Gentry Boys Dominate Gravette

— The ending was anti-climactic Feb. 9, but sweet nonetheless for the Gentry boys basketball team.

The Pioneers notched their first 4A-1 Conference victory this season with a convincing 64-32 victory at Gravette. Gentry (10-14, 1-11) led 17-13 after one quarter and 31-22 at halftime before outscoring the Lions 23-8 in the third quarter.

Gentry coach Tim Rippy exited a joyous locker room and credited his team for “maturing a whole lot” the last couple of weeks.Rippy, who also coaches the Gentry girls, took over as the Pioneers’ boys coach immediately after they lost 58-36 to Gravette on Jan. 19.

Rippy raved about the Pioneers’ offensive balance, as well. Gentry had three players in double figures, led by Joe Morris (21 points) and Austin Millsap (14).

“We had multiple guys involved in our scoring and that hasn’t happened often for us,” Rippy said. “We’ve start to come together as a team here recently. This season’s been hard on them, and these guys are really starting to trust and like one another.”

Sports, Pages 7 on 02/17/2010