Trent Loyd's boys Blackhawk basketball ran their unbeaten conference mark to 4-0 with a 51-40 conquest of the Gentry Pioneers Wednesday, Dec. 20.
The 'Hawks broke out on top 7-0 to start the contest, withstood a rash of turnovers before dominating the paint in the second half to turn away the upset minded- Pioneers. second with Hayden Holtgrewe also in double figures with 13.
"I was real proud of our defensive efforts all night. We never let them get anything going, and our bench was very instrumental in the win. We well may be using eight to 10 players a game with significant playing time," Loyd said. " Nick, Hayden and Kobe Rose really led the way in keeping things under control."
The 'Hawks shut the Pioneers for the first half of the first quarter with buckets by Landon Allison and Carson Rhine and a trey by Holtgrewe staking Pea Ridge to an early 7-0 lead. Three straight turnovers aided the visitors in getting a free throw and layup by Kilgore and Faulkenberry, but a driving layup by Coble in the quarters final seconds sent the 'Hawks into the second quarter with a 9-3 lead.
Gentry canned a free throw to start the second quarter but an offensive rebound and putback by Mikey Mahoney upped the lead to 11-4. However, missed shots and three consecutive turnovers gave the guests an opening and they capitalized on it to grab a brief lead. Gentry had a trey, free throw and two jumpers to score 8 straight points to take a 12-11 lead with 3:48 left in the half.
With both teams missing shots, the score remained unchanged until Coble rattled home a shot behind the arc to put the 'Hawks back on top 14-12 with 2:35 left in the period. The Blackhawks would not trail again for the rest of the contest.
Gentry came up with a free throw to slice the lead to a single point at 14-13 but Rose came up big, scoring on a rebound then driving in for a layup, getting fouled while making the shot. His successful free throw set the half-time score at 19-13.
The second half scoring started with a Mahoney rebound then pass to Holtrewe who then scored underneath for 21-13 lead. Gentry countered with a trey and jump shot to shrink the lead to 21-18 but Holtgrewe dropped in a pair of layups to offset a lone bucket by Gentry to give Pea Ridge a 25-20 lead with 4 minutes left in the third.
A rash of turnovers by the 'Hawks allowed the Pioneers a pair of buckets to tighten the lead to a single point at 25-24. Wesley Wales came off the bench to score twice inside with Coble adding another layup to put the 'Hawks back safely ahead 31-24. Gentry canned a pair of free throws before the end of the quarter but a late layup by Coble gave the 'Hawks a 33-26 lead heading into the last quarter.
Both teams had their best offense in the final quarter but the visitors could get no close than the 7-point deficit they faced to start the last period. The 'Hawks scored all their field goals via layups and added four free throws to keep the Pioneers at bay. Coble scored three of the layups with Mahoney and Holtgrewe adding a pair each. Allison and Rose each dropped in a pair of freebies to round out the last period scoring. Rose's two for two on the line with 3 seconds left set the final margin at 51-40.
In addition to Coble's and Holtgrewe's scoring, Rose had 7, Mahoney 6, Allison 4, Wales 4 and Rhine 2. The win raised the 'Hawks' overall record to 8-2 with their next action coming in the Lake Hamilton basketball tournament Thursday in Pearcy.
The 'Hawks take on Centerpoint in first round action at 8:30 p.m. Should they win, they will take on the winner of the Lake Hamilton/Arkadelphia contest. Lake Hamilton is the eighth-ranked team in the 6A state poll wih Arkadelphia the last-ranked team among Arkansas 4A schools. The four teams in the other bracket are Conway, Mena, Kirby and Prescott.
The semifinals are 8:30 p.m. Friday with the final set for 8 p.m. Saturday.
Girls suffer pair of conference losses
The Lady Blackhawks dropped a pair of hard fought games last week, losing to Lincoln 37-21 on Tuesday before falling to Gentry 46-39 Wednesday.
Katelyn Swope led the 'Hawk scoring against Lincoln with 10 points with Sunny Olson scoring 4 and Hollyn Davis getting 3. Davis led the attack against the Lady Pioneers with 12 points with Kiley West having 7, Swope 3, Maria Socha 2, Gabby Adams 2, and Catherine Hooten 2.
Sports on 12/27/2017