Blackhawks defeat Pioneers

The Pea Ridge Blackhawks made 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final minutes to hold off a late Gentry charge and earn the 46-41 4A-1 Conference win Friday night.

The Blackhawks (17-3, 7-1 4A-1) avenged their only league loss back in December at Gentry and notched their 11th consecutive victory.

Boys

Pea Ridge 46, Gentry 41

Pea Ridge^6^14^11^15^—^46

Gentry^4^6^14^17^—^41

Pea Ridge (17-3, 7-1): Hall 14, Beckmann 11, Holtgrewe 7, Church 7, Wright 5, Caudill 2

Gentry (12-6, 5-3): Cripps 11, Clark 10, Taylor 8, Juilerat 6, Faulkenberry 6

Wyatt Clark hit a 3-pointer to pull the Gentry Pioneers (12-6, 5-3 4A-1) within 42-39 with 42.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But Pea Ridge got two free throws from sophomore Hayden Holtgrewe and two more from junior Joey Hall to put the game away.

Pea Ridge coach Trent Loyd said Holtgrewe made a huge play a little earlier that likely turned the tide in the Blackhawks' favor.

The 6-foot-tall sophomore missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:20 left, but Holtgrewe ran down the rebound. The possession ended with Hall canning two free throws to put Pea Ridge up by 6 at the 1:03 mark.

"Hayden has been an energy guy for us since he was inserted in the starting lineup back in mid-December," Loyd said. "That's the stuff he does. Just plays like that. He's got that edge and want. It was a huge, huge possession, then we converted."

Gentry coach Sean Price agreed it was key as his team was gaining some momentum.

"We just don't focus," Price said. "We don't block out. I kind of felt like the momentum was turning our way. It just didn't work out and that's part of basketball. We've just got to battle through it. I was very proud of our kids. We need to take this as a springboard knowing that we're a good basketball team."

Hall led all scorers with 14 points, while 6'5" Bryce Beckmann chipped in 11 for Pea Ridge. Cole Cripps led Gentry with 11 and Clark added 10.

Pea Ridge looked as though it would take control, leading by as many as 11 in the third quarter. But Gentry fought back to get within 37-34 on Matt Juilerat's runner with under three minutes left.

Beckmann, who returned from a knee injury about a month ago, played a big role in the Blackhawks' win, too, Loyd said.

"He came off the bench and gave us a huge spark," Loyd said. "Rebounding, post moves, that's some of the things we've been waiting on him to do. And he's getting back and I think he's full speed and he proved that tonight.

"When you can go inside-out, it gets pressure off our guards and we're very capable of doing that. He gave us a couple extra possessions that we needed in the fourth quarter."

Sports on 01/27/2016