’Hawks whip Cards, ’Billies; win conference title

Charley Clark’s Blackhawks overcame a pair of physical opponents last week to take a conference championship and earn the No. 1 seed in this week’s 4A-1 District Tournament. The ’Hawks rallied by the Farmington Cardinals in a 52-44 conquest on Tuesday before shaking off a slow start against the Ozark Hillbillies to eventually win a convincing 52-34 victory that marked the end of the regular season.

Against the Cards, the ’Hawks shook off a turnover-laden, coldshooting first quarter by exerting suffocating defensive pressure to take both the game and top seed for next week’s district tournament. The ’Hawks got rolling late against the Hillbillies and were heartened by the re-emergence of senior Levi Pitts, who had been sidelined after receiving a severe injury in the Farmington game in mid-January.

“We came out trying to be too precise against Farmington,” Clark said, “and we were passing up open shots. That led to a lot of turnovers and easy lay-ups for Farmington.”

“Everyone knew we had to win by more than six to take the top seed,” Clark said, “and the way the game played out, we decided to run the clock down to 10 seconds, then put the ball into Jake’s (Hall) hands. He and Nick DeLeon executed the perfect pick and roll, allowing Jake to get the needed points on a game ending lay-up.”

Farmington came out hot in the Tuesday game, with Cards Mullin, Brackett and Starner hitting field goals and free throw to open up a 8-2 lead early on. Isaac Mangrum’s 10-foot turnaround jumper was all the offense the home boys could muster in the game’s first 3 1/2 minutes. Mangrum hit another shot, this time from 8 feet out, and a Pea Ridge steal led to a fast break with Nick DeLeon on the receiving end of an exceptionally hard foul while attempting a lay-up. DeLeon shook off the foul and sank both tosses to cut the deficit to just 8-6 with 5:00 left in the first quarter.

Farmington’s Brackett dropped in a lay-up moments later, but Pea Ridge responded with Mangrum and Jacob Hall hitting 7-foot jumpers to knot the score at 10-10 with 3:10 left. Things went south for the ’Hawks in the final minutes as they suffered three turnovers which the visitors cashed in for 7 points. Starner hit a lay-up and field goal while Brackett was good on a 3-pointer to give Farmington a 17-10 lead at the buzzer.

Hall turned up the offense in the second quarter, hitting a pair of free throws and long trey shot to close the gap to 18-15 with 6 minutes left in the half. Moments later, Hall was attempting another 3-pointer to tie the game when he was smashed to the floor by a Cardinal defender. Shaken, Hall was short on the first two free throws, but after a time out, he dead-centered the third shot to cut the gap to 18-16.

The ’Hawks deadlocked the game shortly afterwards when Evan Tillman drove the lane then dished off to Mangrum who laid it off the glass for the 18-18 tie.

Brackett’s lay-up got the lead back for Farmington, but another foul on Hall attempting to shoot led to a pair of free throws that the senior leader ripped to tie the game at 20-20. Brackett hit a trey for the Cards but a big 3-pointer by Sheppard and free throws by Hall and Tillman gave the ’Hawks their first lead of the night just before the end of the half, with Pea Ridge holding a tenuous 25-23 lead.

The lead lasted barely into the third quarter with another trey by Brackett to boost the Cards aheadby one. Another great lead-in pass from Tillman to Mangrum got the lead back momentarily, but consecutive treys by Farmington’s Mullen and Brackett gave the visitors a 5-point lead at 32-27 with 6:20 showing.

The ’Hawks responded mightily with Tillman drilling a 3-pointer, Hall and Mangrum sinking lay-ups, while Tillman capped it off with a steal and lay-up to push Pea Ridge past Farmington to lead 36-32 with 4:02 left in the third. Brackett then hit his third trey for the Cards in the period but was countered by another lay-up by Mangrum. Brackett scored two more field goals before the quarter’s end but DeLeon came up with a pair of treys to send the ’Hawks into the final quarter with a 44-39 lead.

As in the previous quarters, Farmington struck quickly in the fourth, with Mullen hitting a 3 followed by a Brackett jump shot to tie the game at 44-44. However, the ’Hawks quickly got their 5-point edge right back with a Hall lay-up and DeLeon 3-pointer for a 49-44 lead. It was at this point that the game took a strange twist.

With the ’Hawks ahead by 5 and Jacob Hall driving the sidelines, a Cardinal ran over Hall with the ball bouncing out of bounds. The referee inexplicably failed to call a foul and instead, ruled it a Pea Ridge turnover.

After a Farmington time-out, the Cards went to a delay game, seemingly intent to run out the clock, a move that baffled onlooking fans.

A Pea Ridge victory would tie the teams for the conference lead. However, Pea Ridge would have to win by more than 6 points to claim the top seed for the coming district tournament. Apparently, the exhausted Cardinals hoped to freeze the score at 49-44 and settle for winning the top seed.

