GENTRY — GENTRY - The Gentry Lady Pioneers saw a nine point lead disappear in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, but coach Tim Rippy was pleased to see his team execute in overtime and come away with a 4A-1 Conference victory on Dec. 18.
Destiny Thomas hit a free throw to give Gentry the lead for good with 57.6 seconds left in overtime, and junior Kristen Flesner poked the ball away in the waning seconds as the Lady Pioneers held on for a 39-38 win over Pea Ridge in girls basketball action.
Pea Ridge (1-8, 0-3 4A-1 Conference) had a final chance when Gentry missed both ends of a two shot foul with 4.7 seconds left. The Lady Blackhawks cleared the rebound, but Flesner poked the ball loose, dived on it and held on until the buzzer sounded.
Gentry coach Tim Rippy said he wasn’t pleased with the way his team played in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, but the Lady Pioneers came up with big plays in overtime.
Gentry (6-5, 1-2) even trailed 33-31 after Jerika Schooley’s three-point play with 23.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But the Lady Pioneers executed an in-boundsplay from the baseline and Tara Arnold got free for a layup with eight seconds left and Pea Ridge failed to get off a final shot, to force overtime.
“At least we responded, found a way to score and get it into overtime and gut out a win,” Rippy said.
Gentry was missing 6-4 senior Heather Marshall, who left the team earlier Tuesday. Rippy had no comment on Marshall leaving the team.
Pea Ridge 5 5 8 15 5 - 38 Gentry 6 9 6 12 6 - 39 PEA RIDGE (1-8, 0-3): Schooley 11, Sanders 8, Caton 8, Cochran 6, Cypert 2, Tuszynski 3. GENTRY (6-5, 1-2): Thomas 13, Hammond 8, Arnold 7, Page 6, Olds 2, Williamson 2, Flesner 1.
BOYS PEA RIDGE 64 GENTRY 45
The Blackhawks jumped to a 42-21 half-time lead and cruised to the victory.
Pea Ridge improved to 10-1 overall and 3-0 in the 4A-1. Levi Pitts led the Blackhawks with 15 points, while Nick Deleon chipped in 13.
Dusty Haag led Gentry (4-7, 0-3) with 15 points and Brent Barker added 13.
Sports, Pages 9 on 12/26/2012