Gentry teams fall to Pea Ridge

Pea Ridge player Savannah Cypert charges Destiny Thomas in a layup attempt, while Shelby Hammond looks on, during play between the Lady Pioneers and the Lady Blackhawks on Jan. 24 in Gentry.
Pea Ridge player Savannah Cypert charges Destiny Thomas in a layup attempt, while Shelby Hammond looks on, during play between the Lady Pioneers and the Lady Blackhawks on Jan. 24 in Gentry.

— Pea Ridge managed to escape Gentry on Tuesday night with a 33-28 victory, but the Lady Hawks suffered the loss of their best player in the process.

In a tie game with 1 minute, 9 seconds left in the third quarter, Pea Ridge’s Jordan Winn drew a charge call against Gentry’s Hannah Bond. But when the two made contact, Winn’s left ankle twisted, resulting in a sprain.

She had to be carried off the court by the training staff,and Lady Hawks basketball coach Heather Wade said the extent of the injury would be determined by a doctor the next day.

Rather than caving with the loss of Winn, who scored only two points, Pea Ridge (7-14, 3-6 4A-1 conference) used it as motivation to help earn a much-needed victory in the 4A-1 Conference. The Lady Hawks hit clutch free throws down the stretch, including two by Jerika Schooley with 13.7 seconds left, to put the game out of reach.

With Gentry coach Tim Rippy’s wife going into labor Tuesday night, assistant Daren Ward got the first opportunity of his career to coach a game at the high school level.

While it didn’t go the way he had hoped, Ward felt the Gentry players did a good job of adapting to his game plan, a big part of which was defensive pressure and keeping Winn from scoring.

“In circumstances like this, I’m honored to take Coach Rippy’s place. It’s a learning experience each time you coach a game, doesn’t matter what level,” Ward said. “That’s just the way it bounced tonight.

“We couldn’t put it in thehole from anywhere and only shot 24 percent. I thought our defensive effort was very impressive and that we executed our game plan well.”

Tara Arnold of Gentry (5-15, 3-6) led all scorers with 12 points. Savannah Cypert topped Pea Ridge’s efforts with 10.

BOYS

When a team’s shots are falling as quickly as Pea Ridge’s were Tuesday, there wasn’t much Gentry could do.

photo

Gentry's Dylan Adler blocks a Pea Ridge shot by Dakota Woodward during play in Gentry on Jan. 24.

Led by juniors Jacob Hall and Cameron Tidwell, who combined to score 29 points, the Blackhawks (11-11, 6-3) found their rhythm and didn’t let up until coach Charley Clark substituted in his bench in the fourth quarter.

“I thought our shot selection was pretty good. We started inside and looked to the paint and that opened things up,” Clark said. “When you get open three’s, there’s a huge difference between it and contested three’s, and I was just glad to see us take open three’s and make them.”

Junior guard Chris Wiand had a strong game for the Pioneers, scoring 11 points,nine of which came from 3-pointers.

The Gentry Pioneers Basketball team lost Friday'sconference game against the Ozark Hillbillies by a score of 54-32. The girls also lost Friday's conference game against Ozark by a score of 53-22.

Sports, Pages 10 on 02/01/2012