As local fan Sandy Herzberg remarked as she was leaving the Gravette/Pea Ridge varsity boys basketball game last week, “Was that one of those barn burner games?”
Herzberg’s grandson, Jacob Hall, was the one who finished burning Gravette’s barn as he coolly drilled a pair of free throws with 1.9 seconds left to provide the margin of victory in the Blackhawks’ heart-stopping 44-43 victory. The ’Hawks overcame a number of bizarre officials’ calls, as well as missing the front end of two straight 1 and 1 situations to beat back a rally by the visiting Lions.
Gravette did not lead at any time during the entire contest until the final 11 seconds when the Lions converted a pair of free throws to give them a 43-42 lead. The free throws came on the heels of a bizarre call when one of the officials stopped a nearly unopposed ’Hawk fast break by calling a foul in the far back court, which took away Pea Ridge’s chance to score. When the following ’Hawk free throw was missed, Gravette rebounded, got the ball upcourt and was fouled shooting. After seeing the Lions take their first lead with 11 seconds left, the ’Hawks worked the ball upcourt, got a pass into Hall who broke for the basket and was fouled going up with less than 2 seconds left. After Hall hit both shots, the Lions tried a desperation long pass for a last second shot, but Nick DeLeon slapped the ball away with the clock expiring soon after.
“Our defensive intensity and rebounding were probably the difference between winning and losing,” head Coach Charley Clark related. “Zach Davis made a few big plays on defense and then knocked down a corner three that gave us just enough to be in position to win. We had confidence in Jacob to make a good decision on the last possession, and taking the ball strong to the basket usually ends well. His making two free throws to win a game were reminiscent of his sophomore year when he did the same thing to Rogers Heritage.”
“Nick DeLeon gave us a tremendous effort. His first half scoring gave us a lead and his defense throughout the game was very good,” head Blackhawk coach Charley Clark concluded.
Nick DeLeon, who wound up leading the ’Hawk offense with 15 points, started the game off in fine style by dropping in a lay-up, followed by a trey from the corner, to give Pea Ridge a 5-0 lead in the game’s first minute. Gravette then got into the scoring columnwith a pair of goals by Pierce, their leading scorer. However, they were offset by a lay-up and a 3-pointer by Jacob Hall as the ’Hawks led 10-4 with 3:47 left in the first period.
Gravette made a mini-run at the home boys with a pair of treys, with only a 7-foot finger roll shot by Evan Tillman to break it up, as the Lions crept to 12-10. Both Tillman and Gravette scored in the paint in the last minute as the buzzer sounded, with Pea Ridge nursing a 14-12 advantage.
The Lions brought their fans to their feet with a goal to open the second period that tied the score at 14-all. The visitors then turned quiet when the ’Hawks rattled off 11 consecutive points to open up a 25-14 lead with just over 3 minutes left in the half.
DeLeon scored the first two goals with a lay-up and 18-foot jumper, which was followed by a Tillman 3-pointer, Hall lay-up and another jump shot by Tillman. Gravette managed to make a lay-up and free throw before the end of the half to close the gap to 8 as Pea Ridge led 25-17.
Defensive play by both sides went up a few notches with numerous turnovers recorded by both sides in a fierce but low scoring quarter. The scoring was a see saw affair with each bucket the ’Hawks made being matched by the Lions all the way until the final minute of the period. Isaac Mangrum started the scoring with a lay-up. Following a Gravette score, DeLeon was good for two free throws, which was followed by another Lion lay-up.
DeLeon stretched the lead to 9 at 31-22 when he got loose to pop one in from 12 feet. However, the Lions managed to score twice around a Pea Ridge turnover to shrink the lead to just five by quarter’s end, trailing 31-26.
The ’Hawks were on the receiving end of a couple of bad calls that helped the Lions come up with two field goals and cut the lead to just 1 as Pea Ridge led 31-30 with 6:30 left in the game. Hall nailed two free throws to regain a 3-point lead, but the Lions converted two of their own to get the deficit back to just 1.
Hall broke through for a lay-up, then a steal by the ’Hawks led to a lay-up by Tillman to put the ’Hawks back up by 5 at 37-32. The lead wouldn’t last long as Gravette hit a 10-foot shot, which was followed by a 3-pointer that tied the game at 37-37 with 3:33 left in the battle.
Zach Davis then contributed to the ’Hawk offense with a trey to regain the lead at 40-37 with 2:20 left. After Gravette scored again to cut the lead back to 1, DeLeon sliced through again for another lay-up and restore the 3-pointbulge. Gravette then worked the ball around until it found a way to get inside for another lay-up with 25 seconds left. A foul was called on the shot but the Lions missed, which the ’Hawks quickly rebounded, getting the ball swiftly down the floor on a fast break that caught the Lions flat-footed.
Before the ’Hawks could lay it in, an official blew the play dead, seeing a foul on a ’Hawk player in the backcourt, thus depriving Pea Ridge of a chance to get their lead back up to 3 with less than 20 seconds left.
As reported earlier, the ’Hawks missed the free throw, the Lions rebounded, got back to their end of the court where they were fouled trying to score. The two shots were good by Gravette, but the subsequent foul on Hall with 1.9 seconds left proved to be the difference maker as he drained both attempts for the last scores of the game.
For the first time this season, DeLeon was the team’s leading scorer, coming up with 15. Hall chipped in with 13 with Tillman adding 11, Davis 3 and Mangrum 2.
’Hawks 64, Berryville 54
After battling to a 12-12 stalemate in the first quarter, the ’Hawks turned up their second and third quarter defense before using their offensive punch in the fourth quarter to run past the Berryville Bobcats 64-52 in the last road game of the conference schedule.
Capturing their 19th win in what has been an exceptional season, the ’Hawks were led again by Nick DeLeon, who poured in 21 points for a career high. DeLeon also led the attack in the win over Gravette.
“We played a good game,” Clark remarked. “We shot well, played good defense. Berryville made a couple of runs at us but we fought them off both times.”
Four ’Hawks got into the scoring column in the opening quarter, led by a two-bucket effort from DeLeon. Evan Tillman and Zach Davis both hit from behind the arc, with Isaac Mangrum ripping 2 of 2 free throws to round out the scoring.
The defense stepped up in the second quarter, limiting the Bobcats to just two field goals while the ’Hawks were jamming through six of their own. Tillman scored two of them, DeLeon hit a 3, Logan Rose scored underneath, with Jacob Hall coming alive with a trey and field goal. Mangrum scored the other point via the free throw line as Pea Ridge went into intermission leading their hosts 27-20.
Berryville improved their offense in the third period, helped along with a pair of treys, a field goal and three free throws. The’Hawks more than met the challenge as they used a pair of goals from both Tillman and DeLeon, as well as a goal and free throw from Hall, to outscore the Bobcats 14-11 to assume a solid 41-31 lead heading into the final period.
The Bobcats chose to foul the ’Hawks in the final quarter, sending them to the line 13 times. The Blackhawks foiled the strategy by ripping 11 of the 13 shots, as well as dropping in six field goals to keep Berryville at bay, outscoring them 23-21 in the final eight minutes.
DeLeon was the workhorse of the final period, canning three of four free throws while sinking three field goals along the way.
Mangrum hit four of four from the charity stripe, while Hall was good on three of four. Rose added to the total with a pair of field goals in the paint along with a free throw, with Tillman finishing off the offensive flurry with a solo field goal.
DeLeon led the scoring with 21, followed by Tillman with 13, Hall with 11, Mangrum and Rose both with 7 and Davis with 3.
Sports, Pages 7 on 02/06/2013