’Hawks pluck Cardinals 50/47

Dakota Woodward slid his toe up to the free-throw line and dribbled twice.

With Pea Ridge clinging to a 3-point lead with 10 seconds left, Woodward calmly sank both shots, giving the Blackhawks the cushion they needed to hold off Farmington 50-47 on Tuesday, Jan. 17, in 4A-1 Conference action.

Woodward and Evan Tillman each hit clutch free throws down the stretch, and Pea Ridge needed them both, Charley Clark, Blackhawks boys basketball coach, said.

“That was probably the difference in the game,” Clark said of the free throws. “We had a hard time getting anything going positively on offense, and I give Farmington a lot of credit for that.”

Pea Ridge (10-10, 5-2 4A-1) could never separate itself from the Cardinals to get much breathing room. Instead the game was the typical slugfest it always seems to be when these two longtime rivals take the court, Clark said.

Only 1 point separated them at the end of the first half withFarmington claiming a 25-24 lead. Then the game was tied at the end of the third quarter when Farmington’s Jared Martin sank a 3-pointer to tie the score at 38-38.

The fourth quarter was a battle the entire eight minutes.

Pea Ridge’s Jacob Hall gave the Blackhawks a small lead twice, including a soft shot from inside the lane with 4 minutes, 45 seconds left. Hall led the Blackhawks with 18 points.

Pea Ridge 50, Farmington 47 Farmington 15 10 13 9 - 47 Pea Ridge 14 10 14 12 - 50

Pea Ridge (10-10, 5-2): Hall 18, Woodward 10, Pitts 7, Mangrum 6, Tillman 4, Higgins 3, Tidwell 2.

Girls Lady Blackhawks continue to fight

The scoreboard is not always a measure of a team’s improvement, as was the case Tuesday, Jan. 17, when Pea Ridge hosted Farmington.

The Lady Blackhawks lost by 20 points, 51-31, but Pea Ridge girls’ basketball coach Heather Wade says her team is starting to make strides and playing with passion.

That was never more evidentthan one sequence in the fourth quarter. Trailing by more than 20 points, Pea Ridge (6-13, 2-5 4A-1 Conference) players were pressing and diving on the floor to try and gain possession of the ball.

Three Lady Blackhawks players ended up on the floor before the whistle sounded.

“That shows we have a lot of heart,” Wade said. “They played with a lot of pride tonight.”

Pea Ridge hung close in the first half, but went stone cold in the third quarter and saw Farmington’s lead increase.

“It got away from us there in the third,” Wade said. “We just couldn’t put it in the hole.”

Farmington coach Brad Johnson said: “We hit some perimeter shots. To Pea Ridge’s credit they really packed it in inside trying to neutralize our big kids and they did a decent job of that.”

Audrey Gibson led Pea Ridge (6-13, 2-5) with 13 points.

Three Farmington players scored in double-figures.

Farmington 51, Pea Ridge 31 Farmington 10 13 12 15 - 51 Pea Ridge 7 7 7 10 - 31

Pea Ridge (6-13, 2-5): Gibson 13, Cypert 4, Winn 4, Caton 4, Hargiss 3, Schooley 3.

Sports, Pages 9 on 01/25/2012