PEA RIDGE — Charley Clarke’s resurgent Blackhawks dropped the hammer on Subiaco Academy in posting a 72-53 victory in the opening round then held off conference rival Farmington 57-55 to advance to the championship game of the 4A North Regional at Pottsville..

The game with Subiaco was in doubt for most of the contest until the fourth quarter when the ’Hawks exploded for 21 points with their opponents managing only 8. Senior Kasey Cooper stroked three field goals in the fourth period while sinking six of six free throws to spark the surge.

Pea Ridge got points from six different players to open the game with Subiaco, taking a narrow 16-14 lead into the second period. Cooper racked up three field goals with Dakota Woodward striking for a goal and free throw. Ethan Higgins, Cameron Thompson and Joe Adams each added a field goal with Jacob Hall tossing in a free throw.

Both offenses continued making points in the second period but the ’Hawks got a few more to expand their lead to 34-29 headed into intermission. Sophomore Jacob Hall led the charge in the second period, hitting for a trey and two field goals. Woodward, Thompson, Adams, and Cooper all sank individual buckets in the quarter with Thompson adding two free throws and Adams one.

Both teams picked up the pace in the third period with each squad failing to improve their position as each school scored 16 points in the quarter. Thompson brook loose for three field goals and three free throws to spark the ’Hawks while Woodward was sinking a trey. Higgins was converting on a pair of free throws to go with a field goal as the third quarter ended 50-45 in the ’Hawks’ favor.

Subiaco put through a couple of 3-pointers in the last period but they were only accompanied by a single field goal. Led by Cooper’s 12-point outburst, the ’Hawks nearly ran Subiaco out of the gym, quickly building a 20-point lead. Woodward contributed with 4 points on a lay-up and two free throws. Adams rang up 3 points on a goal and free throw while Thompson scored once in the paint with Higgins capping things with a free throw as Pea Ridge’s small but supportive band of followers enjoyed the first-round victory.

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’Hawks face Cardinals

The ’Hawks were then faced with one of the best teams in the state the past couple of years in Farmington. Farmington had their undefeated 4A-1 streak snapped in the district semi-finals as Shiloh unceremoniously dumped them to take their spot in the district finals. Although the Cardinals beat the ’Hawks twice during the regular season, Pea Ridge proved it couldn’t be done three times by taking a narrow win.

The importance of making free throws was never so dramatically illustrated as it was in this game as Pea Ridge knocked down 14 of 17 attempts. The Cardinals had the same number of attempts but could only hit 10, providing the ’Hawks with their final margin of victory.

The ’Hawks were sparked by a pair of treys by Woodward and Cooper as they got off to a 14-12 lead after the first quarter of play. Cooper contributed a pair of field goals to go with his long bomb and Thompson and Higgins both came up with 2 points each to keep the ’Hawks ahead.

Defensive play dominated the second period with the Cards keeping the lid on the’Hawks’ top two scorers.

Woodward decided to ignore the Cards’ pressure as he drilled a trey, sank a couple of field goals and ripped a free throw to provide all 8 points that the ’Hawks could muster in the quarter. The Pea Ridge defense held Farmington to two field goals and three free throws as the ’Hawks’ advantage remained at 2 points, 22-20, at intermission.

Farmington had their best shooting from the floor with six field goals in the third quarter, but they could only come with a single free throw.

Cooper fired in a couple from downtown and Thompson scored twice in the paint along with draining three free throwsas Pea Ridge upped their lead to four, 37-33, going into the final and dramatic quarter.

Staring their second league loss in the face after going 14-0 in district action, Farmington went all out in the fourth quarter elevating the pressure on both ends of the floor.

The Cards’ Buchanan put on a shooting show, hitting four field goals (two of them treys) and four free throws as Farmington scrambled to catch the ’Hawks. Cooper had hit a pairof free throws as well as a long 3-pointer with Adams canning a pair of free throws in addition to a Woodward trey as the clock went under a minute to go with Pea Ridge leading 54-52.

Buchanan gave the Cards their first lead of the day with a 3-pointer to assume control at 55-54. Rather than call a time-out, ’Hawk coach Clark decided to let his charges take charge and the strategy paid off when Woodward got a pass into Woodward who lofted a high arching bank shot into the net to regain the lead for Pea Ridge. After a Cardinal miss, Woodward was fouled and he bumped the lead to 57-55 by making one of two shots. TheCardinals’ last shot would not go as the ’Hawks held on to take the contest and a spot in the regional finals.

The ’Hawks’ two seniors - Thompson and Cooper - shared high point honors with 18 points each. Woodward was close behind with 15 points with Higgins and Adams scoring 4 and 2, respectively.

The double wins gave the ’Hawks a 24-8 won-loss record, their finest such mark in a number of years.

Sports, Pages 9 on 03/02/2011