The Lady Hawks and Blackhawks closed out their 2019-2020 home schedule on a high note by pounding the Huntsville Eagles by a 46-28 in the girls' game, before running away from the Eagles 50-30 in the boys' night cap game.
The Lady Hawks fell behind Huntsville 13-9 in the first quarter, then held the visitors to a single field goal in the second quarter to jump out to a 18-15 halftime lead. The second half was all Pea Ridge as they outscored the Eagles 28-13 in the last two periods to post an easy victory.
The boys' game never saw a Huntsville lead and the host Blackhawks raced out to an 8-4 lead in the first before outscoring the Eagles 42-26 the rest of the way. Pea Ridge outscored the Eagles in every period and dominated every aspect of the game.
Game summaries
Girls
Pea Ridge^46
Huntsville^28
Things got a bit rocky at first, with the Eagles ringing up 13 points as the Hawks 9 counters left them down 4 at the first buzzer. The Eagles jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first few minutes before the Hawks got things going. Aidan Dayberry carried the offensive load at first, scoring a trey and two field goals to spark the hosts. Blakelee Winn tossed in a pair of free throws to round out the initial scoring.
With Coach Heath Neal exhorting his players to pick things up, the Hawks racheted up the defensive pressure which limited the Eagles to just 2 points in the period. Dayberry ripped another trey with Allisa Short and Josey Goldberg converting a pair of charity tosses each while Lauren Wright connected from the floor as Pea Ridge moved into the break with a 18-15 advantage.
The Hawks would repeatedly drive the lane to begin the third quarter, with Dayberry, Short and Winn dropping in consecutive layups. A Dayberry free throw raised the Hawks' lead to 25-15 before Huntsville could respond. An Eagle free throw was followed by a Ravin Cawthon 3-pointer and a shot underneath by Goldberg with the Hawks zooming ahead 30-16 with 3 minutes left in the third. Huntsville would close the gap some with a pair of layups before the buzzer to leave Pea Ridge ahead 30-20 headed into the fourth quarter.
Winn opened fourth quarter scoring with a layup then followed that up moments later with a steal and subsequent layup. Huntsville racked up three free throws, but Pea Ridge scored three goals in the paint in succession, two by Winn and one by Dayberry to push the Hawks ahead 40-23 with 3:51 to go, essentially sealing the outcome.
Huntsville finally scored but consecutive layups by Cawthon, Wright and Short put lots of distance between the teams as Pea Ridge led 46-25 with a minute left. A final 3-pointer by Huntsville in the final seconds set the score at 46-28.
Dayberry led the scoring with 15 points followed by Winn with 12, Short 6, Cawthon 5, Goldberg 4, and Wright 4.
Boys
Pea Ridge^50
Huntsville^30
Both teams were a bit cold from the field in the early going but Hawk strength in the paint gave them an early advantage. A Wes Wales pass to Brandon Whatley opened and after Huntsville tied it with a short jumper, Wales gave the Hawks a lead they would never relinquish with a goal under the glass. A steal by Noah Peterson led to a Wales score underneath and another steal by Hunter Rains led to a layup by the senior guard to send the Hawks out to an 8-2 lead with 2 minutes left in the first. The Eagles scored a layup in the final seconds to set the final quarter score at 8-4.
The Hawks limited the Eagles to a single goal and two free throws while throwing in a pair of treys and pair of field goals to give the homeboys a solid 18-9 lead at intermission. Wales scored again underneath, with Rains nailing a trey for a 13-6 lead. Rains then dropped in a layup which was answered by a Huntsville 3-pointer. Peterson matched the Eagles' deep shot with a trey of his own to double up the Eagles at 18-9 at the break.
The Hawks warmed up considerably in the third quarter, with Wales scoring twice inside to start the period. Peterson laid a shot off the glass then pumped in a 10-footer to give the Hawks a 26-9 lead. Huntsville finally scofed a goal but Rains immediately answered with a layup and another score from the paint by Wales for a 30-11 lead with 3 minutes left in the third. Huntsville would go on to hit a free throw, field goal and a trey before the buzzer but the Hawks saw Peterson drop in a floater in the lane with Jared Brewer draining a trey as the buzzer sounded with the Hawks leading 35-21 headed into the final quarter.
If the Eagles' fans had any faint hope in a comeback, it was quickly smothered with a Wales inside goal and a Rains jump shot extending the lead to 39-21 with 7 minutes left. Huntsville then scored a trey but the Hawks answered with a Mazon Harris inside score, a Greydon Edwards steal and layup, and a two for two shooting at the line by Whatley to push the lead out of reach at 45-24 with 4 minutes left.
Subs would start entering the game with wholesale substituting at the 2-minute mark. Huntsville would score 7 during this time with Mike Ericsson getting an inside goal with Jake Ingram ripping a trey for the Hawks' last score as Pea Ridge won 50-30.
Wales led a very balanced scoring attack with 12 points, with Rains hitting 11, Peterson 9, Whatley 6, Ingram 3, Brewer 3, Harris 2, Edwards 2 and Ericson 2.
Sports on 02/19/2020