The Pea Ridge boys basketball team cruised through the first two rounds of the inaugural Battle of the Ridge tournament before cold shooting derailed them in the final last week.
The 'Hawks were easy winners in a 60-36 conquest of Decatur in the first round, and then raced past North Pulaski 55-39 in semifinal action. Their hopes of a title went by the boards when turnovers and cold shooting in the third quarter put them in a hole they couldn't quite climb out of in their 51-46 loss to Riverview in the finals.
Game stories are as follows:
Pea Ridge 60, Decatur 38
The Blackhawks took an early lead on a Weston Church 3-pointer and never trailed. While the 'Hawks were a bit cold in their shooting in the opening period, their defense was tight with Hayden Holtgrewe and Cole Wright converting steals into layups. A Church layup and a 3-pointer by Joey Hall staked Pea Ridge to a 13-10 lead at the first quarter buzzer.
Drew Winn came with a steal and layup under the 'Hawks goal to start the scoring in the second period. After a Bulldog field goal, Pea Ridge rattled off eight straight points with Britton Caudle scoring after a rebound, Kobe Rose canning a pair of free throws, Wright dropping in a layup, and Garrett King scoring underneath to open up a 23-12 lead with 3 minutes left in the half.
Decatur came up with 5 points late in the half with a Church layup partially offsetting that as the 'Hawks led 25-17 at the half.
For all intents and purposes, the game was decided in the third quarter as the 'Hawks exploded for 24 points to nearly match their score at the half. Opting to work the ball inside, Church flew through the lane for a pair of layups to start the quarter. A steal then layup by Hall kept up the pressure, and Hall's free throw he sank after getting fouled on the layup pushed the score out to 32-17 80 seconds into the quarter.
After a Bulldog score, Caudill made the first of three layups he would sink in a 2-minute span, with Church adding one of his own. Decatur kept the game from turning into a complete rout by ripping three straight treys. Three-point shots by Hall and Wright in the final minute ballooned the lead to 47-29. The 'Dogs managed to sink a free throw with Church closing out the quarter with a tip-in to just beat the third quarter buzzer as Pea Ridge went into the final period with a near insurmountable 49-30 lead.
Decatur made a 3-pointer to open the final quarter but Rose matched the 'Dogs with a trey of his own, after Church pumped through a pair of charity tosses to push the lead to 21, leading 54-33. Decatur made another 3-pointer but layups by Caudill, Wright and a shot by Holtgrewe to boost the score to 60-36 with a little under 4 minutes to play. The 'Hawks bench played the rest of the game, holding the visitors to a single goal as the game ended at 60-38.
Pea Ridge 55, North Pulaski 39
The Falcons of North Pulaski got ahead of a cold shooting Pea Ridge team, 4-2, in the early going but dogged defense by the 'Hawks kept the visitors in check. A Rose 3-pointer got the 'Hawks a lead they would never relinquish with a pair of Hall steals led to two layups by Logan Johnson to push the lead to 9-4 after the first.
The homeboys finally found their range in the second stanza, firing in four treys and three layups to open up a large lead. Rose made two of the treys with Johnson and Hall also scoring from downtown. Wright claimed two of the layups with Church accounting for the other as Pea Ridge led at the half 27-13.
Pea Ridge locked the Falcons down tight in the third quarter, allowing just a single field goal and lone free throw. Church and Hall started the 'Hawk scoring with 3 pointers, with Rose scoring on a tip-in, Wright on a layup and Caudill on an offensive rebound as the game was essentially over at the end of the third period with Pea Ridge leading 40-16.
Church hit a trey seconds into the fourth quarter and he followed that up with a layup moments later to expand the 'Hawk advantage to 45-16 with 7:16 left to play. At that point, head coach Trent Lloyd cleared the bench which the Falcons coach did as well.
Not long after clearing his bench, the North Pulaski coach sent his starters back into the fray to try and make the score a little bit more respectable, and that they did. The Falcons outscored the 'Hawk reserves 23-10 the rest of the way but Pea Ridge still won by 16 points for the final score. Double scores by Holtgrewe and Winn kept the Falcons at bay as Pea Ridge raised their season ledger to 6-1.
Riverview 51, Pea Ridge 46
The Riverview team from Searcy returned as the defending district 4A-2 champions and are highly ranked in early season polling. MaxPreps/CBS ranks Riverview as their No. 4 state-ranked team.
The Blackhawks led throughout the first half but half a dozen third quarter turnovers along with cold shooting allowed the Raiders to change a 4-point halftime deficit into a 7-point lead in the third quarter. The Raiders scored the first 6 points of the fourth quarter to build a 13-point lead, which was just enough to hold off the 'Hawks.
The first quarter sharply contrasted the two teams offences with Pea Ridge scoring all their field goals from behind the 3-point line while Riverview scored all their field goals via the layup. Church ripped three treys with Wright and Rose also scoring deep. Rose also hit a pair of free throws as the 'Hawks led 17-10 at the first quarter buzzer.
Play turned rough in the second quarter with a number of 'Hawks hitting the floor. Pea Ridge went to the line 11 times but sank only five of the shots. Hall ripped three of the freebies with Caudill accounting for the other two. Hall's trey was the only 'Hawk field goal of the period but it loomed large as the Pea Ridge lead shrank to 25-21 at intermission.
A combination of rough play, and some questionable officiating had a hand in the 'Hawks' committing seven turnovers in the third quarter. Hall's third period trey was the only one the 'Hawks would make in the second half, and the junior guard also had a short jumper to provide most of the third quarter offense. Caudill's goal from 5 feet out and Wright's shot underneath rounded out the third quarter scoring. The Falcons scored four times off layups and three times underneath along with a pair of beyond-the-arc shots to take a solid 41-34 lead headed into the fourth quarter.
A layup, 10-foot jumper and an offensive rebound put Riverside comfortably ahead 47-34 midway through the last period and the outlook was bleak for the home boys. Things were far from over, though, as the 'Hawks mounted a spirited comeback.
Caudill and Church scored three the old fashioned way by driving the lane to sink a layup and draw a foul. Both shots sent down, and when Winn's jumper went down with 3:23 left, Pea Ridge trailed by only 5, 47-42.
Riverview dropped in a layup with 3:00 left but Hall countered with the same shot at the 2:32 mark. With Riverview working to melt the clock, the 'Hawks managed to come away with the ball and Wright made a game of it by driving in for a layup to drop the deficit to 49-46. The teams traded turnovers in the final minute and the game was decided with Riverview converted both ends of a one and one with just 15 second left to ice the game.
Pea Ridge ended the game with an uncharacteristic 16 turnovers. The game turned on a six minute stretch in the third quarter when the Raiders outscored the 'Hawks 20-5, giving them enough of an edge to win the game.
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Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 12/16/2015