PRAIRIE GROVE — Haley Borgeteien-James pulled her black Gentry Pioneers pullover up to hide her face following a contested decision of the Gentry School District which kept her from playing on Feb. 17. Having suffered from concussion-like symptoms, the senior and team’s top scorer fought back tears while watching her team’s 53-39 loss against Gravette from the bench in the 4A-1 District Tournament.
Though cleared by a family physician, Gentry school district officials chose to err on the side of caution and sided with the district's athletic trainer in keeping Borgeteien-James on the bench.
“It broke my heart,” said Gentry coach Toby Tevebaugh. “She was crying during the announcements and in tears a lot of the second half. It’s difficult. That kid has been playing a lot of basketball since she was little bitty. She’s given a lot to the game, and it was unfortunate that it played out the way it did.”
The fifth-seeded Lady Lions, who defeated No. 8 Lincoln, 66-53, on Tuesday, earned a spot in next week’s 4A North Regional in Prairie Grove next week. They play top-seeded Prairie Grove in the district semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday. Not bad for a team that was winless in conference play a year ago. Coach Will Pittman said his group of seniors didn’t win a conference game as ninth-graders either.
“We’ve been one game away (from regionals) three out of the last four years since I’ve been here, and Gentry beat us by five in this game last year,” Pittman said. “So it’s really, really nice to get there. This means a lot.”
Pittman was unaware about Borgeteien-James sitting out until “just before the game” and said his team had game planned for her during its preparation for the district tournament.
Without Borgeteien-James, offense was tough to come by for the fourth-seeded Lady Pioneers, who had just 21 points in the first three quarters combined. Still, they put together a late rally and found themselves trailing by just seven points twice down the stretch, thanks to the gutsy play of Mallory Morris and Haley Hays, who combined for 33 points.
“I thought we played really hard and showed a lot of heart, especially in the second half,” Tevebaugh said.
Gravette took advantage of its opponent being short-handed the most during a 14-2 second-quarter run. Because of foul trouble, Tevebaugh had to sit most of his starters and blamed himself for not getting them back into the game quickly enough. That’s when Pittman said his team did a nice job inside the paint on both ends of the floor.
“We rebounded well and limited them to one shot, which helped key that run,” Pittman said. “And Amanda Pinter played really well for us inside. She wanted the ball all game long and that’s what we needed.”
Pittman credited his entire team with holding off Gentry’s rally attempt during the final two minutes of regulation. Tori Foster sank two key free throws and Kyrstin Branscum made a pair of assists on back-door cuts to slice through Gentry’s extended pressure defense.
Pittman also applauded the Lady Pioneers’ effort, especially Hays and Morris, and called the Gentry girls “one of the better competitors in the league.”
On Feb. 16, the Gravette girls defeated Lincoln, 66-53. Senior forward Sydney Hicks paced the Lady Lions with 21 points and Gravette rallied from a 35-32 halftime deficit to stay alive in the 4A-1 Tournament at Prairie Grove. Sophomore Kyrstin Branscum added 17 and Amanda Pinter 12 for Gravette.
Girls
Gravette 53, Gentry 39
Gravette 8 15 10 20 — 53
Gentry 5 5 11 18 — 39
Gravette (15-12): Branscum 12, Foster 12, A. Pinter 12, Chalk 8, S. Pinter 4, Hick 4.
Gentry (16-9): Morris 18, Hays 15, Boss 3, Ward 3.
4A-1 District Tournament at Prairie Grove
Wednesday
Game 5 (G): Berryville 58, Shiloh Christian 33
Game 6 (B): Berryville 64, Gravette 63
Game 7 (G): Gravette 53, Gentry 39
Game 8 (B): Shiloh Christian 64, No. 3 Gentry 58
Friday
Game 9 (G): Gravette vs. No. 1 Prairie Grove, 4 p.m.
Game 10 (B): Berryville vs. No. 1 Huntsville, 5:30 p.m.
Game 11 (G): Berryville vs. No. 2 Huntsville, 7 p.m.
Game 12 (B): Shiloh Christian vs. No. 2 Pea Ridge, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday
Game 13: Girls championship, 5:30 p.m.
Game 14: Boys championship, 7 p.m.
*Top 4 teams advance to regional tournament