LINCOLN -- Pea Ridge frustrated Lincoln early, then Lincoln used an 18-4 second quarter surge on their home court to take control and beat the Lady Blackhawks, 56-49, on Friday.
Playing an up-tempo full-court game, Pea Ridge closed out the first quarter on a 6-2 run.
After Lincoln missed a shot in transition, Savannah Cypert attacked the basket and drew a 1-and-1 making both.
Mikheala Cochran turned a Lincoln turnover into points by converting another set of bonus shots.
Then the Lady Blackhawks were called for charging and Lincoln beat the press with Ashtyn Rothrock passing to Courtney Lloyd for a lay-up. Cypert scored a lay-up in the final seconds to push the Lady Blackhawks out to a 15-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
"Quit worrying about the refs, let me worry about them," Lincoln coach Deon Birkes told his team during the break.
Lincoln began to execute better in the second and Pea Ridge went cold as the game turned in favor of the hosts.
Hayle Sugg nailed two foul shots and Shelby Rowe tied the contest on a 3-pointer.
Carley Sanders gave Pea Ridge their last lead in the game by scoring inside after a Lincoln turnover but the Lady Wolves went on to outscore Pea Ridge, 13-2, over the last 4:34 of the second frame.
"We got in foul trouble and we threw the ball away way too much," Larry Walker, Pea Ridge coach, said. "We've got to take better care of the basketball."
Lincoln led 28-19 at halftime and ran their advantage to 13 points midway through the third.
With their scoring limited to four free throws for the majority of the quarter, Pea Ridge at last got a field goal from Sanders on a bank shot with less than a minute to play in the third.
As the quarter came to a close, she got Pea Ridge possession by yanking down a defensive rebound.
The Lady Blackhawks missed but got a second chance on the boards and Rebecca Woods connected on a trifecta to narrow the gap to 39-31 going into the fourth.
Cypert cut Lincoln's lead to 43-39 with a hoop in the paint but couldn't cash in on a 3-point play at the foul line at the 4:04 mark.
Rowe answered with a 3-pointer for Lincoln and Casi Caton did the same for Pea Ridge before Lincoln stretched the margin to 10 points on Rowe's 3-point play.
"What are you doing way out there?"
Walker was upset over a lackadaisical start of an offensive set with the Lady Blackhawks trailing 53-44 with 1:46 to go.
Twelve seconds later they worked the ball inside but missed a free throw.
Then, with the sense of urgency increased, Pea Ridge scored twice in a 10 second span to cut the deficit to 53-49 with Cochran making both bonus foul shots and Thielemier knocking down a 3-pointer.
Lincoln made 3-of-6 free throws in the final 37 seconds to seal a 56-49 win.
Even with the holiday break the competition does not let up for Pea Ridge.
"We've got a tournament and two games before we go back to school. We're going to have lots of playing, we just have to play through it," Walker said.
Sports on 01/01/2014