HEBER SPRINGS — The 2011 Blackhawk boys basketball team had a historical 76-63 win over Dumas in the first round of the 4A State Tournament before losing to the defending 2010 state champion and current NO. 1-ranked Jonesboro Westside Warriors 66-37 in the quarterfinals.
Playing in their third year as a 4A member of the Arkansas Activities Association, the current ’Hawks piled up 25 victories this season as one of the smallest schools in the classification. Consistently ranked among the state’s top eight teams this year by the CBS MaxPreps/Freeman polling service, the ’Hawks confirmed the polls’ accuracy by being one of the squads to reach the “Elite Eight” in the year-ending tournament.
The ’Hawks went 6-2 in post season play with a district championship and a regional runner-up trophy to show for their efforts. Tellingly, the teams’ two losses came at the hands of Clarksville and Jonesboro, the two schools that will meet next Saturday in Hot Springs for the 4A state championship game.
In the state tournament opener against Dumas, the ’Hawks came out sluggish, trailing by as many as 15 points in the second quarter. After a time-out midway in the second quarter, however, the ’Hawks put on a no-holds barred rally to outscore their opponents by an overwhelming 56-28 count the rest of the way to win going away.
Dumas’ Darion Griswold, one of the states’ top athletes who is being recruited by a number of NCAA Division I schools in both football and basketball, lit it up for the Bobcats in the first quarter. The ’Cats leading man poured through a pair of treys and three field goals as Dumas led 21-10 after one quarter of play.
The ’Hawks, meanwhile, could manage but just three field goals, two by senior Cameron Thompson and one by senior Kasey Cooper. Free throws by Cooper, Thompson and Ethan Higgins accounted for the other 4 points as Pea Ridge faced a tall hill to climb in the second period.
The 11-point deficit turned into 15 midway through the quarter with the ’Hawks trailing 35-20.
Pea Ridge then erupted for 10straight points to shave the Bobcat lead down to just 5 by the intermission. Sparking the comeback were three shots from downtown by sharpshooter Cooper, four for four from the charity stripe by Thompson and single field goals by Dakota Woodward, Jacob Hall and Ryan Roughton.
Hall also contributed a free throw in the ’Hawks’ resurgence.
Pea Ridge would continue the surge into the third quarter as they out-pointed Dumas 21-13 to take a 51-48 lead headed into the fourth period. Thompson led the charge with a pair of field goals and five free throws. Cooper added two more treys, Woodward added a couple of shots, with Roughton scoring a lone goal as the Pea Ridge faithful saw the momentum clearly swinging their way.
The senior duo of Thompson and Cooper then took control of the game, scoring 15 points between them to set a torrid scoring pace in the final eight minutes.
The ’Hawks rang up 25 points in the quarter, holding the Bobcats to just 15 points, 10 by Dumas’’ Griswold. Though Griswold had a big night scoring 36 points, the ’Hawks kept a lid on the rest ofthe Bobcats.
Forced to foul the ’Hawks to try and pull off a comeback, Pea Ridge ripped 12 of 17 shots to hold Dumas at bay. Cooper hit all four of his free throws in the final period while adding a pair of field goals. Thompson sank two shots in the paint and converted three charity tosses with Woodward sinking 5 of 6 shots from the free throw line. Hall nailed a trey with Higgins contributing a field goal to round out the ’Hawks’ fourthquarter heroics.
Cooper led the ’Hawks with 27 points followed closely by Thompsons’ 25 markers. Woodward was in double figures with 11, Hall had 6, Roughton had 4 with Higgins finishing with 3 points.
Quarterfinals
Quarterfinal action last Friday was markedly different with the ’Hawks facing Westsides’ 6’11” center Hunter Mickelson, one the nation’s top collegiate prospects.
Mickelson was one of five returning starters from last year’s state championship team, and the combination of that experience, Pea Ridge foul troubles, and untimely injuries proved to be more thanthe ’Hawks could overcome.
Both squads defensive efforts proved to be the dominant force in the opening quarter as the ’Hawks trailed by just two in a low scoring period, 11-9. Woodward hit a trey for the ’Hawks with Hall and Thompson adding field goals. Higgins converted both of his free throws to keep Pea Ridge close.
Timely shooting and continued defense seemed to be working for the ’Hawks in the second quarter as they managed to catch and tie the Warriors 15-all early in the period. After being outscored 6-4 in the early going, Westside got their vaunted offense on track as they outscored the ’Hawks 16-8 the rest of the way until intermission to take command by a score of 31-23. Woodward scored 6 in the period to lead the ’Hawks with Thompson, Cooper, Adams and Higgins each chipping in 2 points.
The third period proved to be a frustrating one for the ’Hawks with their shots from the field just not falling. Woodward made three of the four field goals (one a trey) scored in the quarter by Pea Ridge with Thompson knocking down a 3-pointer of his own.
The Warriors had no such problem shooting as they piled up 21 points to go into the final quarter with a commanding 52-34 bulge.
Things went from bad to worse in the fourth and final quarter as Woodward fouled out early in the quarter involving some highly questionable officiating with Cooper forced to leave the game as he suffered from a stress fracture, an injury that played a large role in his recording but 2 points in the contest. Cold shooting in the third quarter turned to ice in the third as the ’Hawks did not record a single field goal in the period. Pea Ridge’s frosty shooting extended to one of the ’Hawks’ usually reliable weapons, the free throw. Pea Ridge went three of 12 from the line as Westside outscored the locals 14-3 to clinch their semi-final berth against McGehee with a deceptive 66-37 victory.
Woodward led the ’Hawks in their final game of the 2010-2011 season as he registered 17 points, including four treys. Thompson had 7, Higgins 4, Adams 3, Cooper 2, Hall 2 and Roughton 2.
Woodward matched the output of Westside’s All-American Mikelson who also finished with 17.
Sports, Pages 9 on 03/09/2011