Pea Ridge’s advantage to 46-45 with 38 seconds to go.
Lloyd used another timeout to avoid a 5-second violation and Castaneda committed two fouls to stop the clock. Pea Ridge in-bounded to Nick Hardy on the left wing. This time Castaneda backed off with four fouls. Realizing this, Hardy drove hard to the goal. Alec Pitts reacted to prevent a basket but fouled. Pea Ridge was fortunate to have drawn a shooting foul because Hardy’s first attempt bounced out. He then hit the second to give Pea Ridge a 2-point cushion, at 47-45, with 18 seconds on the game clock.
Goldman handled the ball and drove deep into the right corner where he missed an 18-foot jumper with Davis rebounding for Pea Ridge. Castaneda had no choice but to foul and exited the game. Still, the Blackhawks failed to ice the game by missing the second free-throw, setting up Lincoln’s last possession and only escaping with a win when the Wolves couldn’t execute.
“They did a good job of fighting back. Biggie (Goldman) hit some tough shots,” Lloyd said. “Lincoln is a very tough place to win. Coach (Tim) Rich does a great job. We were fortunate to come out with a victory.”
A key play was a 5-point swing as the third quarter expired with Lincoln missing a shot after Goldman’s steal. Pea Ridge rebounded with 11 seconds left and Joey Hall sank a 3-pointer six seconds later, putting the visitors ahead 40-32. Without that field goal, Pea Ridge may not have survived the fourth quarter, when they were outscored 13-8.
Lloyd was pleased with the resilience of the Blackhawks, who held Goldman to a single field goal in the fourth. “They fought. A lot of teams would have given up with the breaks we’ve had in the last week and a half.”
Pea Ridge 48, Lincoln 45
Pea Ridge 14 14 12 8 — 48 Lincoln 10 11 11 13 — 45
Pea Ridge (4-7, 1-1): Blake Sheppard 2 0-0 5, Britton Caudill 4 1-4 9, Joey Hall 3 1-1 8, Zach Davis 2 1-2 6, Lance Buttry 2 0-0 4, Tristan Trundle 5 0-2 10, Nick Hardy 1 1-2 3, Westin Church 1 0-0 3. Totals 20, 4-11 48
Lincoln (5-5, 0-2): Roni Castaneda 3 2-4 10, Alec Pitts 0 0-0 0, Shandon Goldman 6 0-0 14, Garrett Blankenship 4 1-3 10, Cord McCaslin 2 2-2 6, Dalton Barnum 2 0-1 5. Totals 17 5-10 45
3-point goals: Pea Ridge 4 (Davis, J. Hall, Sheppard, Church); Lincoln 6 (Castaneda 2, Goldman 2, Barnum, Blankenship)