Blackhawks three-time champions

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

— The Blackhawks boys lived up to their high ranking as they swept through the 10-team, three-day Southwest Holiday Basketball Classic to take their third title in as many years.

After easily dispatching their first two opponents, Wheaton and Cassville, in preliminary action, the ’Hawks had to come from behind in the fourth quarter to overcome Purdy 62-50 in the championship round.

“We got the rust off in the first game, making a lot of mistakes, but playing hard,” coach Charley Clark said, “and we played well in the semifinals. However, in the title game, our offense didn’t really click until the fourth quarter.

Our defense worked well throughout the tournament and it kept us in it when the offense was less than its best.

It was a great tournament, as it always is, and we feel quite fortunate to be able to win the championship again.”

Game summaries are as follows: Quarterfinals: Pea Ridge 62 Wheaton 37

Both teams came out running with the ’Hawks getting ahead early 6-5 on the strength of 6 points from junior Levi Roughton. A pair of free throws and driving layup by Cameron Thompson provided the lift to forge a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the game. A tip-in by Joe Adams and 3-point bomb by Kasey Cooper put the ’Hawks up 15-8 with seconds left in the quarter. A last second heave by a Bulldog guard near halfcourt found its mark to cut the Pea Ridge lead to 15-11 at the buzzer.

Another 3-point shot by Wheaton gave the Bulldog fans some hope early in the second period, but a Dakota Woodward layup and free throw together with 4- and 6-point outbursts by Thompson and Ethan Higgins dimmed such hopes. By the time Wheaton finally scored again,the ’Hawks were leading 28-15 with less than a minute left in the half. After a flurry of turnovers by both sides, the score went into the break unchanged.

Buckets by Higgins and Roughton further extended the lead to 32-15 early in the third quarter. Wheaton then made good on two straight layups to stop the Blackhawk scoring streak, but a layup by Higgins, pair of free throws by Woodward and a score underneath by Joe Adams, put the Bulldogs in a deep hole, trailing 36-19 with just under three minutes left in the quarter.

Wheaton managed to score twice more from the field, but baskets by Roughton, Higgins and a 3-pointer from Woodward, all but iced the game with Pea Ridge leading 45-25 at the buzzer.

The ’Hawks substituted freely throughout the final quarter, with Adams scoring 6 points, Woodward 4, Cooper 3 and Ryan Roughton 2 points.

Wheaton scored the games final 4 points, to slice the ’Hawks’ final margin of victory to 62-37.

Woodward led an extremely balanced attack as five Blackhawks scored in double figures, with Woodward’s 12 points leading the way. Roughton, Thompson, Adams and Higgins all scored 10 points each, while Cooper ended with 6 and Jacob Hall and Ryan Roughton finishing up with 2 each.

Semifinals: Pea Ridge 77 Cassville 60

The ’Hawks came out gunning, piling up a 12-point lead in the first quarter to race by Cassville. Kasey Cooper’s six 3-pointers led the senior forward to capture game scoring honors with 31 markers.

Cooper was hot from the get go, canning two of two free throws, hitting two regular field goals as well as one from behind the 3-point stripe as the ’Hawks outscored Cassville 19-7 in the opening quarter. Dakota Woodward scored on a layup and a 3-pointer with Joe Adams scoring underneath while Joey Hall alsohit from the 3-point line as the ’Hawks took control.

The Wildcats got their offense untracked in the second period as they racked up 20 points, but the ’Hawks met their challenge by scoring 23 to go into the half up 42-27.

Cooper hit two more 3-pointers, a pair of free throws, and a field goal to spark the charge.

Levi Roughton and Cameron Thompson each converted a pair of field goals while Woodward was accurate in three of four free throw attempts. Hall rounded out the scoring with a field goal.

The third quarter saw the ’Hawks uncharacteristically miss all five free throw attempts, but they did connect on six field goals. The goalsincluded a pair of 3-pointers by Cooper as the ’Hawks kept pace with the Wildcats as both teams scored 14 points to head into the final period with Pea Ridge on top 56-41.

