PEA RIDGE — For the third straight season, the varsity ’Hawk boys have swept the conference series from Shiloh, the latest victory a heart-stopping 48-46 win at the annual Colors Game Friday.

After leading after one period, the ’Hawks fell behind Shiloh in the second quarter and trailed for the rest of the contest until a 3-point shot by Kip Kelly with 19 seconds left capped a brilliant comeback.

The deep shot put the ’Hawks ahead 47-46, with Kelly then grabbing a defensive rebound in the last three seconds to seal the verdict.

“I think the boys displayed great character tonight,” head coach Charley Clarke said, obviosly relieved. “They didn’t give up, played hard throughout and did what they had to, to win. Getting Kasey Cooper back (from an injury) was huge, and our sophomores were again key.

Kelly’sscoring 6 points in the final 39 seconds gave us a big lift.”

The ’Hawks controlled the paint early on, with Kelly and Cameron Thompson scoring a pair of field goals each as Pea Ridge 8-4 in the game’s first six minutes. A great pass from Dakota Woodward to Tyler Ramsey put the ’Hawks up 10-4 with a little over a minute to play in the first quarter. However, Shiloh then demonstrated why they are ranked 10th in the state as they used a ’Hawk turnover to score a lay-up, then threw in a long shot from near halfcourt as time expired to shrink the lead to 10-9 headed into the second period.

Shiloh had first possession in the second period, usingit to quickly score to take the lead at 11-10. Another ’Hawk turnover led to a pair of Shiloh free throws and a 3-point lead for the visitors. Kasey Cooper had just entered the game after an injury layoff and promptly hit a lay-up to narrow the gap, but Shiloh answered with a lay-up of their own. The ’Hawks then tied the score on a lightning pass from Kelly to Thompson underneath, Thompson made the lay-up, drew the foul, then made the charity shot to tied the game 15-all. On the next possession, Kelly got a defensive rebound then exploded down the floor, pulling up for a five-footer to give Pea Ridge a brief 17-15 lead. Shiloh quickly answered, but anotherpass inside from Kelly to Thompson gave the lead back to the ’Hawks. A pair of ’Hawk turnovers led to scores by Shiloh as the ’Hawks rival took a 21-19 lead at intermission.

A Ramsey lay-up and a Thompson spin move underneath got the ’Hawks back on top 23-22 with 7:40 on the clock in the third, Shiloh scored a lay-up to retake the lead, but the ’Hawks countered with a Thompson lay-up to take it back. Another ’Hawk turnover led to a Shiloh lay-up, and another 3-pointer by the visitors gave them a 29-25 lead with 4:55 left. Cooper erased most of the deficit with a 3-point shot from the corner, but a pair of ’Hawk turnovers and two Shiloh lay-ups gave the ’Hawks’ opponents a 33-28lead with seconds left in the period. A steal by Kelly and long pass to Cooper resulted in a deep 3-point score by Cooper as time expired as the ’Hawks only trailed by two, 33-31, at the end of thethird quarter.

Shiloh lay-ups and a ’Hawk turnover gave the visitors their largest lead of the game, as Pea Ridge trailed 37-31 with 7:01 left in the game.

Kelly dropped in a pair of free throws to close the gap some, but Shiloh responded with a 10-footer. A pass from Kelly to Cooper got the junior open for a three and he sank the shot to close the deficit to three points. A pair of free throws by Thompson got the ’Hawks to within one at 39-38.

The ’Hawks had a chance to take the lead but missed the front end of a one and one. Another ’Hawk turnover led to a Shiloh score and a later score by Shiloh underneath gave them a 5-point lead, 43-38 with just 2:30 leftin the game. With the Saints hoping to stall for the victory, Rhine came up big for Pea Ridge as he stripped the Shiloh point guard, taking it in for a lay-up to close the gap to 43-40.

Sports, Pages 13 on 01/27/2010