Neal’s Blackhawks overcome Providence 53-45
“This was just what we needed,” head coach Heath Neal said last week after a tough 53-45 win over Providence Academy. “The girls had to push through adversity, and they did. This game will help us going forward.”
With Providence’s 49-46 loss to Huntsville earlier this month and considering the Hawks’ 5526 blowout of the same Huntsville team, the Hawks were decided favorites going into the contest last Tuesday. But, as Neal pointed out, every game is different and Providence was a good team regardless of the Huntsville game.
“The Patriots have a good starting lineup with fine guards, forwards and an effective center. They came to Pea Ridge to win, and we had to work hard to take the victory,” Neal explained.
Indeed, the game started in the visitors’ favor with Providence scoring two layups and a free throw in the first 90 seconds while the Hawks had two turnovers as the Pats led 5-0. Finally, with 5:45 left in the first, senior Ravin Cawthon flipped a pass out to junior Bella Cates on the perimeter with the junior guard draining a trey to cut the deficit to 5-3.
However, the Hawks suffered two more turnovers with the Patriots scoring on a rebound and a fast break to jump further ahead 9-3 with 5:17 showing. Two minutes later, senior Blakelee Winn broke through for a layup, but the score was quickly countered by a shot in the paint by Providence as Pea Ridge trailed 11-5 with 3:14 left.
Cates brought the small but vocal Hawk crowd to their feet with her second trey from the corner to bring the Hawks close again, trailing 11-8 with 2 minutes left. Both teams then went scoreless until the final seconds when the Patriot center scored off a rebound and ensuing free throw to give Providence a 14-8 lead headed into the second quarter.
Providence scored early in the period to give them their greatest lead of the game at 16-8. That is also when the tide turned.
Winn pulled off a steal and flew down the court to lay it in to cut the deficit by 2. Hawk defensive pressure forced another turnover which led Winn to the free throw line where the senior forward hit both shots. Another steal led to a Winn free throw, and when she had another drive to the basket stopped by a foul, she made two more free throws and the Hawks were trailing their guests by only one at 16-15 midway in the quarter.
The Providence lead evaporated seconds later when Winn pulled off another steal and went the distance to put the Hawks on top for the first time, 17-16 with 3:40 left in the half.
The guests did tie the score moments later with a free toss, but Cates’ third trey with 1:44 left put Pea Ridge ahead 20-17, and the Hawks would never trail again. Winn and senior Aidan Dayberry made layups to offset a pair of free throws and a rebound shot by the visitors as Pea Ridge maintained a 3-point edge at the half, 24-21.
Winn started the third quarter with a layup with Dayberry following that up with a 3-ball, and junior Lauren Wright sank a layup as the Hawks were now firmly in control, leading Providence 31-21 with 5:26 left in the third. The Patriots finally broke the ice with a pair of free throws, but Winn answered right back with a long 3-ball to give Pea Ridge its biggest lead at that point, 34-23 with 4:36 to go.
The two teams traded shots in close with sophomore Sydney
Spears and Winn dropping in layups with Providence scoring twice via a short jumper and layup as Pea Ridge still led by 11 into the period’s final seconds. With 11 seconds left, senior Hayley West ripped a free throw to give the Hawks their biggest lead, 12, at 39-27. The Pats had a player in position for an easy 2 right before the buzzer, but Wright flew in to block the shot and preserve the Hawks’ lead headed into the final period.
The Hawk lead increased even more in the first two minutes with Dayberry hitting a 10-footer and Wright scoring off a rebound sandwiched around a Providence layup, putting the locals ahead 43-29. Pea Ridge then went into a two-minute drought while the Pats picked up a rebound score and a free throw to shrink the lead to 11 at 43-32.
Cates then nailed her fourth trey to push the lead back to 14, but the Pats answered right back with their own trey. Over the last three minutes, the guests were frantically trying to get back into the game, with both teams doing all their scoring via the charity stripe, until the game’s final second.
The Pats outshot the Hawks from the line, hitting six shots with Winn converting three as Providence crept a little closer, trailing 49-41. At this point, a peculiar technical foul call from a referee from across the gym from the Hawk bench on the Hawk bench led to another free throw and Providence had a chance, hitting a shot to trail by just 7 with 2 minutes to go at 49-42.
Dayberry and Winn hit free throws to pad the lead to 9 with 45 seconds to go, but the play that went a long way to icing the contest was a defensive one. Cates alertly set up on defense in the path of a bigger Patriot athlete, who then plowed over Cates to draw a charging foul and take away what would have been an easy layup.
Wright and Dayberry then hit free throws to put the Hawks back ahead by 11. The game’s final score was a long 3-pointer by Providence that just beat the buzzer, setting the final score at 53-45.
The victory was the Hawks’ ninth, with two games set for today and tomorrow at home. The opponents are Rogers and Elkins with both games set tentatively for 2 p.m.
Winn led all scorers with 24, with Cates scoring 12, Dayberry 9, Wright 5, Spears 2 and West 1.