The host team handled its business in the opening round of the Battle at the Ridge Thursday, Dec. 8.
Pea Ridge (3-0) overcame early foul trouble and a halftime deficit before pulling away for a 64-46 victory against the HFC Warriors, a first-year program made up of homeschoolers from the Oklahoma City area.
The Blackhawks advanced to play Earle Friday after the Bulldogs beat Joe T. Robinson 64-41 in Thursday's late game.
Senior Matt Thomas scored 21 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to help erase HFC's 24-21 lead at intermission. He watched from the bench for part of the first quarter and most of the second after picking up his third foul.
"It wasn't just (Thomas), we've all got to be more sound," said Pea Ridge fourth-year coach Trent Loyd. "We're all getting cheap fouls by not moving our feet well right now. We've just got to buckle down more defensively and those type of fouls won't happen.
Three-pointers by Joey Hall, who finished with 19 points, spurred a 13-3 run to end the first quarter, but HFC (9-3) responded by outscoring the Blackhawks 19-9 to take a lead into the locker room.
Pea Ridge evened the score at 31-31 midway through third quarter on back-to-back buckets by Thomas and took the lead on a 3-pointer and a rebound put-back by Hall. In the fourth, consecutive 3-pointers by junior Kobe Rose helped put the game out of reach.
Sports on 12/14/2016