’Hawks take 2 of 3 in Rogers tournament

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

— Playing with schools of much higher classifications, the boys Blackhawk basketball team nevertheless took two out of three games to win the consolation title in the Rogers tournament last week.

The ’Hawks opened the competition last week by falling to 6A school Oklahoma City Southeast High School 62-50, their first game after losing starting guard Ethan Higgins, who suffered a concussion in the Gravette game earlier in the week. Pea Ridge came out on fire against Hot Springs Lakeside, romping over them by a 62-42 count to go into the consolation finals where they outpaced 5A Hot Springs High School 65-52.

Short game summaries are: Quarter-finals Oklahoma City Southeast 62, Pea Ridge 50

The ’Hawks’ typically effective offense was held in check as only three Pea Ridge players made it in the scorer’s book in the opening round.

Southeast opened the game with a flurry of buckets to ring up 17 points while Pea Ridge could only counter with a pair of 3-point bombs by Kasey Cooper and a couple of inside shots by Cameron Thompson as the ’Hawks fell behind 17-11 at theend of the first quarter. Coach Clark’s charges then pounded the ball to the inside with Thompson powering up to sink a field goal, drawing a host of defensive fouls in multiple other attempts.

Thompson made them pay as he sank nine of 10 charity shots as the ’Hawks went into intermission trailing by a single point, 30-29.

Thompson broke through for three more field goals in the third quarter, complementing his floor success with three more free throws, as Pea Ridge kept pace with Southeast. Southeast scored 14 points as Pea Ridge countered with 13, leaving the ’Hawks trailing by 2 points by the end of the period. Kasey Cooper swished a pair of free throws with Joe Adams co-inverting a field goal to aid in the ’Hawks’ attack as Southeast led 43-42 headed into the final period.

The final quarter was all Southeast as they had their best quarter of the game, scoring 18 points as opposed to the ’Hawks’ 8-point output. Pea Ridge could manage only single field goals from Thompson and Cooper with Cooper adding a pair of free throws in addition to the lone free shot by Joe Adams.

***

Consolation semi-finals

Pea Ridge 62, Lakeside 41

The Blackhawks assumed control of this game from the outset, racing out to an early lead, whichthey maintained throughout the contest to win going away.

Although the ’Hawks started out hitting only three of eight free throws, their defensive efforts limited the Lakesiders to a measly 4 points as Pea Ridge established a 10-4 lead after a quarter. Jacob Hall was the big spark early on, hitting two field goals of which one was a 3-pointer, Thompson added a field goal with Cooper sinking three free throws.

In the second period, the ’Hawks threatened to turn the game into a rout as Pea Ridge outscored Lakeside 16-8 to go into intermission holding a 26-12 advantage. Six different ’Hawks got into the scoring column led by Joe Adams who sank a field goal and two free throws to pace the attack along with Cooper who sank a 2 from the field. Dakota Woodward and Thompson both swished two of two from the line with Hall and John Botson canning field goals as Pea Ridge led at the half 26-12.

Lakeside’s moribund offense came to life in the third quarter as they more than doubled their score with an 18-point outburst.

With Cooper dropping in two field goals along with four free throws, the ’Hawks kept Lakeside at arm’s length, scoring 17 of their own points to maintain a healthy lead, 43-30 heading into the last quarter. Woodward sank a 3-point shot and a close in field goal to augment single goals by LeviRoughton and Thompson.

Any hope of a comeback by Lakeside bit the dust early as the ’Hawks had their best offensive output of the tournament, ringing up 20 points to ice the verdict.

Woodward led the way, scoring 6 on a pair of 3-point field goals.

Cooper added four on a goal and two free throws with Thompson adding three more on a goal and pair of free shots. Thompson chipped in with a goal and free throw with Ryan Roughton picking up a field goal as did Hall.

Adams rounded out the score with two free throws with Isaac Mangrum adding a final marker.

***

Consolation finals

Pea Ridge 65, Lakeside 52

The ’Hawks broke open a tight game for a little breathing room in the second quarter. Although Hot Springs made a bit of a comeback in the third quarter, the ’Hawks exploded for 22 points in the final period end the game with an exclamation point.

Cooper led the team in the early going, scoring a long 3-pointer as well as a regular goal as the ’Hawks led 11-10 after one quarter. Thompson muscled in a field goal and added two free throws while Woodward sank a solo goal to finish out the scoring. Hall stepped up with a field goal and 3-pointer with Adams sinking two field goals as Pea Ridge raced out to a 24-16 lead at intermission. Cooper and Thompson eachcontributed a pair of points in the surge.

Both teams revved up their offense in the third quarter which resulted in Hot Springs outscoring the ’Hawks 23-19 to shave the Pea Ridge lead down to 43-39 headed into the final quarter.

Thompson ran wild in the paint to rack up four field goals with Cooper sinking four consecutive free throws to go with two field goals. Woodward added a field goal and Hall a single free throw to aid in the offense.

Hot Springs decided to attack the point guard in the final quarter but Woodward responded by converting on six of eight free throws while also hitting a field goal to hold the opposition at bay. Cooper scored again from downtown and also hit a field goal and three free throws. Meanwhile Thompson scored on two free throws and two field goals to round out the scoring with Adams’ solo free throw. The ’Hawks’ 22-point uprising was more than the boys from the Spa City couldhandle as Pea Ridge went on to claim the consolation title.

Pea Ridge had a balanced twoprong scoring attack as outside shooting Cooper scored 59 points in the three-day tournament while the ’Hawks’ inside force in Thompson finished with 56 points. Woodward ended with 25 markers in the tourney with Adams and Hall piling up 16 and 15 points respectively.

Sports, Pages 9 on 12/15/2010