Ahead twice, tied once, the Lady Blackhawks gave the Shiloh ladies a run for their money Friday night, but ultimately lost the hard-fought contest by 1 point - 33/32.
The game was as brutally close as the final score indicates. Both teams dove on the floor for loose balls, banged in the paint and set bone-jarring screens.
Twice Jamie Mann, the Pea Ridge trainer, cleaned blood off the court.
Playing hard and physical is a style Pea Ridge coach Heather Wade preaches to her players.
“I always tell them before the game not to get outworked or outhustled,” Wade said. “If you’re getting outworked or hustled, the score is going to get ugly.”
Shiloh Christian coach Mat Stewart said he expected PeaRidge (6-14, 2-6 4A-1) to play hard, especially after the Saints hung a 49-20 loss on the Lady Blackhawks earlier this season.
“Pea Ridge is very physical,” Stewart said. “They played hard.
They very easily could have won this game.”
Shiloh Christian (12-6, 5-2) helped the Lady Blackhawks stay in the game when Henley missed three straight free throws in the closing 39 seconds.
But she also hit a driving layup with 11.1 seconds left that proved to be the difference when the game was tied at 31-31 and finished with a team-high 14 points.
Blackhawk Jordan Winn was almost unstoppable in the first half for Pea Ridge, scoring the team’s first 8 points and 15 of their 21 first half points. She ended the night with 18, but scored just three after halftime when Shiloh switched to a boxand-one defense.
Shiloh’s defensive change led Pea Ridge into a long third quarter delay, taking almost five minutes off the clock. The ploy worked as Shiloh did not score a third-quarter point.
Shiloh hosts league-leading Prairie Grove on Tuesday in a key conference matchup. Pea Ridge was to travel to Gentry.
Shiloh 33, Pea Ridge 32
Pea Ridge (6-14, 2-6): Winn 18, Schooley 5, Cypert 4, Gibson 4, Caton 1.
Boys
Jacob Hall led the Blackhawks (10-11, 5-3) with 16 points.
Shiloh 66, Pea Ridge 54 Pea Ridge 7 16 13 18 - 54
Pea Ridge (10-11, 5-3): Hall 16, Woodward 9, Higgins 9, Tidwell 9, Roughton 6, Mangrum 3, Tilman 2.
Sports, Pages 9 on 01/25/2012