Lady Pioneers net 3 wins at Danville

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

— GENTRY - The Lady Pioneers picked up three more wins last week in nonconference play at the Danville Tournament.

On Dec. 20 ,the girls beat the Booneville Bearcats in a blowout game, 54-32. Though Booneville started out strong and was up 13 to 11 at the end of the first quarter, the Gentry girls turned things around in the second and were up one point going into the second half, 21-20. In the third and fourth quarters, the Lady Pioneers pulled away, picking up 16 in the third and another 17 in the fourth, with the Bearcats only picking up 12 points in the whole second half.

Terra Jones was the highpoint scorer in the game, with 18 points and 10 of those at the free-throw line. Loren Cripps picked up 7 two-pointers and a free throw for 15 points.

On Dec. 21, the Lady Pioneers took on the Danville Little Johns in Danville and came home with another big win, this time, 56-42.

Once again, the Lady Pioneers were down at the end of the first quarter, but they came back from their 12-15 deficit to jump ahead 27-24 at the half. In the third, Danville closed the narrow gap to within two points, but Gentry outscored the Little Johns 3 to 1 in the final quarter, to finish with a 14 point lead.

Courtney Millsap led the Lady Pioneers in scoring, with 22 points - 6 of those points behind the threepoint line, and eight at the free-throw line. Terra Jones made another 13 points.

On Dec. 22, the Gentry girls defeated England by a score of 56-51. The game, however, was Gentry’s from the first quarter onward. Gentry picked up 13 points in the opening quarter, with the Lions finishing the quarter down by five. By the end of the half, Gentry was up 30 to 22. Though the Lionsoutscored the Lady Pioneers in the third, closing the gap to seven points, and again in the fourth, picking up 17 to the Lady Pioneers 15, the gains weren’t enough and the Lady Pioneers finished the Danville Tournament without a loss.

Terra Jones was again Gentry’s high scorer with six field goals and another six points at the free-throw line. Courtney Millsap finished the game with 12 points.

The Lady Pioneers (10-3) will face the Pea Ridge Lady Blackhawks on Jan. 3.

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Boys team struggles during tournament

BOYS - The Gentry Pioneers didn’t fare as well as the girls in tournament play at Hot Springs. They won their opening game but lost the next two.

On Dec. 20, the boys defeated England 53-42. The Pioneers jumped ahead of the Lions 21-10 in the first quarter of play, and the setback was too much for the Lions to recover, even though they played a strong third quarter against visiting Gentry.

Gentry was up 35-20 at the half, 41-34 at the end of three quarters and 53-42 at the final buzzer.

Kevin Scherer scored 14 points for the Pioneers, Colby Bryant 11, and Joe Morris 10 during last week Monday’s game.

The Pioneers got off to a slow start against theLittle Johns on Dec. 21, and though they played a strong second half, they were unable to make up the deficits of the first two quarters, going into the half-time break down 19-33, finishing four quarters down by one, according to submitted stats, and dropping back to four down, in a 75-71 game with overtime.

Scherer and Morris each had 25 points and Justin Bryant, 12.

On Dec. 22, the Pioneers fell to the host-team Fountain Lake Cobras in tournament play at Hot Springs, by a score of 37-48. Though tied 33 apiece at the half, the Pioneers couldn’t keep pace with the Cobras in the second half and fell behind by 11.

Kevin Scherer picked up 16 points against Fountain Lake and Joe Morris, 11.

The Pioneers, now 4-9, will play Pea Ridge on Jan. 3.

A change was announced to the upcoming basketball schedule. The Jan. 10 game will be at Gentry with a 6 p.m. start time - two varsity games only. The Feb. 1 game will be at Shiloh Christian.

Sports, Pages 7 on 12/29/2010