Kobe Rose picked up the basketball in the left corner and launched a 3-point attempt that swished cleanly through the hoop.
Rose got the ball after a teammate's shot was blocked in the lane, with the rejection rolling directly to him for the open look. It was one of 17 3-point shots Pea Ridge connected on Thursday night in a 73-50 win against the NWA Hornets in the first round of the Battle at the Ridge tournament.
NWA^8^15^20^7^—^50
Pea Ridge^20^19^18^16^—^73
NWA (7-7): Wenger 13, Griebel 9, Skelton 8, A. Sanders 6, Ammons 6, G. Sanders 5, Harbin 3.
Pea Ridge (3-1): Coble 20, Rose 16, Mahoney 10, Holtgrewe 8, Allison 6, Feemster 6, Duncan 3, Rhine 2, Wayles 2.
"We were firing it tonight," said Blackhawk coach Trent Loyd. "And that's one of the things we pride ourselves on year-in and year-out. We were lucky to come out tonight and hit some and feel good about it. Confidence is everything."
The Blackhawks started early by hitting four of their first five shots behind the arc, setting a tone that lasted the entire game. Pea Ridge (3-1) knocked down six 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Hayden Holtgrewe, in his first game since coming over from football this week, hit back-to-back shots from distance, then Rose and Landon Allison followed with two more to give the Blackhawks a 17-5 lead, and Pea Ridge was never seriously threatened the rest of the way.
"Hayden came out and set the tone for us early," Loyd said. "Then Nick Coble, Kobe, Will Feemster ... just seeing those first couple go in allowed us to kind of take off right there."
The long-range shooting allowed the Blackhawks to withstand an 8-0 Hornet run in the second quarter that saw the NWA homeschool team pull within 25-18 on a 3-pointer by Chase Ammons with 4 minutes, 33 seconds left in the second quarter.
The Blackhawks answered with three straight 3-pointers for a 34-18 lead, and Coble, who led all scorers with 20 points, helped Pea Ridge claim a 39-23 halftime lead.
"He's a scorer, that's what he does," Loyd said of the 6-foot-2-inch junior guard. "Hopefully we can keep that going consistently."
The Hornets (7-7) closed within nine at 41-32 with just over five minutes left in the third quarter on Drake Griebel's 3-pointer, but again the Blackhawks had an answer as Coble hit three of his seven 3-pointers to push the lead back to 53-34.
Rose finished with 16 points for the Blackhawks and Mikey Mahoney, another newcomer from football, scored 10. Holtgrewe scored eight.
Daniel Wenger led the Hornets with 13 points.
Sports on 12/13/2017