Eagles swooped in on Blackhawks

— “Things went badly during pre-game warmups,” Charley Clarke, head basketball coach said, “and it all went downhill from there” in reference to the Blackhawks’ 65-42 loss to the Huntsville Eagles Friday.

Huntsville came to town boasting the number 3 ranking in the state among 4A schools, with both Pea Ridge and Huntsville having compiled undefeated conference records.

Clarke’s pregame assessment that the Hawks had to hold the Eagles to 55 points and that they had to shoot well when they got the chance if Pea Ridge hoped to pull off the upset was dead on accurate.

Ominous signs came early as the ’Hawks lost their top outsider shooter in Kasey Cooper when the junior forward sprained an ankle during pre-game warm-ups and was unable to play. The injury allowed Huntsville the luxury of packing the defense in the lane and generally daring the ’Hawk perimeter players to shoot uncontested threes. The strategyworked as the ’Hawks shot well below their average, making only two 3-point shots while the visitors were draining seven of their long bombs.

Things started off well, however, for the ’Hawks as a free throw by Kip Kelly and a layup by Cameron Thompson put the ’Hawks out in front 3-0 90 seconds into the game. An Eagle field goal with a successful foul shot tied the game at 3-3 before Levi Roughton converted two free throws to regain the lead at 5-3 with 4:40 left in the first quarter. After Huntsville surged ahead 8-5, the ’Hawks tied it again thanks to a 3-pointer from Dakota Woodward.

Huntsville kept up the pressure as they followed up with three straight field goals off four consecutive turnovers by Pea Ridge, giving the Eagles a lead that the visitors would not relinquish. Roughton made a layup with Woodward sinking a pair of free throws to get the ’Hawks close again at 14-12, but the Eagles dropped in a bucket to just beat the buzzer as Huntsville led 16-12 at the end of the first quarter.

The Eagles opened thesecond quarter with a 10-footer followed by a free throw by Thompson as the visitors led 18-13. Another rash of ’Hawk turnovers together with four straight field goals by Huntsville, three of them 3-pointers, and Huntsville was off to the races, leading 29-13 with a little over 3 minutes left in the half. Thompson hit another rebound shot with 2:45 showing but the Eagles tallied two more free throws along with a field goal to lead 33-15.

Thompson scored twice more in the paint with Kelly scoring on a break away layup, but another long 3-pointer by Huntsville along with a pair of free throws sent the Eagles into intermission with a 38-21 advantage.

A layup by Thompson and a 5-foot shot by Roughton followed by a sensational mid-air steal of an attempted shot by Huntsville by Kelly drew the ’Hawks a bit closer as they trailed 40-25 with 5:30 left in the third quarter. Ethan Rhine and Thompson answered another 3-pointer by Huntsville by scoring field goals each along with a Thompson free throw as Pea Ridge crept to within 13at 43-30 with 4:18 showing.

Both teams, however, went through a shooting drought for the rest of the quarter with only a layup by Huntsville in the final moments changing the score to 45-30 going into the final period.

Huntsville dropped in another long 3-point bomb to start the fourth quarter and they went to a delay game. Thompson hit a free throw, Rhine a 3-pointer, and Kelly a layup but the deficit forced the ’Hawks to foul and the visitors swished six straight from the charity stripe as the Eagles led by 20 (56-36) with just 3:20 left in the game. Thompson banked in two more field goals in the game’s final minutes with Rhine and Roughton scoring free throws but the Eagles’ insurmountable lead proved to be just that, insurmountable, as the final score was 65-42.

“We just had a bad game,” Clarke said, “although our defense really didn’t hurt us. Huntsville is an excellent team offensively as they showed us and we just couldn’t hit.

Losing Cooper like we did was a blow, but any team that hopes to beat Huntsville just has to shoot well.”

Sports, Pages 7 on 01/20/2010