GENTRY — Tim Rippy said his Gentry Lady Pioneers played their best basketball of the season at the end.
That’s a big reason why they got to play in the Class 4A state girls basketball tournament against defending state champion Star City on Friday at Cave City.
The Lady Pioneers (13-18) are the Cinderella story of the tournament, qualifying despite finishing sixth in the 4A-1 Conference. Gentry won two games to advance to the regional, then won two more to make the regional final. The Lady Pioneers fell to 4A-1 Conference and tournament champion Prairie Grove, 60-52, in the regional final, but they still had a shot at a state title.
The recipe for postseason success was strong play from his seniors and a welcome addition in freshman Haley Borgeteien-James.
Senior Tara Arnold, who leads the team in scoring, said the team’s confidence was sky-high and Borgeteien-James is one reason why. She scored in double figures in four of Gentry’s six post-season games and she had eight in another.
“Having Haley helps, she plays with a lot of confidence,” Arnold said. “She plays good with us. It’s a good mixture, I guess.”
The Lady Pioneers showed that confidence, rallying from a five-point half-time deficit to earn a 54-42 win over Dover, which won the 4A-4 tournament. Gentry posted a 37-point second half, after trailing 20-15 at the intermission.
That carried over to a strong start and an early double-digit lead in the regional semi-final against Pottsville.
Rippy said Borgeteien-James, who led her junior high team to a share of the conference and the district tournament titles, has definitely blended well. But it’s not the first time she’s played with the high school team.
“During the summer, all our kids, junior high and senior high, come to our open gyms,” Rippy said. “When we go to camps, our junior high and senior high are together, so they are comfortable together.”
The 5-foot-8 freshman’s versatility has also been a plus, Rippy said.
“She can play any position on the floor,” Rippy said.
Rippy pointed to the district semi-finals against Farmington when Borgeteien-James scored eight or 10 points in a quarter, posting up a smaller opponent.
“They switched to put their biggest post player on her and I moved her to point guard and then they had their big kid trying to guard her on the perimeter,” Rippy said.
Borgeteien-James said the post-season run was more and more fun and the transition to the high school team was pretty much seamless, thanks to her teammates.
“They have been very accepting when I came in,” she said. “They just went with the flow. They let me right in.”
Rippy thought about moving Borgeteien-James up to the high school team for the entire season and even got an endorsement from at least one team member.
“I had one senior who asked, ‘Can we move her up?’” Rippy said. “I told her, ‘Just be patient, she’s gonna do it at the end of the year.’ It’s turned out to be a good thing.”
Sports, Pages 7 on 03/06/2013