Gentry has busy week on the court

— Gentry boys basketball coach Sean Price implored his players to be patient Tuesday night. Despite a few missed opportunities and even some head-scratching turnovers, Price told his team not to panic.

Price’s advice worked to perfection for the Pioneers, who overcame a seven-point deficit in the second half to beat Pea Ridge 50-48 in 4A-1 Conference play.

The victory for Gentry (7-13, 3-5) was its third in league play, while the loss for the Blackhawks (15-5, 5-2) was their second straight.

Leading the way for Gentry was Kevin Scherer, who finished with 20 points, a season-high eight rebounds and four rebounds.

Joe Morris added 11 points.

“This win feels great,” said the first-year Gentry boys basketball coach Price, who called the victory against Pea Ridge his team’s biggest of the season. “I’m proud for my kids, they put it together (Tuesday).

“We have to learn from this, continue to practice hard every day and continue to get better.”

Pea Ridge jumped out to a 17-10 lead by the end of the first quarter when Kasey Cooper and Dakota Woodward combined for three 3-pointers to cap off a 12-4 scoring run.

Eathen Ramsey and Morris led Gentry back in the second quarter, ending the first half on a 12-2 run to take a 26-25 lead at halftime.

“That second quarter was huge, we just lost focus,” Pea Ridge coach Charley Clark said. “It seemed like we couldn’t make the kind of plays we needed to makeand Gentry just exploded for a lot of points before the half.”

In the fourth period, Gentry got an important 3-pointer from Morris with 6 minutes, 42 seconds left before Pea Ridge’s Cooper answered on the next play with a 3-pointer of his own from the top of the key.

From that point, Gentry controlled the lane, getting rebounds from Ramsey and Justin Bryant for several second chances.

The Pioneers tied the game with 1:18 left on a jumper from Austin Millsap and took the lead for good on a put back from Scherer.

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Gentry 61, Pea Ridge 45

GIRLS - Gentry scored 22 points in the third quarter to extend its lead and secure a 16-point victory over Pea Ridge.

Leading on offense for the Lady Pioneers (16-5, 5-3) were Courtney Millsap with 21 points - including five 3-pointers - while Terra Jones had 14 and Kendra Boyd scored 12 points to go with five rebounds.

Pea Ridge junior Jordan Winn scored a team-high 17 points while senior Hannah Hargiss finished with 14.

The Lady Blackhawks (5-13, 1-6) kept the game close throughout the first half by getting inside shots from Winn. Pea Ridge also made 13 of 21 shots from the foul line.

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Farmington, Ozark

GENTRY - Gentry Pioneers dropped a pair of games last week at Pioneer Stadium when the Farmington Cardinals topped the host team 62-47 Thursday night. Then in a seesaw battle Friday, the Ozark Hillbillies came away witha 69-62 win over Gentry.

In the Farmington game Gentry pulled out to a 7 point edge at the end of the first quarter, only to see a dry second period as Farmington pulled ahead 26-23 at half-time. Gentry made a game of it in the third period as they nearly matched the visitors’ 14 points, only to be outscored during the final quarter 22-11.

Joe Morris paced the Pioneers in the Farmington game with 15 points. Kevin Scherer added 14, Austin Millsap 9, and Justin Bryant 8.

Against the Hillbillies the Pioneers came out with an 11-7 margin at the end of the first quarter and had a one point, 27-26, edge at half-time, only to see the visitors pull ahead going into the final period. Ozark put the game away during the closing minutes of the game to win 69-62.

Scoring for Gentry were Scherer with 22 points, Millsap with 14 and Bryant 11; Ethan Ramsey added 9 and Joe Morris 6.

Lady Pioneers Win Two

Gentry’s Lady Pioneers added a pair of victories as they ran their season record to 11-5 with wins over Farmington and Ozark last week. Both games were played in Gentry.

In the Farmington game, Gentry had a 23-17 edge at the half-time buzzer only to see the visitors outscore the home team in both final periods to tie the game 48-48. Gentry eked out the 57-55 win by outscoring the Lady Cardinals 9-7 in the overtime period.

Courtney Millsap paced the Lady Pioneers with 26 big points; Kendra Boyd had 12 and Terra Jones 11.

In the game against the Ozark Lady Hillbillies, Gentry fell behind 28-18 at the half-time buzzer but strong defense in the third quarter saw the host ladies surge to a 32-32 tie going into the final period when Gentry outscored the visitors to take the 48-44 win.

Millsap paced Gentry with 21 points, Jones had 17, and Kendra Boyd added 8 for the Lady Pioneers.

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Gentry v. Shiloh

GENTRY - Boys’ and girls’ teams lost Monday night against Shiloh Christian in Gentry, the boys in overtime.

The Pioneers came back from a 31-35 half-time deficit to tie the game but lost in overtime, with the final score being 68-70 in favor of the Saints.

Joe Morris finished the game with 23 points. Kevin Scherer put in another 19.

Girls

The Lady Pioneers lost 46-37 and were down after the first quarter and not ever able to make it all up.

Terra Jones picked up 11 points, and Loren Cripps, 10.

Sports, Pages 9 on 02/02/2011