Late Hawk surge falls short in 56-49 loss to Rogers
The Blackhawk girls’ varsity basketball team were cold from the line and the field but a late surge gave the home girls a chance before losing to the 6A Rogers Mounties.
The Mounties put on a layup shooting show in the early going, hitting four consecutive shots in traffic while ripping three of three from the line to get out ahead of the homestanding Hawks 11-5 in the early going.
Junior Lauren Wright hit a trey to give Pea Ridge a brief lead at 3-2, and a Wright putback shot a minute later tied the score at 5-all. Six straight Mountie points put the guests up by six with a minute left.
With 50 seconds left, senior Blakelee Winn knifed through for a layup with sophomore Sydney Spears dropping in a free shot to cut the lead to just 3 at 11-8. The Hawks could not tie the score and the guests regained a 6-point lead with a deep shot in the final seconds of the opening quarter to take a 14-8 advantage.
Winn traded layups with a Mountie to begin the second quarter, and a 7-footer by Wright got the Hawks closer at 16-12.
Rogers got some breathing room when they hit two of two free throws then drained a 3 for a 21-12 lead. Rogers then out hustled the Hawks on a Pea Ridge throw in to score on a easy layup and gain a double digit lead at 23-12.
Spears hit a bucket to stop the Rogers streak but the visitors scored moments later to lead 2514.
Senior Aidan Dayberry hit a free throw but Rogers dropped in a pair to extend the lead to 12 at 27-15 with 3 minutes left in the half.
Dayberry then converted two more free shots, but Rogers answered with a 3-ball to gain their biggest lead yet at 30-17.
Dayberry kept her hot hand by dropping an athletic hook shot, then converted the free shot when she was fouled to narrow the gap to 10 at 30-20.
Two Hawk turnovers in succession gave the guests an opportunity and they cashed in, scoring a layup and trey to take a commanding lead at 35-20 with 48 seconds left in the half.
Senior Ravin Cawthon sank a freebie in the final seconds but the guests responded with a layup to grab a 37-21 lead at the break.
Pea Ridge took 5 points off the deficit with a Cawthon rebound and a junior Bella Cates shot from behind the arc, but a Rogers’ trey blunted the mini-run.
Winn slid past several defenders to score again, but again the guests answered with a trey as Rogers led 43-29 with 2 minutes left in the third.
Spears nailed two of two from the line to whittle at the lead but three Hawk turnovers in a row led to a pair of Rogers layups as the buzzer sounded with the visitors firmly ahead 47-21.
The Hawks then turned up the defensive pressure as Rogers scored with a layup and pair of free throws over the next 7 minutes. Winn led the comeback with two layups with Dayberry adding another layup and short hoops as the hosts shaved the lead to 51-39 with 6 minutes left.
The Hawks then reeled off 10 points with Rogers hitting but a lone trey as Pea Ridge put a scare into their guests. They then trailed by just 5 with under a minute left. Winn scored on a 12-footer and two free tosses with Cates hitting from behind the arc twice in the late rally with Rogers’ then leading by 5 at 49-54.
While the Hawks could not score again, Rogers hit two freebies to set the final score at 56-49.
Winn led the scoring with 14 markers, followed by Dayberry 10, Cates 9, Wright 7, Spears 5 and Cawthon 3.