When the ’Hawks pulled off a steal, they had a chance to increase their lead to 7 but missed the shot. On the Cards’ secondturnover, the ’Hawks were more deliberate as they went on the attack, passing the ball around looking for an opening. However, with only two fouls called on the Cardinals prior to this, the visitors just fouled the ’Hawks anytime they made a move for the basket.

For more than 5 minutes of this bizarre final quarter, no one put any points on the board. With the clock ticking down to zero, the ’Hawks’ oftentimes last-second hero Hall made a break for the goal, out-maneuvering his defender to drop in one last basket with less than a second left.

Fouled on the play, Hall made the last point of the game on the floor by himself as the clock had expired. Farmington’s unusual strategy failed as the ’Hawks won not only the game, but the coveted top seeding as well.

Hall was the scoring leader again for the ’Hawks, hitting for 18. Mangrum and DeLeon were also in double figures, scoring 14 and 11, respectively. Tillman finished with 6 with Sheppard chipping in with 3.

Pea Ridge 52, Ozark 34

Against Ozark, the Blackhawks again opened with a cold shooting first quarter but a hustling defense kept the game close until their offense warmed. The shorter Hillbillies used quick passes and lay-ups to provide all their offense in the first half, scoring all eight of their goals in the paint.

After an initial 2-0 Ozark lead, Evan Tillman nailed a trey, followed by a Jacob Hall lay-up for a 5-2 Pea Ridge advantage. Isaac Mangrum connected on a long 17-footer, but the visitors scored three more goals off the glass to lead 8-7 at the buzzer.

“Our guards allowed way too much penetration in the first half, but we cut it way down in the second half,” Clark said. “It wasn’t so much as adjusting our defense as it was to remind them on the basic fundamentals of guarding the ball.”

A 10-foot jumper by DeLeongot the lead back for the ’Hawks, which was followed seconds later by a ’Hawk steal and lay-up attempt by Hall who was fouled in the process. Hall swished both shots, and another steal by De-Leon led to a twisting acrobatic lay-up by Tillman as Pea Ridge had their biggest lead of the game at 13-8. The ’Billies retaliated by scoring two more lay-ups, as well as a pair of charity tosses to go back on top, 14-13 with 5:06 left in the half.

The lead then changed hands five times in the last 2 1/2 minutes. DeLeon hit two from the line for a 15-14 lead which was offset by still another Ozark lay-up.

A driving shot by Tillman from 5 feet out put the ’Hawks ahead until another lay-up by the ’Billies flipped the lead back. Finally, another long shot by Mangrum in the closing seconds sent the ’Hawks into intermission with a 19-18 lead.

The second half was a differentgame, as defensive changes by Clark allowing only one Ozark lay-up in the second half while forcing nine turnovers on the upset-minded Hillbillies.

Mangrum scored on a rebound to start the quarter with Hall and Tillman bringing the crowd to its feet with 3-point shots. Mangrum hit a free throw, as did Ozark, with the ’Hawks opening up a 28-19 lead with 4 minutes left in the third period.

Ozark closed the gap a little with a 3-pointer but Hall’s trey followed by Tillman and Hall’s lay-ups widened the gap to 35-22.

Ozark came up with a goal and free throw but Logan Rose broke loose for a lay-up to keep Pea Ridge comfortably ahead at 37-25.

The Hillbillies scored the final goal of the period to leave the ’Hawks up by 10, 37-27.

Ozark made the first goal of the final period but the ’Hawks responded by scoring eight unanswered points to put the game out of reach. Tillman started the onslaught with a lay-up and free throw, followed by DeLeon’s pair of freebies along with a lay-up and a free throw by Tillman. With the quarter reaching the mid-point, the ’Hawks were safely ahead 45-29.

DeLeon was bringing the ball up after a missed Ozark free shot, when he was run over by the ’Billies’ center. The resilient DeLeon coolly knocked down both free throws then repeated the feat when he was fouled again 20 seconds later. DeLeon’s four-for-four shooting put the ’Billies in a deep hole as they trailed 49-29 with 3:52 left in the contest.

Tillman was fouled moments later, making one shot for a 50-29 lead. That score brought in the Pea Ridge reserves who got a bucket from Holtgrewe for the ’Hawks’ final points. The outclassed Hillbillies managed to come up with a trey and jump shot to close out the scoring and the game on the losing end of a 52-34 decision.

“Our defensive effort and intensity were solid. We struggled offensively early on, our ability to defend allows us the chance to hang in the game until our shots started falling,” Clark said.

Tillman was the offensive spark against the Hillbillies, scoring 17 points with several assists. Hall was in double figures with 12 as was DeLeon, followed by Mangrum with 7, Rose 2 and Holtgrewe 2.

Clark concluded by saying: “This has been a very enjoyable year. I have been very pleased with the play of the guys off the bench as they always seem to rise to the challenge. Our seniors have done an excellent job of raising their level of play to deal with injuries or foul trouble.”

Sports, Pages 7 on 02/13/2013