Gentry's loss called good for girl's team

Kaylin Cripps looks for room to move the ball against a tough Greenland defense in play at Gentry High School on Dec. 6.
Kaylin Cripps looks for room to move the ball against a tough Greenland defense in play at Gentry High School on Dec. 6.

— It might have been a beating, but it was one that Gentry girls basketball coach Tim Rippy said his team needed.

Greenland used strong full-court pressure from the start to defeat the Lady Pioneers 58-30, forcing 21 turnovers in the process.

“We’re so young and inexperienced, that’s the best thing that could have happened to us, to basically face full-court pressure the entire time,” Rippy said. “We have to learn to attack it for conference play. We have sophomores and juniors out there who need that experience.”

Leading the pressure were Greenland point guards Ashley Hipps, a senior, and Anna Rogers, a sophomore who came off the bench.

The duo combined for 25 points, and Greenland coach Alan Barton said he likes what he sees in the grooming process of a potential star in Rogers, despite her trying to do too much.

“She has all the abilities and wants to prove herself, but my job is to try to help her be like Ashley,but faster,” Barton said. “When she figures that out, she’s going to be all right.”

Senior Holland Craise also came up big for the Lady Pirates (6-2), leading all scorers with 16 points, 10 of which came in the first quarter. She also hit four three-pointers.

While Gentry (1-4) has only one victory this season, Rippy said he feels the Lady Pioneers are preparing themselves for conference play just around the corner.

Three of the team’s losses come against Rogers Heritage, Springdale High and Van Buren, schools that are either in the 7A-West Conference or will be next season.

“We’re growing and every game we’re going to continue to get better,” Rippy said.

BOYS

Greenland 42, Gentry 30

For the second time in as many weeks, Greenland defeated Gentry, this time by 12 points. The two schools met last week in the Greenland Invitational. After Gentry (0-8) scored on its first shot of the game, the Pioneers struggled to hit shots the rest of the firstquarter. But they battled back to keep the game close, trailing 19-17 at half-time.

The man-defense that Greenland coach Jared Gobel had his team run was able to keep Gentry scoreless in the thirdquarter, which helped the Pirates (2-4) wrap up the win.

“You have to give them credit. They fought hard and never gave up, and fought for everything,” Gobel said. “My team is still a little lackadaisical and sometimes doesn’t know what’s going on. We’ve got a month before conference starts, so hopefully we’ll get better every day.”

Sports, Pages 9 on 12/14/2011