GENTRY — The Pioneers, behind the shooting of Cole Cripps and Wyatt Clark, pulled away in the second quarter from the visiting Lincoln Wolves Feb. 9 to take the win, 69 to 55.
The Pioneers were up by a single point at the end of one, but Clark was hot behind the three-point line, sinking two treys in both the first and the second quarters. He picked up 10 points in the first quarter and another eight in the second, leading to his 24 points in the game.
Cole Cripps picked up 10 of his 14 points in the second, hitting three two-pointers and four free throws in the quarter to help give the Pioneers a 12-point advantage at the half.
From then on, the Pioneers held on, beating the Wolves in scoring,15 to 14 in the third quarter and 11 to 10 in the fourth, for the 14 point lead at the final buzzer.
Other high scorers for the Pioneers included Matt Juillerat with 10 and C.J. Taylor with eight.
Sean Price, Gentry's coach hoped the win would be a confidence booster going into the final game of the season.
"This was a big win for our confidence. Hopefully this will give us momentum into the last part of our season," Price said.
GIRLS
The Lady Pioneers also gained a big home court victory, beating the Lady Wolves, 48 to 24.
The Gentry girls were down by two in the opening quarter with their only score being a three-pointer by Brieann Ward, but the girls came to life in the second quarter and picked up another 17 points and a 20-15 advantage, led by Haley Borgeteien-James, who put in three deuces and a free throw in the quarter.
"We started very slowly but managed to gain momentum right before half," said Toby Tevebaugh, Gentry's head girls' basketball coach. "Our defense kick started our offense and we ended the game on a 38-9 run."
Seniors Mallory Morris and Borgeteien-James helped the Pioneers build on their lead in the final two quarters of play, picking up 12 and nine points, respectively. In the mean time, the Lady Pioneers held the Lady Wolves to only nine points in the second half.
Borgeteien-James had 16 points in the game, Morris had 14 and Ward had seven.