PEA RIDGE — Charley Clark’s 69-60 win over Shiloh in a makeup game Monday gave Pea Ridge the No. 3 seed in this week’s 4A-1 District Tournament which began Tuesday night in the Blackhawk gym.
The local cagers proved to be the spoiler in the annual Colors Day game that was celebrated at Shiloh as Clark kept alive his unbeaten career record against the private school in Springdale. Cameron Thompson was big in the paint as he sparked the ’Hawks’ offense with 23 points. Lanky sophomore Jacob Hall had a breakout game for Pea Ridge as he came up with 22 points in a personal best for the up and comer. Steady Kasey Cooper added 16 points in the victory.
The conquest of Shiloh sends Pea Ridge into a Wednesday quarterfinal game against the winner of the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds which were to play Tuesday. Although the exact seeding hadn’t been untangled for me at press time Tuesday, it appeared it would have most likely been Gravette and perhaps Ozark. Gentry was the other team in the mix although it appears from my records that the Pioneers took the fifth seed and would have played cellar dweller Berryville Tuesday in the No. 5/No. 8 contest.
If Pea Ridge gets by their opponent Wednesday, they advance to the semi-finals to take on league runnerup Prairie Grove at 8:30 p.m. Friday. The other semi-final game pits conference champion Farmington against the other bracket survivor - the winner of Wednesday’s Shiloh game.
The championship game will be Saturday along with the girls’ championship game.
If the ’Hawks win today, they are automatically qualified to participate in the regional playoffs hosted by Pottsville next week.
The regional meet will consist of the four semifinalists from the 4A-1 and the 4A-4 district playoffs.
The top four seeds in the 4A-4 tournament this week include league champion Clarksville, runner-up Waldron and the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, Pottsville and Subiaco.
The 4A-1 has typically over the long haul been more successful in the regional playoffs than has the 4A-4. At stake in the Pottsville tournament are the four state playoff berths awarded to all semi-finalists. Should the ’Hawks win today and win their first round game next week, that event will put them in the state tournament along with 11 other teams from the three-region qualification round.
While the ’Hawks haven’t beaten league champion Farmington in a while, the battles have become increasingly closer.
While deserving of their third place ranking in some 4A statewide polls, the ’Hawks proved last week that they are beatable.
The Cardinals are a team that is excellent when it comes to taking care of the ball. They depend on lay-ups for the bulk of their offense with exceptional speed and agility to get to the hoop. Defensively, they did an amazing job against the ’Hawks last week as they managed to pack it in around the goal to slow down Pea Ridge’s inside game but were also able to get back outside to monitor the 3-point line to limit open looks for 3-point bombs. Doing that takes exceptional speed which they possess.
Having said all that, the ’Hawks adjusted, battled the boards hard, and used great passing to get those open 3-point looks. Pea Ridge didn’t maintain a lead against Farmington for most of last week’s game because the Cardinals were playing badly but because they were getting outplayed by the boys in black.
To beat the Cards, the ’Hawks need to revisit last week’s battle and improve their free throw shooting and avoid costly turnovers.
The thing that has served Farmington well this season is their ability to grab a small lead early in the game, then hold the ball until their opponent fouls them. They then convert a huge percentage of those shots to put pressure on their opponents to have to score. As a matter of fact, in the ’Hawks’ last two games against Farmington, the Cardinals scored most of their fourth quarter viathe free throw line.
If Pea Ridge can keep the Cards off the free throw line and avoid mental mistakes and inopportune turnovers, the ’Hawks could prove victorious.
With this being the final go-round for seniors Cooper, Thompson and Roughton, it would be a fitting cap to their careers here.
Although Roughton will be in street clothes due to his season-ending broken arm,he will be will be on the bench exhorting his teammates to get the job done.
If there was ever a collection of just genuinely fine kids who deserved a break, these guys qualify.
Having taught the huge majority of them in elementary school, they have always impressed me with their attitudes and work ethics.
Here’s hoping they have a break through week and a glorious finish. They have earned it.
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Editor’s note: John McGee is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at prtnews@ nwaonline.com.
Sports, Pages 8 on 02/16/2011