Lady Lions take conference victory away from Lady Hawks

Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS Jessica Bookout (Lady Lions 23) grabs a rebound away from Maria Socha (Lady Hawks 15) during the second quarter of the Pea Ridge-Gravette senior girls basketball contest at Blackhawk Gym in Pea Ridge Jan.19. The Lady Lions defeated the Lady Hawks 58-56.
Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS Jessica Bookout (Lady Lions 23) grabs a rebound away from Maria Socha (Lady Hawks 15) during the second quarter of the Pea Ridge-Gravette senior girls basketball contest at Blackhawk Gym in Pea Ridge Jan.19. The Lady Lions defeated the Lady Hawks 58-56.

PEA RIDGE -- It was a close contest for the Gravette Lady Lions as they faced the Lady Hawks at Blackhawk Gym in Pea Ridge Jan. 19. Eventually, the Lady Lions prevailed, handing the Lady Hawks another conference loss.

In an earlier contest played Jan. 6, the Lady Lions prevailed by snatching that conference win away from the Lady Hawks, 67-42, at the competition gym in Gravette. This contest would be much closer, with the Lady Lions taking the win by two.

Forty-five seconds into the contest, the Lady Lions scored their first two points. Gravette managed to hold Pea Ridge scoreless for the next three minutes while adding a three to its score. A three-pointer by the Lady Hawks put them on the scoreboard, trailing the Lady Lions by two. The lead went back and forth several times between the two teams until the two-minute mark in the first quarter when the Lady Hawks managed to pull ahead by four. As the quarter came to a close, Pea Ridge held on to its four-point lead.

In the second quarter, the Lady Lions tied the match at 20 all. From that point, the Lady Lions took charge and built a five-point lead through much of the quarter until, with less than thirty seconds left, the Lady Hawks came back and tied the game at 33 each. With only a few seconds left until halftime, a Pea Ridge player hit one of two free throws to give the Lady Hawks a slim one-point lead going into the break.

Pea Ridge opened up its lead to six in the third quarter, going into the final eight minutes of the contest. With just four minutes left, the Lady Lions came alive and regained the lead. From that point until the final buzzer, the Lady Hawks held Gravette scoreless while trying to play catch-up. But the Lady Lions managed to stall any Lady Hawks' drive. The Gravette Lady Lions took the victory by two points over the Pea Ridge Lady Hawks, 58-56.

The Lady Lions had two players in double figures, Jessica Bookout with 20, followed by Kyrstin Branscum with 18. Others scoring points for Gravette included Shylee Morrison with seven, Bernice Garcia with six, Tori Foster with five and Teagan Dixon and Mallory Smith each with one.

The Lady Lions returned to the competition gym in Gravette for a makeup game against the Lincoln Lady Wolves. Due to Winter Storm Inga, the Jan. 16 contest was rescheduled for Jan. 20. The Lady Lions prevailed in that contest, defeating the Lady Wolves, 53-39.

With the wins, the Gravette Lady Lions were 16-4 overall and 11-1 in conference play going into the final five games of the regular season.

Sports on 01/24/2018