LINCOLN -- Point guard Roni Castaneda fouled out late in the game and wasn't available when Lincoln needed him to set up a potential game-tying last-second shot.
In the end, Lincoln made more mistakes than Pea Ridge, although both teams struggled to finish the game. The Blackhawk boys defeated Lincoln, 48-45 on Dec. 19 to gain a key conference win in 4A-1 play, but the issue wasn't settled until Lincoln's final possession ended with a miscue.
Pea Ridge 48, Lincoln 45
Pea Ridge 14 14 12 8 — 48
Lincoln 10 11 11 13 — 45
Pea Ridge (4-7, 1-1): Blake Sheppard 2 0-0 5, Britton Caudill 4 1-4 9, Joey Hall 3 1-1 8, Zach Davis 2 1-2 6, Lance Buttry 2 0-0 4, Tristan Trundle 5 0-2 10, Nick Hardy 1 1-2 3, Westin Church 1 0-0 3. Totals 20, 4-11 48
Lincoln (5-5, 0-2): Roni Castaneda 3 2-4 10, Alec Pitts 0 0-0 0, Shandon Goldman 6 0-0 14, Garrett Blankenship 4 1-3 10, Cord McCaslin 2 2-2 6, Dalton Barnum 2 0-1 5. Totals 17 5-10 45
3-point goals: Pea Ridge 4 (Davis, J. Hall, Sheppard, Church); Lincoln 6 (Castaneda 2, Goldman 2, Barnum, Blankenship)
Shooting a 1 and 1 with 6.8 seconds remaining in the game, Pea Ridge's Zach Davis' first free throw was nothing but net, extending the Blackhawks lead to three. He could have put the game away from the line but missed the second charity shot, allowing Lincoln's Shandon Goldman to rebound and immediately call timeout with 6.3 seconds showing.
The Wolves threw the ball towards the 6'9" Goldman across the time line well within his range on the right wing -- but he lost control and by the time he secured the basketball had no choice but to haphazardly throw up a wild shot from near mid-court which was well off target as time expired.
The spell-binding ending concluded a wild last 4:12 of the fourth quarter which began with a 46-39 Pea Ridge lead when Tristan Trundle put back Blake Sheppard's missed lay-in after a steal. Garrett Blankenship made one of two foul shots to pull Lincoln within, 46-40, at the 2:48 mark. Pea Ridge burned the clock down to 1:46 before Goldman blocked a shot out of bounds.
Lincoln had not committed enough fouls to put them in the bonus, but they didn't have to foul because Pea Ridge missed a bunny and Dalton Barnum rebounded. The missed shot was compounded by a foul on the Blackhawks sending Lincoln to the free-throw line but the Wolves returned the favor by misfiring on the front end of a 1 and 1. Pea Ridge underestimated Goldman's wingspan and he stole the outlet leading to Castaneda's dribble penetration and conversion of a pair of foul shots.
The points kept Lincoln in the contest with 1:13 left and Pea Ridge ran into a world of trouble on the ensuing in-bounds play. Nursing a 46-42 lead with 1:02 to go and his ball-handler laying on his back surrounded in the backcourt, Pea Ridge coach Trent Lloyd got an official's attention calling timeout.
Sports on 12/31/2014