Trent Loyd named Coach of the Year

Trent Loyd threw a young Pea Ridge basketball team into the fire from the get-go this season.

Despite having a lineup with as many as three sophomores on the floor at times, the Class 4A Blackhawks opened the season against a host of bigger schools, including Bentonville, Rogers Heritage, Webb City, Mo., and Rogers High.

The early record was predictable as the Blackhawks started the season 3-7.

"You hate to lose that many games, but we got better," Loyd said. "I still believe that helped us get to where we got."

Pea Ridge got hot and won 15 straight games at one point during the season and finished second in the 4A-1 Conference. Pea Ridge qualified for the regional tournament, but the season ended a game short of the Class 4A State Tournament when the Blackhawks lost to Dardanelle 54-50.

For his efforts, Loyd is the All-NWADG Coach of the Year for schools in Class 5A and below.

"We went up to Missouri to a tournament and won three games in a row and that reassured us that we are a pretty good basketball team," Loyd said. "But the biggest game of the year for us was the first game at Lincoln before Christmas. We had lost six, seven in a row but we got a 3-point win. That helped our confidence."

Four of the Blackhawks' top eight players were sophomores and Loyd said the younger players meshed well with the upperclassmen.

"We also had some juniors and seniors playing that didn't get a whole of minutes the year before," Loyd said. "There was a lot of inexperience there, but we had a lot of players step up for us."