’Hawks take Berryville

The Blackhawk boys kept their league record unblemished at 4-0 with a hard fought 46-42 win over Berryville’s Bobcats Friday.

In one of their coldest shooting nights of the year, the ’Hawks used a hustling defense to overcome an early deficit and then held off a late charge by the visiting ’Cats. Pea Ridge was down by 7 points (11-4) early on and trailed Berryville throughout the first half until Levi Pitts canned a 3-point shot at the end of the half to send the ’Hawks into intermission leading 20-19. The second half saw Pea Ridge take command of the game, but ultimately had to rely on a pair of defensive rebounds by Nick DeLeon in the game’s final moments to stave off a final rush by the visitors.

“I was proud of the way the team kept their poise,” head Blackhawk coach Charley Clark remarked.

“I knew it was probably going to come down to free throws and I have confidence in all our players. Nick missed a free throw at the end there, but he came right back to fight for a defensive rebound in traffic,got fouled, and then made both shots to all but clinch the game.

He then made the final play, rebounding Berryville’s last shot to close it out.”

The ’Hawks were the first to score after taking the opening tip, on a layup by Pitts. Berryville answered with a 7-foot jumper, but Jacob Hall immediately answered by converting two of two free throws. Pea Ridge then ran into a stretch of turnovers which Berryville capitalized on by racking up 9 unanswered points over a four-minute stretch. Both teams traded point for point the rest of the period as the quarter ended with the Bobcats ahead 15-11.

In the closing minutes, Jacob Hall matched a 3-pointer by Berryville, with Hall and Pitts dropping in lay-ups to counter rebound scores by the ’Cats.

The second quarter was a defensive struggle with the ’Hawksoutscoring Berryville 9-4 to take a 1 point lead at the half. Berryville scored first in the period but Pitts’ rebound score kept the deficit at 4. Evan Tillman’s trey shot got the ’Hawks to within 1 point at 16-17, but a ’Cat layup with 4:50 left in the half pushed the ’Cats back up by 3. The rest of the half saw fierce defenses force numerous turnovers on both sides with only a lone free throw by Zach Davis to hit the scoreboard until the half’s last 30 seconds. Pitts’ 3-pointer gave the ’Hawks a lead into the halftime break, a lead they would never relinquish.

Isaac Mangrum opened the second half by sinking a layup, followed by a 3-pointer by Hall.

When Berryville matched the effort, Mangrum and Hall repeated their previous efforts to give the ’Hawks their biggest lead at 30-24 with 3:19 left in the period. A pair of buckets byMangrum in the paint kept the lead at 6 with Berryville scoring twice. The Bobcats then used a free throw and a subsequent 3-pointer with a little over a minute to go to close the gap to just 2 at 34-32. A fade-away hook shot by Pitts just beat the third quarter buzzer to send the teams into the final period with the ’Hawks leading 36-32.

Hall opened the fourth quarter by faking a move to score, drawing a crowd, then flipping the ball to Mangrum underneath for an easy score. A Berryville turnover quickly led to a Tillman layup and a 40-32 ’Hawk advantage with a little over six minutes left in the game. Berryville wouldn’t give up, using a 3-pointer moments later to cut the lead to 5. A 15-oot jumper by Deleon pushed the lead back to 7, but a pair of Berryville free throws and a layup got them back to within 3 at 42-39 withjust 3 minutes left in the contest.

Hall broke through with a layup but the Bobcats came right back with a 3-pointer to slice the lead even thinner, with the ’Hawks barely ahead 44-42 with 90 seconds left in the game. With the game at a frenzied pace, Clark decided to go to a delay game, hoping to force the ’Cats to foul to get the ball back. When Berryville committed their seventh foul, putting the ’Hawks on the line for a 1 and 1. The Bobcat fans erupted when the shot bounced out, giving the visitors a shot at tying or perhaps taking the lead. Facing a ferocious but in-control defense, the ’Cats couldn’t get a shot off until the clock was down to 14 seconds.

The Bobcat shot missed and De-Leon fought for and got the rebound, then was quickly fouled.

DeLeon gave the ’Hawks some breathing room as he made both shots to give Pea Ridge a 4-point lead (46-42) with 12 seconds left.

The ensuing frenzy saw the ’Cats attempt a trey, but DeLeon once again hauled in the errant attempt with 6 seconds left, holding the ball till the game ended.

Hall led the scoring with 15 points with Pitts racking up 11, Mangrum 10, Tillman 5, DeLeon 4 and Davis 1.