Hall leads 'Hawks past 'Dogs

Not all the excitement for Pea Ridge was in Little Rock on Friday night.

Blackhawk senior Joey Hall scored 26 points and Matt Thomas dropped in 20 to lead Pea Ridge to a 70-62 victory over Earle in the second round of the Battle of the Ridge. Pea Ridge grabbed an early 11-point lead then held off a second-half surge by Earle, which won the Class 2A state championship last spring with a 33-4 record.

Earle (7-3) got to within 65-62 after a 3-pointer by Murray, a standout senior guard. But Hall kept Pea Ridge (4-0) ahead when he drove past two defenders and made a basket with 24 seconds left.

"(Hall) has been that guy for us for a long time," Blackhawk coach Trent Loyd said. "He makes the right decisions and took care of it down the stretch for us. Earle made a couple of runs, but we were able to get that shot or make that play."

Pea Ridge controlled the first half and led 33-25 after two quarters. Earle opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer and prompted two timeouts by Pea Ridge, but the Bulldogs got no closer than two points in the second half.

"We underestimated Pea Ridge," Earle coach Billy Murray said. "Pea Ridge had an excellent game plan and they worked together. Our communication on defense was lacking and we gave up to many layups."

Thomas and Hall combined for 27 points in the first half and were the beneficiaries of some excellent ball movement by the Blackhawks. Kobe Rose added eight points and Logan Johnson seven points for the Blackhawks.

"We played a great game against the defending 2A state champs," Loyd said. "They came and got after us with pressure and that is what we were hoping we would see during this tournament. That is a game that is only going to make us better because we don't get to see that pressure on a daily basis. I was extremely proud of the way we competed and hustled the entire game. You could tell the guys were exhausted, but just kept pushing through."

Sports on 12/14/2016