PEA RIDGE — The ’Hawks basketball team made a mighty effort but came up just short in the district semi-finals, losing to Shiloh 59-56.
The heavily favored Shiloh team, which cruised to a 13-1 conference record enroute to its top seed, found the going tough against the Charley Clark’s Blackhawks. Trailing the entire first half until the last 17 seconds of the second quarter, Shiloh had problems with the ’Hawks’ scrappy defense and played catchup for most of the game.
The game hinged on turnovers, late absences of referee attention, and Shiloh’s success in spreading the Pea Ridge defenders that allowed a flood of one on one layups by the taller Shiloh lineup. As a matter of fact, in the second and fourth quarters, Shiloh scored all but one of their 13 field goals on layups. Shiloh meant to take control by forcing Pea Ridge out of its 3-point game but the ’Hawks used strong rebounding and hustling to get numerous points inside. Ultimately, the game was tied at 55-55 with 1:59 left in the game when Shiloh drained a 3-pointer, a play that eventually won the game.
The ’Hawks came out ready to play from the outset with Cameron Tidwell hitting a short jumper for an initial 2-0 lead. Shiloh tied the score a minute later but soon after that Dakota Woodward hit a deep 3 to give the ’Hawks a 5-2 advantage. Shiloh managed but a single free throw over a 4 minute stretch while Levi Pitts drained a 3, Jacob Hall converted a pair of free throws with Isaac Mangrum dropping in a layup as Pea Ridge led 12-3 with under 3 minutes left in the quarter.
Shiloh finally snuck in for a layup and hit for a 3-pointer soon after to cut the lead to 12-8. Woodward then fired in his second 3-pointer to restore a 7-point lead. A Shiloh rebound shot went in to cut the lead, but abullet inlet pass from Woodward to Roughton resulted in an easy basket and a 17-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
A Hall rebound shot put the pressure on Shiloh as they trailed 19-10 early in the second quarter.
However, a string of three ’Hawk turnovers froze the Pea Ridge score with Shiloh hitting one from downtown, and got two field goals and a free throw to get back in the game, trailing just 19-18 with 6:05 left in the half.
Mangrum broke the run by Shiloh by scoring underneath and later blocked a Shiloh shot thatled to a fast break which culminated in a 3-point bomb by Hall as Pea Ridge jumped out to a 24-18 lead with 3:50 left. Shiloh then came up with a trey and rebound score to cut the lead to 24-23.
Hall’s pair of free throws made it 26-23 but a subsequent Shiloh score got them back to within 1 with 59 seconds left in the half.
Shiloh took its first lead of the night with 17 seconds left, then stole the inbounds pass which led to another quick score and a sudden 29-26 lead. With the ’Hawks scrambling to get off a shot before the final buzzer, Mangrum rebounded a missed long shot then jumped up twisting his body in his effort to fling a desperation shot at the buzzer, a shot which dismayed Shiloh when it found home in the nets as the half ended.
Although coming out of the half trailing, the ’Hawks changed their offensive strategy with Hall going in with medium distance jump shots with a pair of them ripping the cords for a 32-29 lead. Tidwell matched a Shiloh score underneath but a turnover by the ’Hawks after a made shot by Shiloh threatened to give the Springdale private school a lead.
However, Woodward had other ideas as he picked a Shiloh pocket and drove it back for a layup and a 36-33 lead.
Shiloh tied the score at 36-all on a layup and free throw before Mangrum made a charity toss to keep Pea Ridge ahead. The fight went back and forth with Hall scoring 2 to match Shiloh before a second layup put Shiloh up 40-39 with 3:39 left in the third.
Pesky Woodward kept up his pressure on the Shiloh guards, kocking a ball loose with Ethan Higgins driving in for a score and the lead at 41-40. Higgins later came up with a steal that Woodward took to the bank and a 43-0 lead with 2:21 showing. Another ’Hawks’ steal led to a Pitts layup which was followed by a Evan Tillman trey to give Pea Ridge a 48-40 lead with 52 seconds left in the quarter. Shiloh stopped the ’Hawks’ 9-0 run with a layup to end the quarter as the favored team trailed 48-42 going into the final quarter.
The turnover problems reappeared in the last period as the ’Hawks suffered three consecutive losses which helped Shiloh score 9 points and grab a 49-48 lead. Mangrum stopped the bleeding with a shot underneath for a 50-49 lead with 5:18 left in the game. The tall junior scored again moments later only to see the referees wave off the score.
A pair of Shiloh layups put themback in control, leading 53-50 with 3:18 remaining.
Hall came up big with 3 minutes left, nailing a 3-pointer to knot the game at 53-all. Roughton matched a Shiloh layup that kept the score tied at 55-all with 2:30 left. Then came the winning shot by Shiloh, a trey with 1:59 left that gave them a 3-point lead. Hall cut the deficit to 2 with a free throw and a scrambling ’Hawk defense got the ball back. After getting the ball inside for a shot, the referees missed a Shiloh forearm to the face of a ’Hawk shooter and after the ’Hawks regained the ball again and again got it in close, the shooter was hammered again with no whistle being blown.
Shiloh then went to the line for a 1 and 1 with 32 seconds left, making the first before missing the second. An attempt to tie the score from the 3-point line was blocked with the ’Hawks eventually getting to throw the ball in with less than a second to play. In the fracas that ensued, a ’Hawk shooter got clear on the 3-point line but barely missed the hurried shot as the buzzer sounded.
The draining experience against Pea Ridge may have played a part in Shiloh’s loss in the finals to Gravette with the Lions building up a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter to take the district championship. The ’Hawks will travel to Ozark to face the defending state champion Clarksville Panthers in the regional first round. The game against Shiloh was most likely the last time they will face the private schoolers and the upcoming game against Clarksville will the last time against them as well as the Panthers are moving up to 5A next season.
The ’Hawks played Clarksville tough last season and had a good shot to upset them before losing in a close battle. The game with the ’Hawks proved to be one of the toughest games the Panthers played enroute to their 4A state championship.
Sports, Pages 7 on 02/22/2012