PEA RIDGE — While losing two of three contests at the Arvest Hoopfest in Rogers, the Pea Ridge varsity boys’ basketball team gained some valuable experience that will hold them in good stead when the 4A basketball wars begin.
The ’Hawks shocked the locals when they took down 7A class Rogers Heritage in the opening round and they very nearly pulled off an even more shocking upset as they fell in the final seconds to Missouri athletic powerhouse Webb City in the semifinals. In the opener, the ’Hawks battled the War Eagles on even terms, forcing an overtime period. In the fading seconds of the battle, Kip Kelly held the ball, drawing defensive pressure before dumping off a perfect pass to a driving Cameron Thompson who scored thewinning points on a layup.
In the semifinals and for the third straight game, the ’Hawks were again doing battle with a much bigger school. As in the games against Siloam Springs and Heritage, the ’Hawks were slugging it out toe to toe with Webb City and held possession of the ball in the final seconds with the score knotted at 65-65. This time Pea Ridge was not asfortunate as the Cardinals managed a steal and transition basket to take the game 67-65.
In the third place game, Pea Ridge faced another kind of Mountaineer, those of Mt. Vernon, Mo. While a highly ranked team, the Missouri “Mounties” greatly depends on their center, Kleine, who is rated the number 30 collegiate basketball recruit in all of Missouri. In the semis, Mt.
Vernon led Rogers at times before finally falling to the local Mounties 46-40, so a close games with the ’Hawks was expected.
However, the ’Hawks’ tallest player (Kelly) only got play less than a quarter due to foul trouble.
Easily the biggest man on the court, Kleine went on to score 38 points as Mt.
Vernon overwhelmed Pea Ridge 71-51. Kelly drew two quick fouls to begin the game and sat the bench until the final two minutes of the second quarter. At the beginning of the third quarter, Kelly was whistled for afoul and was also assessed a technical foul and he did not return to the contest.
For a quarter, it looked like the ’Hawks might have the measure of Mt. Vernon, as they outscored their higher ranked opponents 20-16. A Thompson layup got the ’Hawks on the board first with a 2-0 lead.
Mt. Vernon came back with a 3 pointer and 10 footer to jump out in front 5-2 with 5:33 showing. Kelly then fed a driving Tyler Ramsey who converted a reverse layup to narrow the margin with Kelly splitting two defenders to lay-in a bucket with 4:40 showing as Pea Ridge regained the lead 6-5.
After Mt. Vernon dropped in a shot, Kelly hit a 7-footer to retake the lead 8-7 with 3:55 left in the first quarter but his second foul sent him to the bench.
While Thompson scored on a layup, Kleine came alive, pushing the Mountaineers to score 9 points in two minutes to grab a 19-11 lead. After a time out, the ’Hawks came out with some fire as they reversed the trend, scoring 9 straight points to close out the quarter and take a 20-16 lead at the buzzer. The attack was balanced with Thompson scoring on a layup and free throw, KaseyCooper converting a steal and layup, Ethan Rhine scoring underneath with Ramsey finishing the run with an acrobatic layup.
The ’Hawks, who had scored nine field goals in the first period, would only score nine more field goals for the rest of the game as Mt. Vernon pulled away to win by 20.
While losing is never much fun, the last four games against big school competition will pay dividends for the ’Hawks in the battles that lay ahead in their quest for the 4A-1 crown and a trip to the 4A state tournament. Coach Clarke’s decision to play up last week was made with February and March in mind. This could be a banner year for the cage ’Hawks. Not a lock by any stretch, but the potential is there.
Little ’Hawks 2-0
The Pea Ridge girls’ third-grade basketball team started quick and ended hot to take out Gravette 9-2 in Northwest Arkansas YCB action last Saturday.
The Little ’Hawks took the opening tip, going in to score on a Bailey Johnson rebound shot. The rest of the first half turned futile as Pea Ridge couldn’t hit a shot and Gravette had awhale of a hard time even getting off a shot in the face of the ’Hawk defense. The half-time score was the same as the opening seconds, 2-0.
A lapse in the ’Hawk defense left a Lady Lion all alone under the goal with the visitor dropping it in to tie the score at 2-2 in the third quarter as Pea Ridge could not connect from any distance.
With the fourth quarter clock winding down to the last two minutes, Hollyn Davis gathered in a rebound, putting it back up and in for a 4-2 lead with 2:10 left in the game. Just after the Gravette inbounds pass, Davis stripped the Gravette guard of the ball, then converted the steal into a layup and 6-2 lead.
Not finished, Davis pulled off two more steals with one resulting in a layup and the other leading to a free throw after getting fouled on the attempt.
Lamar still not done
Remember Lamar High School? That was the school that had used an ineligible player in their season which resulted in their properly being forced to forfeit several games, thus eliminating them from the playoffs. They got a judgeto rule that the Arkansas Activities Associations rules were unfair, forcing the AAA to allow Lamar into the playoffs and bumping another school out.
Luckily, Lamar got whupped in the second round of the playoffs to end the travesty, but Lamar is back in court asking the highly malleable Russellville judge if he might issue an injunction forbidding the AAA from declaring the games that Lamar won as forfeits in the future. The AAA is doing the paper and legal work to regain their place as the sole arbitrator of what the rules are and how they are dealt with.
They will be going to a higher court to overturn this judge’s rulings and the very dangerous precedents that this judge is trying to establish.
I think this particular judge is due for some retirement time. When faced with what he admitted was valid and legal rules and regulations, he “felt” that the rules weren’t right and decided to ignore them.
Anytime any judge decides that his or her own feelings supersedes properly established law, it is time for that judge to consider a different line of work - maybe a radio talk show?
Sports, Pages 8 on 12/16/2009