FARMINGTON -- The Pea Ridge girls basketball team had one basic problem in their 46-38 loss to Lincoln in the first-round of the District 4A-1 girls tournament on Feb. 18. Wonder Woman was wearing a Lincoln Jersey.
Shelby Rowe was doing everything in her power to help her team win and Lincoln rode her 29 points and all-around play to beat Pea Ridge.
Feb. 19
Girls - Lincoln 46, Pea Ridge 38
Pea Ridge 2 12 13 11 — 38
Lincoln 10 7 20 9 — 46
Pea Ridge (7-19) — Carley Sanders 6 2-6 14, Mikheala Cochran 1 2-2 5, Kealy Skaggs 1 1-1 4, Savannah Cypert 0 5-6 6, Ashley Thielemier 1 2-5 5, Casi Caton 1 0-0 3, Taylor Church 1 0-0 2
Totals 11 13-19 38
Lincoln (9-16) — Shelby Rowe 12 2-3 29, Jaycie Neeley 3 1-1 7, Courtney Lloyd 2 1-4 5, Madison Rich 1 0-0 2, Kendra Cummings 1 0-0 2, Sarah Siffing 0 1-4 1
Totals 19 5-12 46
3-point goals — Lincoln 3 (Rowe 3); Pea Ridge 4 (Caton, Cochran, Thielemier, Skaggs)
Rowe's 3-pointer from the top-of-the-key sailed through to break a scoreless tie 2:50 into the contest. After baskets by Pea Ridge's Carley Sanders and Lincoln's Madison Rich, Rowe drove to the hoop and scored her second field goal in front of the rim. She closed out a 10-2 first quarter for Lincoln with a 3-point play as Lincoln in-bounded underneath their own goal after a Blackhawk foul.
A play early in the second exemplified the type of effort Rowe put forth. The 5'3" senior blocked a shot under the goal, then wrestled the rebound away and brought the ball down setting up the offense.
Rowe had 5 points in a 19-seconds span of the second period by sinking her second trifecta after teammate Courtney Lloyd had a pair of offensive rebounds and passed out of the post to her; then taking a lead pass from Taylor Cunningham in for an uncontested lay-up.
Pea Ridge battled back from a 17-7 deficit getting a 4-point play from Kealy Skaggs and 3 points from Sanders to close within 17-14 at the half but Rowe went into her Wonder Woman act again scoring 11 points in the third frame.
Mikheala Cochran's free throws pulled Pea Ridge within 21-18; but Rowe fed a cutting Jaycie Neeley out of the right corner for a 3-point play and then raced to the basket with a steal and scored over a pair of defenders.
Casi Caton cranked up a 3-pointer for the Blackhawks but Rowe took a pass from a teammate and answered. Later in the period, she stole an in-bounds pass and quickly turned the theft into a lay-up. Her biggest play of the game came with time about to expire in the third. After missing a pair of free throws, she used her lateral quickness to track down the rebound of the second foul shot and banked in a 3-pointer from the right wing giving Lincoln a 10-point cushion of 37-27.
Pea Ridge cut Lincoln's lead to 37-31 on Savannah Cypert's free throws at the 5:35 mark but 52 seconds later Rowe drove into the paint and scored. The Blackhawks had a chance to get within 4 points but Ashley Thielemier couldn't convert Pea Ridge's second 4-point play opportunity, none-the-less they were within, 39-34.
A 7-0 run by Lincoln put the game away and although Pea Ridge scored 4 points in the final 31 seconds including Cochran's 3-pointer they couldn't overcome the margin.
Lincoln won 46-38 to advance into a quarter-final matchup with Prairie Grove while the loss eliminated Pea Ridge from post-season play.
Sports on 02/26/2014