Pierce finds stroke, boosts Lions

— Terence Pierce has a simple philosophy when it comes to shooting the basketball.

“You’re going to miss 100 percent of the shots you never take,” Pierce said.

Somewhere, Pete Maravich is nodding his head in agreement.

Pierce, a 6-foot sophomore at Gravette, isn’t a gunner in the Pistol Pete mode, but the Lions sharpshooter also knows he has to keep firing even when the shots aren’t falling.

“You’re never going to find your groove if you don’t keep trying to find it,” Pierce said.

Pierce certainly found his groove this past season, especially during tournament time, when he led the Lions to the 4A-1 District title, a 2-1 mark at the 4A North Regional and the school’s first state tournament berth in seven seasons.

During the district, regional and state tournament run, Pierce averaged 24.6 points per game and earned the All-NWA Media Small Schools Boys Newcomer of the Year honor.

“Terence is a very special offensive player,” Gravette boys basketball coach Dustin Peters said. “I would say the last month of the season was about as good a performance as I’ve ever been around. He stayed unconscious for along period of time.”

Pierce’s 3-pointer against Dardanelle with 15 seconds remaining in overtime saved Gravette’s post-season run. His bucket from the right perimeter tied the game and his six points in overtime were crucial in the win that punched the Lions’ ticket to the state tournament.

Pierce said his clutch shot helped atone for a sub-par performance to that point.

“I was like 0-for-so-far, so I need to make up for it somehow,” Pierce said. “I think I was 0-for-5 or something like that, but we needed a shot.”

Making the transition from junior high to senior high was a struggle at first, Pierce admitted. It took about half of the season to crack the starting lineup,but once he did, his game seemed to take off.

“The game speed and just the size and strength of the players was a whole lot more difficult,” Pierce said. “The game was faster and everybody was tougher. I had a rough start to the season, and it took awhile.”

And his game got better as the stakes grew higher, said Peters.

“He was at his best when his best was needed,” Peters said.

Sports, Pages 10 on 03/21/2012