Thompson connected on a pair of field goals in the quarter with Adams and Roughton also hitting solo goals.

With the ’Hawks missing from the line in the third quarter, the fouling became more frequent in the last period with the ’Hawks going to the line 12 times, sinking six of their shots. Double field goal efforts from Thompson, Ryan Roughton and Cooper held at bay any comeback attempt by the Wildcats as Pea Ridge outscored Cassville 21-19 over the final eight minutes to securethe victory.

Cooper led all scorers with 31 with Thompson contributing with 14, Woodward 9, Adams 7, Levi Roughton 6, Jacob Hall 5, Ryan Roughton 4 and Ethan Higgins 1.

Finals: Pea Ridge 62 Purdy 50

The ’Hawks came out cold, falling behind Purdy in the first minute. While a hustling defense by Pea Ridge kept them in the game, the ’Hawks did not regain the lead again until the fourth quarter when the offense finally ignited and ran the Eagles off the floor.

Thompson was fouled driving to the goal in the game’s opening seconds, with the senior forward ripping both shots to give the ’Hawks an early 2-0 lead.

However, poor shooting by the ’Hawks led to a threeminute scoring dry spell as Purdy managed to take a 7-2 lead. While Thompson, Woodward and Adams all managed scores in the paint, the Eagles responded with shots from all over the floor as Purdy led 14-8 at the end of the opening quarter.

Cooper finally connected with a long distance 3, which he followed up with a layup and free throw, to augment a layup by Thompson, as the ’Hawks surged to within 2.

Trailing Purdy 18-16 with 4:30 left in the half. The Eagles responded with a 3-pointer and layup to restore their 7-point lead, but a Thompson layup and great feed to a driving layup by Higgins kept the ’Hawks close, trailing 23-20.

Purdy dropped in two more goals before the half, but a jumper by Thompson and pair of free throws by Woodward kept Pea Ridge to within 3 as the Eagles led at the break 27-24.

Purdy started the second half by firing in a 3-pointer and after Thompson converted a layup, the Eagles countered with two of their own as the lead was stretched to 34-26. After a Pea Ridge timeout, Thompson drove in for a layup which was followed seconds later by a Cooper steal,then two charity shots from the ensuing foul as the ’Hawks cut the lead in half at 34-30 with 6:02 left in the quarter.

Purdy scored on their next possession, but a rebound bucket by Higgins followed by a layup by the junior guard melted the lead to 36-34 with 3:12 showing. Adams made a free throw to counter one made by Purdy with another layup by Higgins at the 1:22 mark finally tying the game at 37-all. An Eagle free throw with three seconds left in the quarter gave Purdy a 38-37 lead heading into the final period.

Cooper quickly struck for 5 points via the charity and 3-point stripes, as Pea Ridge quickly assumed the lead 42-28 in the first 30 seconds of the quarter. After a Purdy field goal narrowed the gap, Thompson muscled through for a layup and sank two free throws putting the ’Hawks firmly ahead 46-40.

Purdy scored on a pair of jumpers to creep closer to the ‘Hawks, but a 3-pointer by Woodward and accurate jumpers by Adams and Cooper kept Pea Ridge ahead 53-46 with 3:30 left in the game.

Refusing to go down, Purdy fought inside to score 4 more points to shave the lead to 55-50 after a score underneath by Adams. With the ’Hawks moving deliberately on offense to melt the clock, Cooper drove a stake through Purdy’s chances to win with a 3-point shot.

The goal gave Pea Ridge a 58-50 bulge with only 1:56 left in the game.

After the ’Hawks rebounded Purdy’s missed shots, Woodward was fouled twice after getting the ball over halfcourt. The junior sank all four shots to give the ’Hawks their final margin of victory.

As in the year before, Cooper then made a steal in the final seconds with the ’Hawks just holding the ball until the buzzer.

The ’Hawks’ usual points leaders, Thompson and Cooper, shared game high honors as both tallied 18 points.

Woodward was in double figures with 11, followed by Higgins with 8 and Adams with 7.

Sports, Pages 7 on 01/05/2011