Lions stung by Hornets in final quarter of play

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

— It was a two-minute period that Gravette’s players wished they could play over Friday night.

The Lions had a fourpoint lead disappear in that time span, and their hopes of continuing their season vanished moments later with a 74-66 loss to host Maumelle in the Class 4A North Region Tournament.

“Those things can turn when you play,” Gravette boys basketball coach Dustin Peters said. “At the most inopportune times, we give up an offensive rebound or give up a turnover.

“Those things, you can’t do because they turn into quick, easy points. We had to make them earn their baskets, and we gave up too many offensive rebounds.”

Gravette (14-12) used back-to-back buckets by Carson Pollreis and Otto Troutner to take a 55-51 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Maumelle (19-11) had to call a timeout, and the Hornets responded with 11 straight points to take a 62-55 lead.

Cole Thomas had five points during Maumelle’s run, including a 3-pointer that put the Hornets ahead to stay with 3 minutes, 11 seconds remaining. He later added a dunk, then freshman Shawn Williams hit two free throws to cap the run.

“We had a freshman hit some big free throws,” Maumelle coach Michael Shook said. “The guys started taking care of the ball. We cut our turnovers in half in the second half, and that helps a lot.”

Gravette kept things interesting, thanks to Terence Pierce. The junior forward scored five straight points, then added a long-range 3-pointer to pull the Lions within 69-66 with 21 seconds left, but they didn’t get any closer.

Pierce finished with 29 points and led four Lions in double figures, followed by Pollreis with 14 and Matt VanOtterloo and Troutner with 10 points apiece. Williams had 23 for Maumelle, followed by Kendall Donnerson with 16, Thomas with 13 and JB Minix with 10.

Maumelle 12 21 16 25 - 74 Gravette 11 18 18 19 - 66

Sports, Pages 7 on 02/27/2013