Blackhawks sweep Lavaca titles
Trent Loyd’s Blackhawks and Heath Neal’s Lady Blackhawks swept to a pair of championships at the Lavaca Golden Arrows Invitational Basketball Tournament this past week.
The boys whipped the home team Lavaca 43-39 in the finals, ran past Paris 60-36 in the semifinals, and crushed Ft. Smith Future School in the first round 71-51. The girls bested an undefeated Lamar team 55-50 in the championship round after disposing of Manfield 55-37 in semifinal action and blasting Fort Smith Future School 60-19 in first round action.
Girls action Lady Blackhawks 55 Lamar Warriors 50
Lamar brought a high state ranking and a 9-0 record into the championship hoping to avenge a loss to Pea Ridge in last year’s semifinals. In a battle fought tooth and nail from the opening tip to the final buzzer, Lamar played well but could not get over the hump against a talented Pea Ridge squad.
The first quarter was a spirited battle with Pea Ridge outscoring their opponents 16-12. Senior Allisa Short played big, scoring half the Hawk points with a pair of free throws and three shots from the floor. Junior Aidan Dayberry and sophomore Lauren Wright hit from downtown to aid the spurt with junior Blakelee Winn scoring a field goal as well.
Lamar upped their defense in the second period, limiting the Hawks to just single field goals from Winn, Short and junior Josey Goldberg. Lamar outscored Pea Ridge 9-6 to close the Hawk advantage to a single point at intermission, 22-21. The third quarter saw both teams pick up the offensive pace, but the Hawks managed to outscore Lamar 15-14 to cling to a narrow 37-35 lead headed into the fourth. Dayberry led the charge with a pair of treys and field goal with Winn hitting a trey and field goal and junior Ravin Cawthon scoring the Hawks’ other bucket.
Winn exploded for 8 points in the decisive fourth quarter, canning a pair of buckets while converting four of four free throws. Dayberry threw up a pair of daggers, two shots from behind the arc while Short helped the Hawks keep their edge with two field goals. Pea Ridge outscored Lamar 18-15 in the final period to post the final 55-50 victory.
Winn and Dayberry paced the scoring with 17 markers each with Short throwing in 14 points. Wright scored 3, with Cawthon and Goldberg having 2 each.
Lady Blackhawks 55 Mansfield Tigers 37
The Lady Hawks jumped on Mansfield early with Winn doing the bulk of the scoring with two free throws and two field goals. Short added two buckets and a charity toss with Wright and Cawthon tossing in solo treys to boost the girls from the Ridge to a 17-7 lead at the first buzzer.
Defense was the name of the game in the second period with the Hawks scoring single goals by Winn and Dayberry, adding single free throws by Shirt, Winn and Dayberry. Mansfield matched the Hawk scoring with seven of their own, giving Pea Ridge a 24-17 lead at the half.
Pea Ridge then opened it up a bit in the third quarter, following that with a overpowering effort in the fourth to put the game away. Holding Mansfield to just 8 points in the third, the Hawks countered with three buckets from Short, a trey and a bucket from Winn and a free throw from Goldberg as they cruised into the final quarter leading 36-25.
The final period was all Pea Ridge as they outscored Mansfield 17-10 to eradicate any hope of their opposition’s comerback. Wright, Cawthon and junior Samantha Yeagar all hit treys with Dayberry and Winn jamming through a pair of baskets, Short rounded out the scoring with a lone goal.
Winn led the scoring with 18, followed by Short with 14, Dayberry 7, Wright 6, Cawthon 6, Yeagar 3 and Goldberg 1.
Winn exploded for 8 points in the decisive fourth quarter, canning a pair of buckets while converting four of four free throws. Dayberry threw up a pair of daggers, two shots from behind the arc while Short helped the Hawks keep their edge with two field goals. Pea Ridge outscored Lamar 18-15 in the final period to post the final 55-50 victory.
Lady Blackhawks 60 Future School Rockets 19
Pea Ridge bolted ahead early and there was no looking back as the Hawks blew out their first round opponent.
Aidan Dayberry led the early charge with a trey and field goal. Wright and Goldberg scored a pair of field goals with Yeagar providing the other score as Pea Ridge led 15-4 at the first buzzer.
The second period ended any doubt of the outcome as the Hawks exploded for 23 points while holding Future to just 3. Winn erupted for 11 points on a trey and four field goals. Junior Hayley West ripped a trey in the rally with Dayberry adding two field goals and a free throw with Short adding two goals of her own as Pea Ridge led at the half 38-7.
The third quarter saw the mercy rule invoked as the Hawks outscored Future 15-5 to assume a huge 54-15 lead going into the fourth period. Six girls hit the scoring column in the third with Winn ringing up two field goals, Cawthon knocking down a trey with Wright, Goldberg, West and sophomore Alllie King all coming up with buckets in the final 60-19 victory.
The shortened fourth saw sophomore Paige Brown score two goals with junior Jordan Allison adding a third.
Ten Hawk players scored points led by Winn’s 10. Wright scored 6, Goldberg 6, Cawthon 5, West 5, Yeager 4, Brown 4, Short 4 and
Allison 2.
Boys action Blackhawks 43 Lavaca Golden Arrows 39
The Blackhawks trailed for most of the contest but used a scoring burst and tight defense to come from behind and win a thriller against the host school in the tournament.
Lavaca came out ready in the first, putting through 15 points while holding the Hawks to 11 to gain a 4-point edge at the first buzzer. Senior Noah Peterson hit two big treys to help keep the Hawks close with seniors Hunter Rains and Wesley Wales scoring buckets. Wales also scored a free throw in the first period.
The Pea Ridge defense really slowed the Golden Arrows down in the second period, limiting them to just 4 points. A field goal by Wales and two for two free thrown shooting by Rains and senior Brandon Whatley trimmed the lead by a couple with the Hawks trailing at the break 19-17.
The pace picked up in the third quarter with the teams fighting on even terms throughout, ending the quarter with each team scoring 15, leaving Lavaca ahead 34-32. Rains helped mightily, hitting two free throws, a bucket and a trey to lead the attack Wales led had a pair of buckets inside with Peterson and senior Mazon Harris both adding goals.
The Hawks’ furious defense in
the final quarter limited the hosts to just 5 points. Peterson scored 7 points via a trey, field goal and two free throws to lead the surge. Whatley had a goal and Rains was accurate twice from the line to provide the final edge. Rains and Peterson led the overall scoring with 13, Wales had 11, Whatley 4 and Harris 2.